Tag Archives: Eric Paul

The Story of Us

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By Alifair Skebe

Customers often ask, “How long have you been open?” While this question seems to warrant a fairly straightforward answer, such as, “Our shop was established in 2012,” it begs a larger question: when did this all begin? And as all things begin in the same manner, The Cheese Traveler began with an idea.

Like a refined cheese, the development of The Cheese Traveler was a process. Eric Paul, cheesemonger and owner, long held the desire to own a cheese shop, but the business truly solidified only after the building had been leased. In June of 2012, Eric and I escaped for a weekend vacation to celebrate our ninth anniversary. Eric had just signed the lease at 540 Delaware Avenue, and the space was deep in renovations. The weather was balmy and beautiful. We set out for Little Falls, one of New York’s hidden gems, especially for hikers and climbers. What we didn’t realize at the time was that it was also a hidden gem for cheesemongers. Little Falls, New York is not only nationally recognized for its Moss Island, an igneous intrusion along the Mohawk River with prehistoric glacial potholes, it was also at one time nationally recognized as the cheese capital of the United States.

Little Falls, NY

Eric has been interested in all things cheese since I met him. When we started dating, he was Cheese and Meat Manager at the local Albany co-op Honest Weight, but he soon left to take a position at Siena College’s library in order to complete his undergraduate education. Siena offered Eric a tuition reduction as an employee, and Eric could take classes part-time in the Classics program. While these two positions on the surface may seem unrelated, the connection is that Eric is a researcher at heart.

Starting with ‘cooperative’ ideology of local, small production foods, at Honest Weight Eric developed a way to retail Slow Food, the small, local, farmstead and artisanally-produced foods from around the world. Slow Food International began in Italy as a reaction against the fast food industry. Eric brought ‘slow foods’ from neighboring New York valleys – Schoharie, Hudson, Columbia, and Washington in the form of grass-fed meats and farmstead cheeses – and international ‘slow foods’ specialty chocolates, confections, and accompaniments from Europe and the U.S. into the small, specialty foods section of the co-op. These were the best slow food that the regions had to offer.

Missing slow foods, but capitalizing on his research skills gained from his years at the co-op, Eric sought in his new position at Siena to find the nationally-recognized films of each country – those which were banned, contested, and controversial as well as innovative for their technique and quality. Even though Eric had no library science degree, nor the authority to request or buy the films for the department, he enlisted the help of faculty to sign off on his purchases and use the films for their classes. At my behest, he brought in a collection of Surrealist films, making Siena’s one of the few libraries in the world to own these special, art-house films.

Eric left Siena to complete his bachelor’s degree full-time in Classics at Bard College. Afterward, he worked for a start-up co-op in Troy, NY. However, he had always wanted to get back to cheese. He began translating passages from ancient Greek that referenced cheese in any way, and gathered them in a compendium to classical literature. He worked a short stint at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, MA to get a feel for the small, specialty food business. Through understanding the business, Eric realized that he could open a cheese shop of his own, and he began to devise ways to make that happen in Albany. And that’s really when his idea of a ‘cheese traveler’ began. A ‘cheese traveler’ is a researcher who travels to bring the best and most unique flavors of the cheese world to you.

But as your humble author, I must admit that a refined palate was never my forte. Words and visual design were my aesthetic. The poor immigrant life of my ancestors was one of survival and of sometimes empty bowls and hungry bellies – it didn’t matter what it tasted like; if it was edible, that was good enough. In my 20s, I began branching out in cooking. A vegetarian must exist on more than bread, pasta, vegetables, and soy. I bought a funny little book with pictures of carved pumpkins called Play with Your Pumpkins, which to date has the best recipe for French pumpkin soup, Paul Bocuse’s ‘Soupe de Courge.’ I like to think that it was his recipe and a wedge of Gruyère that brought Eric and me together.

