Seattle Cheese Fest video tour

Tasty cheese samples at the festival

Festival spreads the word on great cheeses from around the world.

After relocating to the Northwest a mere 3 ½ years ago, I was amazed at the vibrant cheese scene in which I found myself. No less than five artisan cheesemakers at work around Oregon seemed a huge number to this Austin, TX transplant.

Just a few years later, my head is spinning with the sheer number of cheesemakers and cheese lovers in the region. Oregon now boasts more than 17 creameries -- I can hardly keep up!

A good indicator of the growing buzz about cheese is popularity of the Seattle Cheese Festival. The 3rd Annual festival was held May 18-19 at the historic Pike Place Market. Boasting attendance of 70,000+ over the two day celebration, crowds can sample and buy hundreds of different cheeses and taste wines from around the region and around the world, with a special emphasis on limited production, local producers.

The festival kicked off with a first-ever “Rolling of the Cheese,” a co-opted 300-year-old British tradition. Small cheeses called truckles were rolled down the cobblestone street in front of the market using cheesemaking paddles. Contestants included Kurt Dammeier, owner of Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, Chef Thierry Rautureau of Rovers Restaurant and several members of the Seattle Curling club, with Dammeier taking the crown this year.

Sell-out crowds were able to attend seminars featuring luminaries from the cheese world, including Mother Noella Marcellino (aka the Cheeese Nun), Giovanni Guffanti, a 5th generation affineur from Italy, and Laura Werlin, author of several books on cheese including “The New American Cheese”.

Mother Noella, a cloistered nun from a Benedictine Abbey in Connecticut, is a world-renowned microbiologist focusing on mold strains found in cheese throughout the world and a spokeswoman for the preservation genetic diversity. She has become a heroine in the artisanal cheese world and shared her story with cheesemakers and aficionados at a screening of the documentary featuring her story, “The Cheese Nun,” at the Seattle Art Museum.

The name Guffanti is almost synonymous with exceptional Italian cheese. Giovanni Guffanti is a fifth generation affineur with a world-wide following. The family makes no cheese, instead they select the finest seasonal offerings from regional producers and age them to perfection at several aging facilities near Verona. This pampered affinage results in cheeses of stunning complexity and flavor. Guffanti cheeses can be found at specialty retailers throughout the Portland Metro area.

Year after year, the Seattle Cheese Festival continues to grow and improve, spreading the word on great cheeses from around the world. I’ve already marked my calendar for 2008!

~ Mark Your Calendar ~

With all this enthusiasm for cheese north of the Oregon border, it’s no wonder Oregon will have its very own festival “The Wedge: Portland Celebrates Cheese,” slated for Saturday, October 6th, 2007 at the Portland Farmers Market. Watch this column for more details in the coming months.