Artisanal Premium Cheese E-Newsletter

As season's change and the industry grows, more and more exciting new cheeses become available to the consumer. From the new organic farmer to the recently regulated raw milk producer, dozens of choices are presenting themselves every week; it is our job to choose from among the best of those and offer them to you. We encourage you to check-in with us regularly as some of the best and most sought after cheeses are only available for a very short time.

Cooking With Cheese
Artisanal Premium Cheese proudly presents the first class in its new series, Cooking with Cheese! Get ready to roll up your sleeves and create three wonderful dishes where cheese is center stage. Join fromager Waldemar Albrecht for this interactive cooking class as he guides you through three different Artisanal recipes, an oven dish, a stove top dish, and of course a step by step creation of our signature Artisanal cheese plate. Wine will be served and fun will be had by all! Numbers are limited, so reserve your spot now

All classes are held at The Artisanal Premium Cheese Center, 500 W. 37th Street, New York, NY 10018.

Question: What is ''processed'' cheese?
Find out in the next Artisanal Cheese Lovers Trivia Segment!

Last Time We Asked: What do the A.O.C. designations for the cheeses of France indicate? Do we have similar designations in the U.S.?

Answer: A.O.C. stands for Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, literally meaning registered trademark of origin. The A.O.C. designation is applied to agricultural products of France and guarantees quality for geographical origin, regional identification, and manufacturing and ripening practices. Though the geographical origins for A.O.C. status are strict (in some cases down to the specific commune within a region) the fabrication methods are not as clearly defined. For example: the A.O.C. label does not necessarily guarantee that a cheese is made from unpasteurized milk (unless this is spelled out in the manufacturing methods dictated for a particular cheese.)

The A.O.C. designations assures the buyer a level of quality, and it assures the producers that their products will not be replicated elsewhere, possibly at inferior methods of making, thus denigrating the name of the cheese. Violations are punishable by heavy fines and imprisonment.

We do not have this kind of agricultural designation system here in the United States, partly because we don't have as long a history of cheese making here, and partly because we are seeing similar and outstanding cheese types being produced in completely different parts of the nation.