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Janet Fletcher

180 Stonecrest Dr
Napa, CA, 94558
(707) 265-0404
{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

Janet Fletcher

  • Home
  • About
    • About Janet
    • Media
    • Client List
    • Contact
  • Planet Cheese
    • Planet Cheese Blog
    • Planet Cheese Signup
    • Cheese Library
  • Store
    • All Items
    • World Cheese Tour
    • Books
  • Classes
    • World Cheese Tour Classes
    • Other Classes & Events
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Don’t Throw That Away!

December 5, 2017 janet@janetfletcher.com
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One of my first jobs in the food world was working for a French pastry chef. I was just the cashier for his bakery, but I hung out in the back a lot. The best lesson I learned from Marcel was not to waste. He would use his thumb to scrape the last drop of egg white out of the egg shell. (“That’s the profit,” he would tell me.) No wonder I never throw away chard stems or Parmigiano-Reggiano rinds. The cheese rinds add body and flavor to bean soup, and I’ve recently learned that they make amazing stock.

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In From: Italy, Milk: Cow Tags Parmigiano-Reggiano; Sarah Scott; cheese rinds: Parmesan; Parmesan broth, risotto
12 Comments

Iowa's a Blue State Again

November 21, 2017 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Welcome back, Maytag Blue. We’ve missed you. Just in time for holiday cheese boards, this beloved Iowa product has returned to shops. It has been almost two years since Maytag Dairy Farms suspended production, in the aftermath of a positive test for Listeria in two lots of cheese. (No related illnesses were ever reported.) The road back has been longer and costlier than the owners imagined, but they managed to find a silver lining in this traumatic experience.

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In Milk: Cow, From: U.S. Tags Maytag Dairy Farms, Maytag Blue, Iowa, Iowa cheese, Iowa State University
4 Comments

Your Cheese & Beer Checklist

October 24, 2017 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Here they are: the five cheese-and-beer pairings to try before you die. No rush, right? You have time. But please don’t wait to try these duos. They are fall-weather friendly, and each is practically a religious experience. Let’s just say these are no-fail, road-tested, unimpeachable pairings, and I want to share them with you in time for the party season. So you have homework to do, but here’s the study guide. You’re welcome.

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In Milk: Cow, Milk: Sheep, Milk: Goat, From: Belgium, From: U.S., From: France Tags Oskar Blues, Dale’s Pale Ale, Fiscalini Farms Bandaged Cheddar, Boulevard Brewing, Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, Jasper Hill Farm, Moses Sleeper, Ayinger Celebrator, doppelbock, Garrotxa, Andante Dairy, Tomme Dolce, North Coast Brewing, Pranqster, Spring Brook Farm, Tarentaise, Beaufort, Brewery Ommegang, Three Philosophers, Beemster
3 Comments

Cheese Raises Dollars for Napa Disaster

October 17, 2017 Douglas Fletcher
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It has been quite the week here in smoky Napa. The least of my worries was that I had to cancel a cheese class, leaving me with 12 pounds of fabulous cheese in the fridge. Nothing to do but donate it to an evacuation center or to the nearby first-responders’ station.

To my chagrin, neither would take it. “We can’t take perishables,” the evacuation center worker told me. “We have a caterer,” the guard at the first-responders’ camp said. Okay, then. Reject my cheese. I have a better idea.

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In Milk: Cow, Milk: Goat, Milk: Sheep, From: U.S., From: Italy, From: Spain Tags Napa fire, Cougar Gold, Grossetano, Nero Imperiale, Vendéen Bichonné, CastroCastillo, Camilla, Lou Bergier, Schnebelhorn
22 Comments

Hard to Say, Easy to Love

October 10, 2017 janet@janetfletcher.com
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It’s a mouthful in more ways than one. Schnebelhorn doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but it’s a palate pleaser in every other respect. I’m not sure cheese can get any better. Raw cow’s milk, Swiss know-how and eight months in a cellar have produced a new alpine gem that you really need to know. Heirloom apples, toasted walnuts and Schnebelhorn—there’s your autumn cheese board.