Before I even knew Eric was the cheese manager of the co-op, I had bought a slice of six-month Gruyère with the intent of making Bocuse’s soup. I put the cheese in my bare fridge, right on the top shelf. Eric and I then met while I was member-working as a cashier at the co-op. After we had been on a few dates, I invited him over to my apartment for Sunday brunch. He chanced to look into my refrigerator. Truthfully, on any other day, it could have been a block of cheap cheddar sitting there. Fortunately, this stunning little cheese stood out. I’d like to say that I passed the food test, but it was much more than that. We connected on our shared love of researching the past and experimentation, of learning and discovery. Consequently, I am no longer a vegetarian

Flash forward to Little Falls, NY. Eric and I had just eaten a lovely meal of oysters, lamb, and duck made by Chef/owner James Aufmuth at the French bistro and hotel Canal Side Inn. We were walking through the town from the canal up to the main drag. (Little Falls is also known for its haunted hotels.) And along the sidewalk were historical markers with a narrative of the town’s cheese industry during the nineteenth century. Pictured in black and white on the placards were enormous cheddar wheels, railroad cars, the first industrialized and bottled rennet, factory houses, and more. Photos of factory workers, administrators, town residents. Surprised by our discovery, we ran from marker to marker to find out more about the town’s history, but also of our own, our nation’s, the history of the business we were now entering with our little Albany cheese shop. We had a name and location with no logo, a name without a brand. And here in this place, we realized something. That what we were doing was important. It was the refining of an idea, the ripening of something unique, and Little Falls affirmed us in our journey. That night is the moment that we, cheese travelers were truly ‘open,’ and like Walt Whitman’s uniquely American ‘yawp,’ we sounded ours over the proverbial rooftops of the Capital Region.

Special Class: Holiday Cheese Plates

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Holiday Cheese Plating: A New Class at The Cheese Traveler

Where: The Cheese Traveler, 540 Delaware Avenue, Albany
When: Wednesday, December 18, 6-8pm
Cost: $40, Go to cheesetraveler.brownpapertickets.com or visit the shop to purchase tickets

A beautiful cheese plate can be highlight of your holiday entertaining. Join Cheesemonger Eric Paul for a 2 hour workshop featuring cheese sampling, beverage pairing, and learning the art of crafting the perfect cheese plate.

Starting with styles, textures, and milks, Eric will show how to choose cheeses that will both compliment and contrast to create a well-rounded selection. To take it to the next level, we’ll introduce pairing nuts, preserves, meats, fruits, crackers, beverages, and more. Once you know what you want on your board, we’ll show you how to cut, plate, and present your delicious work of art.

All class attendees will receive a 10% discount on their holiday cheese order from The Cheese Traveler. Buy your tickets in the shop or at cheesetraveler.brownpapertickets.com

Eric and Alifair's Workshop "Making Elegant Cheese Plates" at Wine and Dine for the Arts 2013

Eric and Alifair’s Workshop “Making Elegant Cheese Plates” at Wine and Dine for the Arts 2013

Limburger Files: Pt. 2, Beer and Cheese Pairing

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by Alifair Skebe and David Doughan

From the family of smear-ripened or washed-rind cheeses, Limburger is practically made to pair with beer. The bold flavor of the orange-colored, slightly sweet and acidic rind and the smooth, creamy texture of the paste blend well with the effervescent, cool taste of a pint.

Limburger has long been considered a working-class cheese, because it packs a lot of flavor for not a lot of money. The cheese with its dense meaty texture is strong enough to hold its own on a rye-bread sandwich with red onion and mustard and to equally satisfy the tastebuds. Often found on bar menus and under glass at the deli counter, this Belgian-German cheese has become an American classic.

On a balmy February evening, cheesemongers Eric Paul, David Doughan, and Alifair Skebe met to sample Limburger and Beers, looking for the perfect pairing. A great pairing will bring out the best in both, and particularly for Limburger, you want the sweetness and subtlety of its hearty, bold flavor to shine above the funkiness of the washed rind. The right beer can do just that. The wrong beer will either leave the cheese tasting flat or overpowering.

Of the beers that night, we sampled Belgian beers and the American Peak IPA. Amongst the Belgian contenders were Duvel, Chimay blue label, Lindeman’s Gueuze Cuvee Rene, and Delirium Tremens. Although Limburger has long been thought to be a German cheese, its origins are located in Belgium with the monasteries, and its roots are close to Chimay. Thusly, we chose to pair it with the beers that most resemble its heritage.

