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Featured Cheesemakers
Cowgirl Creamery
The Cook, The Farmer & the Cheesemonger
Eric
Patterson, Maureen Cunnie, Miguel Martinez,
Jonathan White and Barb Welms
Though cheesemaking at Cowgirl Creamery began with Sue Conley at the vat (assisted by an enthusiastic Ellen Straus), a trio of talented cheesemakers are now at the helm. Late in the last century Maureen Cunnie, a young cook at Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, had the desire to learn the craft of cheesemaking, and applied for a job at Cowgirl Creamery. Two years later, she took over as lead cheesemaker at the creamery. Moving from cheesemaker to head of production, was a tremendous challenge, but Maureen explained that
"Sue and Peggy had a lot of faith in me and I wanted to be a part the company’s larger vision to secure a future for small scale dairies and cheesemakers."
At the turn of the century, Eric
Patterson was a capricious farmer, growing vibrant organic
vegetables in the Capay Valley. He thought it would be a good idea
to diversify his farm, so he bought a few goats and began growing
fields of alfalfa hay to feed his future herd. "Once I had goats, I
had a fridge full of milk." Soon the natural idea to morph milk
into cheese occurred to Eric. Through trial and error, Eric learned
the basic principles of cheesemaking and came to Cowgirl Creamery to
hone his skills. Today he is the chief affineur at Cowgirl
Creamery, caring for all of the cheese in the aging rooms in Point
Reyes and Petaluma.
Obsessively curious, Jonathan T.
White (a.k.a J.T.), was a cheesemonger at Whole Foods in Texas when
he began studying the culture, science and art of cheesemaking.
Based on his exuberance and selling acumen at Whole Foods, J.T, was
awarded a two week internship at Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes.
It was during this internship that J.T. fell in love with the
cheesemaking life. A year later, he came back to begin a career in
the creamery. J.T. is currently finishing up his BA degree in
Business, and looking after the production of Red Hawk in Point
Reyes.
An unlikely trio - the cook, the farmer and the cheesemonger
- bring complimentary skills to their craft that might never be found in a single cheesemaker.
Cowgirl Creamery salutes and thanks these three head cheesemakers for the glorious fruits of their labor.
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Our master wrappers
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She'd join her fellow cheese lovers
at the 4th annual California Artisan Cheese Festival
being held in Petaluma. Meeting cheesemakers, chefs and authors,
participating in educational seminars, taking field trips to local
creameries and eating a four-course dinner at the Artisan Gala
dinner are just part of the fun. Sampling and being able to
purchase different cheeses all in one place is even better. March
20-23, 2009
www.artisancheesefestival.com
ST PAT
- Spring Arrives at Cowgirl!
You
can always tell when springtime arrives at Cowgirl. When the
weather changes, we bid a fond farewell to our winter cheese and
introduce our seasonal spring cheese, ST PAT. These rounds are made
with whole organic milk, a drop of cream and then wrapped with
stinging nettle leaves picked from the creekside plants delicately
nourished by the rains. ST PAT, with its distinctive, green
wrapping, is aged for three weeks, producing a cheese that is
mellow, soft and full of flavor. Available in the stores and online
beginning March 16th. (10oz)
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