Winter Artisan Cheese Fest
Cheesemaker and chef Sheana Davis lives and breathes cheese. She comes from Sonoma, after all, home to legendary cheesemaker Ig Vella and the heart of California’s cheese country. Sheana also happens to have some superstar friends in the cheese biz, having introduced many of them into the business. Which is why her annual Winter Artisan Cheese Fair is one of tastiest places to grip and grin with the Cheeserati this Sunday, February 21. The fest includes artisan cheese from throughout the country, along with local food producers, brewers, chefs and winemakers from 1 to 4pm at Mac Arthur Place. SoCo foods on the menu: Nix Chix eggs, Davis’ own Delice de la Vallee, Matos St. George, Achandiha Capricious cheese, McClelland’s Organic Butter, Sonoma County Pork, Ig Vella Cheeses and more. Tickets are $25 per person. For hard-core cheeseheads, the cheesy fun continues during a two day conference. For more details: sheanadavis.com, 935-7960.
Required Reading: 
Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge by Gordon Edgar
As guy behind the cheese counter at San Francisco’s much-loved Rainbow Grocery, Gordon Edgar gets that cheese can be kind of funny. And smelly. And maybe even a little weird sometimes, but ultimately one of the most profound foods we can eat.
The former punk rocker turned Cheesemonger writes a self-deprecating, humorous and most-importantly, passionate love-letter to le fromage that’s as much personal journey as guide.
As a foodie, you’ll lick up all of the crumbs that Edgar drops, from purveyor insights, the raw milk myth and annoying patrons who insist on the proper pronunciation of Gouda (howwwda), to his personal opinions on rBST.
The book is equally approachable to casual cheese affectionados with a cadre of pithy, ridiculous, brilliant and left-of-center insights of someone who can legitimately call himself the Big Cheese of San Francisco.
I think there are a few moral responsibilities that go along with this subject. Think about it – in the world today, corporate corruption has gotten out of control in the United States. It’s amazing how something so simple can lead a decision-maker to make difficult moral decisions every day. I’d like to see you do another post that discusses the moral implications with this as I personally feel that not enough people think about this aspect of our society – which has led to the degredation of our society’s moral values. Sorry to rant, this just means a lot to me.
After spending some time in the Netherlands it just feels like self-dumbing down to pronounce Gouda improperly. Most people make an effort to pronounce French food and wine terms correctly.
That picture just makes me feel plane jealous!
Please try the Springhill farms cheese from Petaluma. The best ever. I’ve been buying it for several years and you can’t go wrong. They have it at G & G markets.