Limburger, accompaniments, and the beer selection

Limburger, accompaniments, and the beer selection

The tasting order of the pairing began with Peak Organic IPA, and American Indian Pale Ale, and moved to Delerium Tremens and Duvel, both Belgian strong pale ales. We then tasted Lindeman’s Gueuze Cuvee Rene, a Belgian sour, and finished with the Chimay Grande Reserve blue label, a Belgian strong dark ale.

What follows are some tasting notes  –

Peak Organic IPA – American Indian Pale Ale, 7.2%

  • Bright yellow.  One finger head.
  • Fragrant, flowery aroma.
  • Crisp, refreshing IPA that has not gone overboard on the hops.

I definitely would drink this IPA on a regular basis; however, the Limburger overwhelmed the crisp taste immediately.  Water might be a better pairing than this IPA. The worst pairing of the night.

Delirium Tremens – strong Belgian pale ale, 8.5%

  • Bright yellow hue with no clouding.  Nice lacing.  Very little head.
  • Aromas of cloves and pepper.
  • Taste is a bit sweet at first followed by some heat and ends with a dry finish.
  • The better of the two Belgian Pale Ales.

Almost able to stand up to the Limburger. But the cheese wins out on the finish.

Duvel – strong Belgian pale ale, 8.5%

  • Bright yellow hue with no clouding.  Moderate head. Very slight lacing.
  • Citrus aroma.
  • Taste is more linear than the Tremens.  Crisp spicy taste then just goes nowhere after that.
  • The Duvel just is not as interesting a BPA.

Once I tasted the rind of the Limburger I could no longer taste the beer.  The beer did hold up to the paste though.

Lindemans Gueuze Cuvee Rene – Gueze, 5.50%

  • Hazy orange hue.  Slightly more lacing than the Belgian Pale Ale.
  • Barnyard aroma with tart overtones.
  • Taste – tart/sour but not overly aggressive.  Some spice in the background, but I could not place it.  Well-balanced.

A triumph of human ingenuity.  And a complete disaster with the Limburger. The beer’s tartness only accentuated the unpleasant flavors in the Limburger. (Alifair liked this pairing, especially accompanied by the horseradish mustard and pickle relish.)

Chimay Grande Reserve – Belgian strong dark ale, 9.0%

  • Amber to brown color.  2 finger head.
  • Aromas of plum and other fruits.
  • Red wine tastes abound – grape, plums, raisins come to mind.  Very sweet. Creamy texture.

The only beer that worked with the Limburger without accompaniments.  The sweetness of the beer was able to soften the acidic flavor of the rind and allowed me to really enjoy the fruity undertones of the Limburger’s paste.

Our Final Comments on the Tasting:

Overall we found that we enjoyed the Limburger especially when eaten with rye bread and condiments. We agreed that the best Limburger pairing of the evening was Chimay. The flavors enhanced one another and brought out pleasant notes in each. Eric also enjoyed the Delirium Tremens and Alifair liked the Lindemans.

The order of beers was wrong…drinking the Gueuze before the Belgian Strong Pale Ale killed the palate.

Locality, Farm-to-Table, and the Future of American Cheese: Musings on This Year’s American Cheese Society’s Conference

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by Alifair Skebe

Earlier this month the American Cheese Society (ACS) celebrated its 30th anniversary in Madison, WI, the largest dairy-producing state in the United States. The conference ‘A Dairy State of Mind’ brought together cheese makers, dairy scientists, cheese retailers, importers, and distributors and featured ACS’ national, annual cheese competition of over 1790 cheeses and various workshops.

Cheese makers meet Cheesemongers. L-R Mary Quicke of Quickes Farm, Eric Paul of The Cheese Traveler, and Chris of Consider Bardwell Farm
Cheesemakers meet Cheesemongers. L-R Mary Quicke of Quickes Farm, Eric Paul of The Cheese Traveler, and Chris Gray of Consider Bardwell Farm

Eric Paul, Cheesemonger-owner of The Cheese Traveler, remarks, “The State of Wisconsin and the City of Madison were great hosts. We toured farms and hung out with local cheese makers and checked out the amazing delights of the city.” Many cheesemakers were like Chris Roelli, of Roelli Cheese and the beloved Dunbarton Blue, who woke up at 3 AM to milk the animals and make cheese before driving into the conference to meet and network with fellow cheesemakers, distributors, and retailers.