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In From: Switzerland, Milk: Cow Tags alpine cheese, raw milk cheese, Schnebelhorn
4 Comments

Not Your Father’s Cheddar

September 26, 2017 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Autumn, finally. Bring on the Cheddar. But which one? I’ve been noticing something peculiar about Cheddars lately—American Cheddars, especially, but some imports as well. The tang is gone, or muted. In its place: nutty and fruity aromas and a sweet, mellow finish.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Cheddar, Neville McNaughton, Gordon Edgar, Prairie Breeze, Cabot Creamery, Beecher’s, Face Rock Creamery, Tillamook, Cottonwood River Cheddar, Cougar Gold
8 Comments

Brave or Foolish?

September 12, 2017 janet@janetfletcher.com
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What does it take to get American cheese into a European cheese shop? And will anybody buy it if you do? Raymond Hook, a New York City-based specialty-food broker, is close to someanswers. Working with partners, Hook is attempting to build a global audience for cheeses from Oregon’s Rogue Creamery, Virginia’s Meadow Creek Dairy and Georgia’s Sweet Grass Dairy, among others. The export learning curve has left a few bruises, but Hook is an optimist. Today: London. Tomorrow: the world.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow, Milk: Mixed, Milk: Sheep, Milk: Goat Tags Raymond Hook, Fine Cheese Company, Rogue Creamery, Meadow Creek Dairy, Sweet Grass Dairy, Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Humboldt Fog, FDA and cheese
4 Comments

Switching It Up

September 5, 2017 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Fresh mozzarella sales soar in summer, and we all know why. Just look in people’s shopping carts and you can tell what’s on the menu: insalata caprese. Again. At every dinner party, insalata caprese. On every buffet, insalata caprese. I enjoy the dish as much as anyone—especially with homegrown tomatoes—but sometimes I just want to switch it up. With hardly any more effort, you can make some juicy bruschetta for a dinner-party appetizer or quick lunch.

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In From: Italy, From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Mozzarella, insalata caprese, Mimi alla Ferrovia, Gustosella, Point Reyes Farmstead
2 Comments

Flower Power

August 22, 2017 janet@janetfletcher.com
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 This new cheese reminds me of why I really shouldn’t leave the house without makeup. Mom always said, “It’s what’s on the inside that counts,” but the truth is, appearance does matter. How else to explain why this fabulous cheese languished in the U.S. until the producer got the idea to coat it with herbs and flowers? Since then, the sluggish sales curve has spiked. Where’s my lipstick?

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In Milk: Cow, From: Austria Tags Hubaner, Alp Blossom, alpine cheese, Columbia Cheese
2 Comments

Lightning Strikes Twice

August 1, 2017 janet@janetfletcher.com

Really, what are the chances? Two thousand cheeses in a competition and the Best of Show is a repeater? But that was the case in Denver last weekend when the American Cheese Society judges, tasting blind and scoring independently, awarded top honors to the same cheese that prevailed in 2014. I was among this year’s group of judges so I know the winner was worthy. But I tasted several other newcomers that impressed me almost as much.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow, Milk: Goat, Milk: Mixed, Milk: Sheep Tags Vermont cheese, Spring Brook Farm, Tarentaise, raw milk cheese, farmstead cheese, American Cheese Society, Prodigal Farm, Briar Rose Creamery, Tucker Family Farm, Arethusa Farm
4 Comments
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Welcome to my world: a fragrant, fascinating universe devoted to great cheese. In this and future Planet Cheese posts, you’ll find profiles of the world’s best cheeses plus insights into everything cheese: shops, recipes, interviews, pairing discoveries, classes, videos, travel. If you haven’t already done so, sign up here - it’s complimentary - and join me in learning something new about cheese every week.



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     Photographs: Douglas Fletcher, Ed Anderson, Megan Clouse, Faith Echtermeyer, Eva Kolenko,
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