If you've been to a cheese shop or counter recently, you may have suffered some sticker shock - it's no secret that everything has gotten more expensive lately, but how much do you really know about the cost of real cheese? Good cheese usually isn't cheap, but the sticker shock is also directly connected to consumers' removal from the food system as a result of big box grocery stores and industrialization. In order to reconnect with our cheese, and develop a deeper appreciation for these products, we must first understand just how much work, passion, and knowledge is required to produce a wheel of real cheese and get it into our hands. Good cheese is an investment! Keep reading below to learn what it takes to get cheese from the farmer to your fridge, and how you can protect your investment and maintain your cheese's flavor. The price tag for real cheese represents not only the cheese itself, but the collective skill and labor of everyone involved in the process. 

It would take days to describe every detail of how a wheel of cheese gets from the maker to the counter, but what's important to focus on is the number of hands that (literally and metaphorically) touch the cheese on it's journey to the shop. It's also important to remember that higher quality ingredients, equipment, and feed for the animals, for example, are expensive. There is no substitute for human skill and intuition when it comes to making and aging cheese, and employing humans instead of robots is expensive. And no robot can fully understand hundreds of years of cheesemaking tradition and technique.

We rightfully celebrate the farmer and the cheesemaker and the affineur, but we should also consider the people who clean the vats, and mop the floors, and wrap the cheeses, just to name a few. Additionally, the longer the cheese is aged, the fewer wheels of cheese can be produced, meaning each wheel will be more expensive but taste better than a cheese that was aged at an accelerated rate to make room for more cheese in the caves for faster cash. Longer, more deliberate aging also represents a significant cash flow issue for cheesemakers and affineurs, since they do not get paid until the cheese is sold - and this labor of love is often a skill handed down through generations in family businesses! So the price tag does not only represent the cheese itself, but the sometimes hundreds of years of technique and tradition that is present within that wheel. 

Once the cheese is ready for sale, it needs to be packed up and moved from the aging facility to its next destination, which might be a port where the cheese will loaded onto a container by hand to be shipped overseas. Aside from the cost of transport to the port and ocean freight, importing cheese has costs associated with customs paperwork and FDA involvement, among other things. The cheese then spends 6 or more weeks in a temperature-controlled shipping container traveling to its next destination, where it will be unloaded by more human beings and cleared by the FDA. Since cheese is a living product, it must be meticulously packed up and maintained during transit so that it will arrive in good condition. It's then picked up by distributors, who need to make a profit off of it, and who will transport that cheese to the stores that will cut and sell it by hand, also for a profit so that employees and bills can be paid and more cheese can be purchased. Not to mention the high skill level and encyclopedic knowledge of the cheesemongers who care for the cheese once it reaches the cheese counter!

This is just the tip of the iceberg and does not even begin to cover the amount of labor and skill that is involved in every step of importing cheese. Understanding at least a small part of the process will help you start to appreciate how much work goes into getting you that quarter pound of aged Gouda or a perfectly ripe Camembert. Getting cheese from the farmer to the consumer is an incredibly nuanced process that requires an incredible amount of skill and knowledge from many different people! 

But if waxing poetic about cheesemaking traditions and shipping logistics isn't enough to convince you, the most effective way to create a meaningful and emotional connection with your cheese is to taste it. Every bite contains years of passion, tradition, and experience across different countries and hundreds of people. The best way to honor this work is to uphold the same standard of care that everyone else along the way has shown your cheese - storing and wrapping your cheese in Formaticum Cheese Storage Bags & Paper will ensure that your cheese can breathe, maintains the perfect humidity levels, and most importantly, tastes great. Continuing a high standard of care at home is a great way to show respect for everyone else in the supply chain who worked so hard to get the cheese to you - and experience the flavor of the cheese as the cheesemaker intended!

Blue cheese is one of the most polarizing and yet misunderstood cheeses in any cheese shop. While some cheese lovers are obsessed with Gorgonzola or Valdeon, others are self-proclaimed blue cheese haters and stay far away from that section of the case. We believe that the best way to appreciate a cheese is to understand it and taste it at its best - keep reading to learn more about the origins of blue cheese, and how serving and pairing it properly might help make a beautiful blue wedge a bit more approachable!

Like many other celebrated cheeses, the invention of blue cheese is purportedly an accident. Different cheeses have different origin stories - for example, Gorgonzola is said to be the result of a cheesemaker being distracted by his lover and trying to cover up the previous night's mistake with morning milk. But contrary to popular belief, the blue mold is not itself injected into a wheel of cheese! The culture, called penicillium Roquefort (yes, like the classic French Roquefort!) is added to liquid milk at the beginning of cheesemaking. After the cheese is formed and ages for a period of time, the wheels are pierced to introduce oxygen into the wheel and activate the blue mold. With the introduction of oxygen, the blue veining begins to grow in the space where the needle pierced the wheel, and in between the curds of the cheese. 

Proper serving and storage techniques can make all the difference in your journey to being a blue cheese lover. You should remove blue cheese from your refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving - letting your cheese come to room temperature will allow you to taste all the nuances of flavor and texture that the cheese has to offer. It's important to experience the cheese as the cheesemaker intended!