City retailers got into the excitement of ACS: Fromagination, a retailer located on the square, converted its cheese display to showcase local and regional Wisconsin cheeses. Slipping away from the conference, Mr. Paul explored the Madison Farmers’ Market, the largest producer-only market in the U.S. A coveted spot in this market took Nancy Potter of our favored Potter’s Crackers four years to get in!

During the busy day Mr. Paul ate lots of fried cheese curd (click here to see Gordon Edgar’s blog post on this regional specialty); and imbibed reasonable, but copious amounts of, New Glaurus Spotted Cow Ale, a regional specialty, all while amidst old friends, making new friends, attending workshops, tasting some of our favorite cheeses and products, and discovering new ones.

Madison, WI Farmer's Market, currently the largest outdoor market in the USA
Madison, WI Farmer’s Market, currently the largest outdoor market in the USA

The conference themes “farm-to-table,” and “local” are concepts that we at The Cheese Traveler set out to put into practice. Odessa Piper, founder of the famed Madison restaurant L’Etoile and 1970s pioneer of the sustainable, locally-sourced movement, in her opening keynote address outlined the ideas behind ‘local’ and ‘farm to table’ and shared her reflections on a life in the industry. She noted that the definitions are not a simple designation of miles from a central location, but rather, “local [or terroir] is a distance best measured by our hearts.” Locality is a relationship of the consumer to the producer. Eric Paul of The Cheese Traveler adds, “This relationship is, in some ways, sentimental; it’s about our individual relationship to the bounty of the land. It has to do with going to the land and seeing and experiencing it.”

Uplands Cheese, makers of Pleasant Ridge and Rush Creek reserve award-winning cheeses
Uplands Cheese, makers of Pleasant Ridge and Rush Creek reserve award-winning cheeses

This topic resonated throughout the conference. Valerie Henbest, while talking about the importance of signage on cheese during her panel An International View of Cheesemongering, said, “[the sign] ties the customer to the story – distance needs more poetry.” In other words, the greater the distance a customer is located from the terroir, the greater the need for ‘poetry,’ a story or beautiful words that capture the spirit of the land. Through language rather than personal experience, the relationship can be felt. As a merchant retailer, The Cheese Traveler travels to the producer to develop a relationship and returns to its customers in Albany to share the story of the cheese makers and their cheeses. As well, The Cheese Traveler shares with blog readers a love of traditional, artisanally-crafted cheese and foods.

A quick snapshot of The International Cheese Guild's Annual Ceremony

A quick snapshot of The International Guild du Fromage (International Cheese Guild)’s Annual Induction Ceremony

At the Keynote breakfast and later at the induction ceremony for the International Guild du Fromage, Eric had the pleasure of spending time with Mary Quicke of Quickes Farmhouse Cheddar located in Devon, England. Quicke’s family has been making traditional cheddar in Devon from raw, grass-fed milk on their 450 year old, 1,200 acres estate. She described the farm as a fascinating place where Pangaea had once been united. Ms. Quicke asked if we sell her cheese at The Cheese Traveler. Without hesitation, Eric answered that his shop does sell her traditional clothbound cheddar, because the story of cheese is the story of tradition: even though there are delicious American farmhouse cheddars, made and aged in the traditional British way, great American producers descend from European ancestors. Eric calls European cheeses “the antecedents of American cheeses,” because of his background in Classical philology. The Cheese Traveler wants its customers to be aware of this tradition, so the shop sells both domestic and imported small-scale, traditional cheeses.

As a cheese shop, The Cheese Traveler’s role is to develop relationships with producers and become knowledgeable about all aspects of the cheeses sold in our shop. At ACS, Eric was able to talk with U.S and international cheese makers about their farms and their methods of cheese making. In addition to the aforementioned conversations and discoveries, Eric developed three important relationships with some of America’s most acclaimed cheese makers: Jasper Hill Farm, Consider Bardwell Farm, and Uplands Cheese. We are excited about how these new developments will change our shop for the better!

