Artisanal Premium Cheese E-Newsletter
-03/12/07-

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National Nutrition Month (March) is sponsored annually by the American Dietetic Association. ''The campaign is designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.'' ~eatright.org. The American Dietetic Association has published this article regarding cheese, Cheese Counts for Calcium.

We believe that cheese is a near-perfect food! When you consider the raw product from which cheese is made - milk - which is our first and only food for the first several weeks if not months of our lives then we have to admit that there must be something remarkably nutritious in cheese. Cheese contains a higher concentration of those nutrients than is found in milk, with little or no lactose remaining. When people say that they could live off of cheese they are a little closer to the truth than they may realize! Cheese does contain pretty much all you need nutritionally speaking, except vitamin C and fiber. Interestingly, cheese tends to satisfy our cravings so well that when we eat a little cheese we tend to eat less anyway. This makes cheese a delicious part of a weight-reducing diet. Some cheeses have a higher concentration of those nutrients than others; the harder the cheese generally the higher the concentration of the nutrients.

Past Trivia Questions Dealing With Nutrition:

I am lactose intolerant; Can I still eat your cheese?

We all know that cheese tastes good, but what are the health benefits to eating cheese?

HARD CHEESES RICH IN NUTRIENTS:

Gruyere Price: $35.00 per lb

Appenzeller Price: $30.50 per lb

Hoch Ybrig Sale: $27.00 per lb

Prattigauer Sale: $31.50 per lb

Erin Go Braugh: Irish Cheese for St. Patrick's! Friday, March 16 6:30PM - 8:30PM Irish? Wish you were Irish? Just for an evening? Well what better way to get in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit then by sampling a full range of Irish Cheeses…and washing them down with a few Irish beverages, of course. Confirmed: Sarah Bates of Sheridan Cheese Mongers in Galway City, Ireland to be guest speaker at Artisanal's St. Patrick's Day Class. Read about it in the Artisanal Premium Cheese blog.

From Milk to Cheese and Beyond: A Vertical Tasting Tuesday, April 10 6:30PM - 8:30PM Have you ever heard the saying, "Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese" It's certainly true that cheeses age and transform with a unique elegance. Join Affineur Daphne Zepos for an exciting exploration of taste and aging. . We'll be dividing the cheeses by milk - cow, goat and sheep – and by age, from milk to young to old, and tasting cheese along its subtle, elegant procession from milk to curd and beyond! This is a fun and wonderful opportunity to taste the aging process itself and learn a great deal about the life of your favorite cheeses.

Goat , Cow & Sheep's Milk Cheeses: A Three Part Series Cow's Milk - 6:30PM-8:30PM Wednesday, April 18th Goat's Milk - 6:30PM-8:30PM Wednesday, May 23rd Sheep's Milk - 6:30PM-8:30PM Wednesday, June 13th How can only one type of milk produce such a range of cheese flavors? Join Affineur Daphne Zepos for this three-part, in-depth exploration of the many flavors and textures of each milk type. Armed with her cheese flavor wheel, Daphne will entice every participant to indulge in the many aromas, flavors textures and colors that distinguish the universe of cheese. Take 1 class for $75 or all three for $150!

View All Cheese Classes

Artisanal Fromagerie & Bistro and Picholine have been nominated in the reader's choice categories of ''Best Cheese Shop'' and ''Best Reopening'' for Time Out New York’s 2007 Eat Out Awards. Winners will be published in the April 11 issue of the magazine.

VOTE HERE for your favorite restaurants, Artisanal Fromagerie & Bistro and Picholine.

At Peak Cheeses This Week: Saint Marcellin $8.50 each More... Monte Enebro $27.75 per lb Bouc Emissaire $26.00 per lb Hooligan $30.50 per lb Pena Blanca $21.50 per lb

Weekly Cheese Specials: Cheddar, Montgomery's Reg: $30.50 each Sale: $27.50 each More... Munster Reg: $18.75 each Sale: $ each Livarot, Artisanal Reg: $12.75 each Sale: $9.00 each Coulommiers Reg: $15.25 per lb Sale: $12.00 per lb Forsterkase Reg: $37.50 per lb Sale: $30 per lb

Weekly Trivia

Question: What exactly is ''Farmstead Cheese"? Find out in the next Artisanal e-newsletter!
- The Artisanal Staff

Last Time We Asked: Why are sheep's milk cheeses 'out of season' for such a long time?

Answer: Most animals have a mating season and a birthing season, as do most plants. Think of honeybees pollinating spring fields or salmon swimming franticly upstream. Of the three most common animals whose milk is used for the production of cheeses in the West; cow, goat, and sheep, cows' calving season is easily staggered so that a herd can supply milk throughout the year. The cheese made from cows’ milk is subject to seasonality mainly because of the animals' diet during any given time of the year; cheese made from summer milk is considered better because that is the season of rich outdoor pasturing.

For sheep, or ewes', however, the lambing season is much more strict. The ewes' lactation period is between 150-250 days compared to a cows' lactation of up to 300 days. It is possible for sheep to breed throughout the year with a little help from science, but the quality of the milk suffers and most artisanal cheese producers in colder climates with shorter days such as England and the northern United States tend to allow the animals to their natural devices. In Mediterranean regions where the climate is less variable and days are longer, ewes find it more comfortable to lamb later in the year thus more lambs and more milk.

Though different breeds of sheep and sheep herding methods vary greatly, and these all contribute to the actual breeding season of the animals. Sheep raised for wool or meat are often more likely to be bred ''out of season''.

Do you have a question for our trivia section, or some trivia of your own to share?
Send it to editor@artisanalcheese.com and we may use it in a future newsletter!

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