Switzerland: sun, hiking, mountains, biking, museums, culture, skiing, sledging and cheese! Cheesemaker Willi Schmid from Switzerland recently held a tasting with nine of his cheeses at Mazzaro’s Italian Market in St. Petersburg. He came all the way from Lichtensteig to talk about his love for each cheese and brought our friendly neighborhood cheesemonger Caroline Hostettler, of Quality Cheese in Fort Myers, along to help with the translating. Willi’s cheeses are nothing like the holey cheese that holds a fond place in our hearts and on our burgers; they are real artisan products exploding with flavor. When Caroline introduced Willi she said, “He wants a cheese that speaks its own language,” and this mad scientist/craftsman has definitely created cheeses that make a statement.
This article appears in Feb 10-16, 2011.