Jasper Hill Farm. Out of Mr. Paul’s meetings, there came about a new and very exciting development. In the coming weeks, Eric and his team of cheesemongers will begin periodic visits to Jasper Hill Farm to taste and select the cheeses sold at The Cheese Traveler. This hand-selecting will deepen our relationship with Jasper Hill – their cheese makers, the farmland, and ultimately the story of their cheeses – and ensure that we are getting the tastiest cheese. Jasper Hill Farm won five awards this year, including three first place finishes and the coveted Best of Show award for Winnimere. We are planning our first visit up to Greensboro, Vermont on August 25th and 26th. Zoe Brickley of Jasper Hill, who prior to moving to Vermont was a manager at Murray’s Cheese in New York City, will come down to The Cheese Traveler later that week for guest cheesemonger, training, and lots of tasting. We’ll announce the date of Brickley’s visit on Facebook and Twitter.

Consider Bardwell Farm. Eric spoke with Chris Gray about touring and making cheese at Consider Bardwell Farm. Consider Bardwell has been a great supporter of The Cheese Traveler, helping out and sampling at our Grand Opening last November. Be sure to check them out at the Washington County Cheese Tour, which is coming up on September 7th & 8th (Click here to go to the Washington County Cheese Tour’s website). The Cheese Traveler is thrilled to be one of the sponsors of the tour this year!

Uplands Cheese. The day after ACS, Eric rented a car and drove an hour west of Madison to Dodgeville to visit Uplands Cheese. As Eric drove out to Dodgeville, he saw Wisconsin’s sloping hills, different from the state’s terrain that had been scraped flat by receding glaciers at the end of the last ice age. Eric spent the afternoon with Andy Hatch, who just a few days prior announced that he was buying the farm from the original owners and who happens to have family in Schoharie, County. They walked the fields, visited the herd, toured the cheese making and aging rooms, and tasted three different batches of Pleasant Ridge Reserve.1

Wisconsin's Farm fields at Uplands Cheese
Wisconsin’s Farm fields at Uplands Cheese

Eric talked with Andy about how he and his cheese makers develop the complexity in their cheeses: raw grass-fed milk and careful aging. They produce rich, complex milk by cultivating a complex mixed breed of cows and encourage complex microflora in the milk (good bacterial diversity) by only feeding cows grass and rotating them from paddock to paddock. As Andy walked with Eric through the creamery, he told him that the goal of the cheese making process is precision and consistency. Andy went on to say that a careful and laborious aging process brings out the complex flavor in the Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese. Young wheels are washed and turned daily and aged on wood, cheeses in the middle of their aging are washed 3x per week and turned, and cheeses at the end of their aging are washed 2x per week. Andy and Eric tasted three batches of Pleasant Ridge Reserve, enjoying the complex flavor and differences in each batch. We are eagerly anticipating the coming season of Rush Creek Reserve this fall.2

Competition: This year over 1795 cheeses were entered in the competition. Here are some of the award-winning cheeses that you can find in our shop:

Best of Show – Jasper Hill Farm Winnimere.

  • First3– Old Chatham Sheepherding Co. Ewe’s Blue,4 Jasper Hill Farm Winnimere, Spring Brook Tarentaise, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Rogue River Blue, Boston Post Dairy Eleven Brothers.
  • Second – Rupert, Marieke Premium Gouda, Caveman Blue, Baetje Farm Bloomsdale, Grafton Village Vermont Clothbound Cheddar.
  • Third – Cooperstown Cheese Jersey Girl,5 Jasper Hill Farm Harbison, Upland’s Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Avalanche Goat Cheddar, Evalon, Dancing Fern.

New Cheeses: Of course there were also new cheeses from familiar and new creameries. We are excited to bring you these cheeses in the coming weeks and months.

