misscheesemonger.com

Today, we hear the story of Catherina, whom I have sometimes seen at the cheese counter while perusing the shelves at Cheese Plus. For her favorite cheese, Catherina chose the beautiful Cacio di Since traveling in Italy was part of the curricula, I travelled extensively, happily eating as many regional cheeses as possible. Ray’s friendly cheesemongers never fail to share any cheese they think I would like. A word from photographer Simon Puschmann about his process for this project: I have always been inspired by German 1920 ́s portrait photographer August Sander and his wish to categorize the world through portraits.

Oh my gosh, I don’t even know where to begin this blog post about the very first Miss Cheesemonger Sings operatic cheese pairing recital! There was so much to the day. The room was absolutely full, the energy was so joyous and open-hearted, and everyone was very good about not devouring all the cheese before getting to their moment in the program! The idea to do an operatic cheese pairing has been with me for a few years now, just as classical singing and this blog have been with me for a quite a number of years! I’ve always thought they went beautifully together, since they are both tied to ancient traditions, and elevate very basic human needs–communication and nourishment–into gorgeous, nuanced art forms

As many of you know, I am a classically trained singer, and if there is one thing I may love more than cheese, it is singing. I’ve prepared a French art song and aria program for you, and paired each piece of music with a unique cheese, thanks to my cheese and wine partner Because so many of you are far away from San Francisco, I am having the whole concert live streamed and recorded, so you can purchase the web ticket price to have access to the show live or afterward. I’ll send you the program notes, too, so you can learn about the music, the cheeses, and stock up at your local cheese shop.

Before then, the space that is now Cheese Plus was occupied by a less ambitious but similar enterprise (I believe called “Leonard’s”) that I would visit now & then for raw pasta or the occasional block of feta or cheddar; but the presentation was low-energy and offhand. I prefer Stilton over other bleus because it’s less sweet. Today, only 6 producers of Stilton exist in England, and we’ve always found Colston Bassett’s Stilton imported by Neal’s Yard Dairy in London to be our favorite. Not only did I chose color for the cheese and BW for the portrait but I also chose two different lighting scenarios– a more emotional light for the portraits and a more factual light for the cheese.