Serve your wedge of blue with the right tool - our Mini Blue Cheese Knife is perfect for making neat slices, and makes a great gift. 

If the intense flavor is still a bit too much for you, try these pairings to help acclimate your palate to blue cheese:

Honey: The sweetness of the honey will balance the spiciness of the blue. Try more floral honeys like acacia or orange blossom honey. 
Fruit: Fresh or dried fruit is a classic pairing for blue cheese - try dried apricot or fresh pears to add brightness and lift the flavor on your palate. 
Jam: Combining the previous two suggestions (fruit and sweetness) can't hurt! We recommend fig jam or sour cherry jam. 
Chocolate: This is a unique pairing that is also a monger favorite. Stick with milk chocolate though, as dark chocolate can sometimes be overly bitter. 
Dessert Wine or Cider: The perfect end to a good meal. Popular pairings include Port and Stilton, Sauternes & Roquefort, and Vin Santo & Gorgonzola, but any sweet wine or ice cider will provide a balancing sweetness to your blue cheese that will have you going back for bite after bite. 

After you're done enjoying your newfound favorite blue, it's important to store it properly in your fridge. Using a sturdier material like Formaticum Reusable Cheese Storage Bags & Sheets will prevent any leaking and keep your cheese's flavor at its peak for longer than other storage methods like plastic wrap or parchment paper. 

Post your favorite blue cheese pairings and tag us @formaticum and we'll repost our favorites!

As we wind down from the excitement of the winter holidays, we know that it's important to take some time to relax, recharge, and recover. If your New Year's resolution was to learn something new, we've got good news for you - we put together a concise list of the topics we've covered on the blog and social media this month. From cheese storage tips to proper knife care to serving suggestions, we've covered a wide range of topics. So take the next few minutes, grab a cozy blanket and a cup of tea, and read on to find out what the Formaticum team has been up to this month.   

Right after New Year's Day, we got to work tackling the age-old question: how long will my cheese last in the fridge? The answer is….it's complicated. Cheese is a gastronomic miracle, but it's not immortal! There are many factors that contribute to a cheese's shelf life. Read this post and watch our short video below to learn more about how to properly wrap and store your cheese in a way that preserves the flavor and texture. 

We wanted to keep the cozy vibes going even after the holidays, so we hosted a Raclette night to provide you with tried and true serving and pairing suggestions for everyone's favorite hot, melty cheese. Read this post to learn more about the history of this iconic cheese and how to choose a selection of different types of Raclette that will please everyone in your group. 

Wires and hollow knives and offset blades, oh my! The choices for cheese tools can seem endless, but we're here to guide you. Read this post to learn how to perfectly pair different knives and tools with different styles of cheese. The below video includes tutorials on how to use each of our knives and other cheese tools to get the perfect cut, every time!

You "cheddar" believe we finished the month out with an in-depth discussion about one of America's favorite cheeses. With the variety of cheddars available on the market being almost as vast as the number of cows who produce the milk to make them, it's important to select the cheese that is right for your specific needs. In this blog post, we discuss how to talk to your cheesemonger to not only walk away with the perfect cheese, but also how to develop your palette and learn more about your personal flavor preferences!

Thanks for joining us this month! Check back in February for more service tips, cheese history, wrapping tutorials, and so much more. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube.  If you have any questions or want to suggest a topic for us to cover in the future, please email emilia@formaticum.com.

Cheddar was one of the US's first favorite cheeses, and it only continues to grow in popularity. Today, we have a wide variety of cheddar at our fingertips, and each one is as unique as the landscapes on which the animals are grazing. While cheddar originated in Somerset, England (yes, in the village of Cheddar!), the cheesemaking style has since spread all over the world and is beloved by many. 

So if it isn't the place of origin, then what makes cheddar, cheddar? The answer is partly in the process - appropriately called "cheddaring". During cheddaring, the curds are cut into slabs and continuously stacked on top of each other on the sides of the vat. This encourages whey expulsion (moisture loss), which also results in the signature texture of many cheddars - crumbly, slightly granular, with visible curds. 

With the number of different cheddars on the market these days, choosing the right one for your needs can be overwhelming! Block or clothbound, American or English style, lemony or nutty or horseradishy…the options are seemingly endless, and that doesn't even include the "cheddar-adjacent" cheeses like Lancashire or Red Leicester.  

Enter the cheesemonger. Cheesemongers are your tour guide to the wonderful world of cheese, and the key to unlocking your own personal flavor preferences and tastes. 

As the flavor profiles of cheddar are as vast as the number of cows milked to make them, you can start by talking to your cheesemonger about what kind of flavor you are hoping for, and how you will be using the cheese. Don't be afraid to offer up more general flavor notes like "nutty" or "creamy" - it's the cheesemonger's job to know the cheeses in their case, and to be able to help you narrow down the options. 

It's also important to note that the nature of real cheese is that it will change seasonally and batch to batch, so make sure you are tasting each cheese with your monger to see how it changes and if it still suits your needs. In the process, you will start to identify more specific flavor profiles that you enjoy, and develop your palate, as well as a deeper appreciation for the cheeses. Your cheesemonger is your friend!