  • Meadowood Farm – in Cazenovia, in Madison County, NY, is in our backyard. Meadowood Farm makes farmstead sheep, and cow and with sheep mixed milk cheeses. We plan on getting Rippleton (a washed-rind, sheep’s milk cheese reminiscent of the washed-rind sheep’s milk cheeses from Corsica, but washed in fresh, unfermented beer from Empire Brewing in Syracuse), and Ledyard (a ripened, sheep’s milk similar to the leaf-wrapped robiolas from Piedmont, aged in wild grape leaves that have been soaked in a wheat beer brewed with local concord grapes). Look for Meadowood Farm cheeses in the shop in September after everyone returns from vacationing in early September.
  • Ruggles Hill Creamery – every Ruggles Hill creamery goat cheese we tasted confirmed for us that they are making some of the best goat cheeses in America. They are a micro-creamery, meaning they milk only 28 goats. This limited supply could also mean that it will be difficult for us to get their cheese, however we’re hoping that Eric’s hometown connections will help (he was raised in Hardwick, where the Ruggles Hill farm and creamery are located.
  • Floryis Truckle – this was a delicious cloth-bound cheddar aged over 12 months. It is made in Missouri and was honored with 2nd place in its category. It had a rich texture and complex layered flavors that were not too sweet: reminiscent of the British clothbound cheddar.

    Sampling Floryis Truckle

    Sampling Floryis Truckle

  • Bleu Mont Creamery –Willi Lehner has a tiny creamery in Wisconsin where he uses grass-fed milk from Uplands Cheese. Lehner took home a numerous awards in the competition including the first creamery ever to tie itself when their 12 Month Bandaged Cheddar and Big Sky Grana tied for 3rd in the Best of Show competition. Everything Eric tasted from them was delicious and full of flavor. Lehner makes cheese in very limited supply, but we are excited to try to get some over the next few months.

Specialty Food: Accompaniments are a cheeses best friend and so at ACS there were many tasty accompaniments we enjoyed and plan to bring to the shop. Here is a sampling of what you might expect to see coming to the shop:

  • Creminelli Salami – we tasted some great Creminili salami at the show and we are sure their salami will eventually make its way to our shop, particularly the bacon salami, the Camanial and the luscious Musica.
  • Smoking Goose Charcuterie – a new small production salumier out of Indiana, who sources their meat from local, sustainable, natural farms. They are experimenters who are not afraid to make great tasting, more exotic meats. They have a wonderful duck prosciutto.
  • Treat – Sarah Marx Feldner has a little bake shop in Milwaukee, WI where she makes spiced pecans. She makes a candied pecan and a candied spiced pecan that have excellent flavor and a wonderfully, crispy, candied coating.

Special acknowledgement goes out to David, Josh, Callen, Leigh, Joanne Tilley and Ali who did an awesome job sampling and selling the delicious, traditional and artisan products we have at the shop and at the Delmar Farmer’s Market while Eric was away. Great job everyone! The shop and market stand looked great!

1 Pleasant Ridge Reserve, which won 3rd place this year, is the only cheese to win Best of Show at the American Cheese Society 3x’s, the only 3x winner in the Cheese Category at the Good Food Award, a winner of Best of Show at the U.S. Cheese Championship (making it is the only cheese to win both ACS and the US Cheese Championship), and a super gold winner at the Guild of Fine Foods’ World Cheese Awards. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is a mainstay on our cheese counter.

2 Uplands makes Rush Creek Reserve when the animals are coming to the end of their lactation cycle and they are producing richer milk. Rush Creek is an un-cooked, un-pressed, washed rind cheese that is wrapped in spruce bark, made in the style of Vacherin Mont d’Or.

3 Cheese that win fist place in their category complete for Best Of Show.

4 We carry Old Chatham’s Shaker Blue which is made in smaller batches from raw milk. The texture tends to be slightly more firm than Ewe’s Blue; the flavor is more complex with earthy, brothy, lanolin notes.

5 Sharon Tomaselli, the cheese maker of Cooperstown Cheese let out the happiest shriek of the competition when Jersey Girl was announced the winner third place winner in the prestigious open category American Original.

