MONROE, Maine — Maine now has more artisanal cheese makers than any state except New York, according to a cheese expert who tracks artisan cheese making nationwide.
When Jeff Roberts wrote his book, “The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese,” in 2006, he identified 25 cheese makers in Maine who produce cheese by hand using traditional techniques. There are now about 75 of them, he said, making Maine the fastest-growing artisan cheese-producing state.
“To me, that’s a truly remarkable expansion in a relatively short period of time,’” said Roberts, who lives in Montpelier and is a consultant to the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese at the University of Vermont. “And most of us outside of Maine have never heard of Maine artisan cheese because it really doesn’t leave the state.”
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