Store Opening at 540 Delaware, Albany NY (update)

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The Cheese Traveler has begun its soft opening. The cheese case is fully stocked with traditionally-made, complex-tasting cheeses from the US, Europe, and UK. All cheeses are cut-to-order, and we sample everything in the case. This month we are celebrating “American Cheese Month.” Buy a passport for $10 and get 20% off the featured domestic cheese of the day. The meat coolers are well-stocked with fresh and frozen organic heritage breed beef and pork. All cuts are available. Dry goods are arriving everyday and we already have some in: fine pasta, polenta, paella rice, risotto, demi-glaze and sauces, jam, mustards, chutneys, sea salt, olive oils, and vinegars. There are many more to come: fine chocolates, sodas, honeys, crackers, biscuits, gluten-free items, olives, spices, and fleur-de-sel, local lamb and chicken. We will soon be a place to find all the finest ingredients and specialty items you need for cooking traditional and modern recipes.

Our mission is to bring the customer handcrafted items that are produced locally as well as around the world. We share a taste experience with you by bringing the flavor of the locality to you. You can have the taste of your travels or where you wish to travel to in your own home. Soon to arrive are pastas, honey, and olive oil from the smallest pasta producer in the Abruzzo region of Italy, famed for its pristine water and flavorful grain. The climate, protected by mountains on all sides, supports a rich flora unparalleled in the world. The producer uses traditions passed down and perfected over hundreds of years, and through a small operation is best able to control the practices of production, thereby crafting a superior product. The French fleur-de-sel, which will arrive this week, is collected by a single Brittany salt collector who collects salt and dries it on his roof. These are the practices and environs that capture the terroir.

Our store hours are flexible this week. We are completing the finishing touches on the store, and when we are in the store, we are open for business. Follow us on twitter and facebook for up-to-the-minute hours of operation.

The store is very easy to get to. It is a minute from the end of 787 in Albany and exit #23 off the Northway I87. It is between the intersections of Rt 443 and McAlpin and Rt 9W.

next to All Good Bakers, The Yoga Loft, Mingle, and Nicole’s Bistro

Link to Google Maps

 

Our Store at 540 Delaware (An Update)

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Many supporters, eager customers, neighbors, and passersby have noticed The Cheese Traveler’s sign in the window since it went up at the beginning of May when we signed our lease. And many have wondered when we anticipate our opening date. We shall say that we have completed remodeling and are in the permit-securing phase.

The front door of 540 Delaware, home to The Cheese Traveler and Tilldale Farm Products

Eric, aka The Cheese Traveler, at Albany City Hall to apply for a Building Permit

To those who know us from our small operation at the Delmar and Deleware Avenue Farmer’s Markets, we are cheesemongers! That means that we sell cheese (see our post Cheesemongers, not Cheesemakers)

Mongers means “sellers”

The Cheese Traveler is a small, family-run cheese shop that sells local, farmstead and artisan fine cheeses. When we open at 540 Delaware, our product line will expand to a wider selection of farmstead and artisan cheese from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and British Isles and include fine charcuterie (cured meats like — artisan Prosciutto di Parma, Jamon Serrano, Jamon Iberico, salumi, and pate) and artisan specialty foods — crackers, mustards, jams, chutneys, olive oils, vinegars, chocolate and other confections, etc. We will also feature Tilldale Farm Products’ organic, grass-fed, heritage breed meat — Devon beef and Tamworth pork — poultry and eggs.

Since taking over the space at 540 Delaware, The Cheese Traveler and Tilldale Farm have added plumbing and refrigeration to support a world-class, cut-to-order cheese shop and fine food market. We refinished the poured concrete floor using sustainable soy and water-based products (this alone took two and a half months to do!) and gave everything a fresh coat of paint.

Bubba and Sissy brush-sanding the concrete floor to prepare the stain.

More sanding

Eric staining the floor.

Anticipate something like a Spanish or Italian-style grotto…

Of course now much of this floor you see here is covered by coolers and metro shelves. We are at least two weeks out from opening…possibly four depending on the city. Lastly, our logo is nearly finished and ready for signage.

In the meantime, please spread the word, keep up your interest, and visit us for local cheese at the markets. By the way, we are so excited to be next to our neighboring businesses All Good Bakers bakery and cafe (of the delicious new semifreddo) and Mingle, an upscale, asian-fusion, world cuisine by the same chefs who brought you Avenue A. For a taste experience, try the Flavors of Del-So Cheese Board featuring our cheese, All Good Bakers’ flatbread and your choice of beer or wine flight.  Spread the love!

Being the Cheese Man’s Daughter

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by Ava Champion

You may know that we are a combined family, originally Autumn living with my dad Eric, and me living with my mom Ali. Dad has been a cheese-kind-of-guy ever since I can remember, which is when I was five, when my Mom married my Dad.
From a very young age, cheese has been a part of my life, but for Autumn, my stepsister, she has been around it all her life. You would think being around it so much, you might get annoyed with it, and you guessed right.
I remember one time, Autumn and I were talking about how we wished we were normal. Now, mind you, we were around seven or eight, and normal doesn’t have a very good definition for little kids. Our idea of normal included: not eating healthy, not going organic, eating at McDonalds, and most of all, NOT EATING CHEESE. Now you can probably imagine how heart-breaking that must have been for my Dad. How could any kids of his not like cheese?
But it turns out, we at eight were the only ones who thought like that. My brother Terran loved and still loves cheese. I used to think that Terran only did that because he wanted to be like Dad, but now I realize that he genuinely likes cheese.
I once asked my Dad why cheese makes people so happy, I mean it smells! He responded by saying, “Cheese tastes great and it reminds people of their travels and trips. They have happy memories of cafes they went to in France, and restaurants they went to in Italy, so naturally, they want to remember.”
Now I can understand that to some degree. You see a cheese from France, you want to remember your honeymoon. (At least my parents do, having gone to Paris for theirs.) Or you see an Italian cheese, and you remember going there on a trip with your school. (Of course you want to remember that because you spent a lot of money to go!) But when I see people buying cheese, I don’t think everyone has been traveling before. Not everyone has the time.
I see people being engaged in conversations with my Dad, and they seem drawn to him. I don’t know what it is, and I am one of his daughters! But since people love talking to him, and he loves cheese, naturally people end up liking the cheese just because Dad does, and talks about it. He seems to draw people in with his own fascination with the cheese, and I think that is what makes people the most happy to see our cheese stand. Someone who is happy with their job is one big step towards happy customers. The next step is local, and then the third is the variety. All that alone seems to make people like cheese if it isn’t my Dad.
When I was younger, there was this book in our house called The Old Man Who Loved Cheese. Autumn would always ask my dad to read it to her, before I came into the picture, and boy did he hate it. In it, it talked about this guy who loved cheese, the stinkier the better, and everyone was overwhelmed by the smell. Eventually he gave up cheese altogether because it was pushing everyone away, which is not a great moral, because the man was giving up something that he really loved. Why my Dad hated that book, I can hazard a few guesses: because not all cheese is stinky, because the guy in the end gives up cheese, and because Autumn had him over-read it, but most likely because the cheese was ‘stinky.’ And although my Dad hated it, let me tell you, it is a well worn book in our house. That and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. The Stinky Cheese Man runs around the pages of the book like the Gingerbread Man, bragging about no one being able to catch him. In the end the fox tricks him and eats him up, which is very nice for the fox, and not so much for the Stinky Cheese Man. It’s pretty encouraging for the people who, like the fox, like to eat stinky cheese!


One day, after market, Dad asked Autumn and me which one was stinkier: Cheese or Fish. We both said FISH at the same time, automatically. You might think that because we live around cheese, we are immune to the smell and we should know better, having read all those stinky cheese books, but it seems that most people who come up to our booth are there originally because of the smell. Some people say they are just smelling all the cheese when I ask them if I can help them, and others say that they smelled it and wanted to see what it was. If cheese is so stinky, then why does the smell draw people over? It is not so much as stinky, as just a strong aroma. And even Autumn is not immune to the worst of the strong cheese. There are smelly cheeses. Just not all are.
Cheese is good, but my Dad selling it makes it even better. Autumn and I used to (and still do) like to brag about how our Dad started the cheese department at the Honest Weight Food Coop. People would look at us like we were all cute and little kid-ish, then turn to my Dad and ask, “Really?” It was almost as if they were praising him for how well it is going. Or it would be a ‘really’ as in ‘hmm, let me check out The Cheese Traveler. It must be good if this guy started it at the Coop.’ Those ones would and always will make my heart swell.

Ava Champion is a Junior at The Doane Stuart School and a novelist.