The modern artisanal cheese movement in the United States began its slow climb to popularity in the late '70s and early '80s. At that time, the cheese industry was dominated by large corporations producing factory-made cheeses. The exceptions were a few smaller operations, like Vella Cheese Company, established in 1931 in California, and Maytag Dairy Farms, established in 1941 in Iowa.
Some small dairy farmers with excess milk were also making their own cheese, but primarily for their own consumption.
As the taste of their cheese improved and they began sharing it with friends, these cheesemakers started to realize they might actually have a product they could sell. Many traveled to Europe and trained with cheesemakers in France to improve their skills and to expand the types of cheeses they were making.
Some of the early “pioneers” in this new wave of artisanal cheese were Paula Lambert of The Mozzarella Company in Texas, Laura Chenel, who’s northern California chèvre gave most Americans their first taste of fresh goat cheese and Sally Jackson of Washington State, who was one of the first to introduce sheeps' milk cheese to American palates.
The New American CheesemakerBy the mid-nineties, Americans were becoming increasingly interested in handmade cheeses and the number of cheese stores in the United States began to increase to meet the demand. The majority of cheeses available, however, were still imported from Europe. More and more cheesemakers in the United States continued to travel to Europe to perfect their craft.
As time passed, aspiring cheesemakers in the US didn’t necessarily have to look across the ocean for advice – domestic cheesemakers were becoming experts in their own right.
For many of these cheesemakers, chefs were their first customers. As the popularity of chefs in the US continued to rise in the nineties, so did interest in the ingredients they were using. Soon, American artisanal cheeses were not only being served in restaurants, but were also much easier to find in stores and farmers' markets.
A Trend That is Here to StayToday, there are hundreds of artisanal cheesemakers in the United States. The American Cheese Society, founded in 1983 to promote American-made cheese, now has more than 1,200 members, all involved in some aspect of the cheese industry. While many American cheesemakers were initially inspired by the cheeses of other countries, the cheese they now make is becoming increasingly unique and displaying flavors and styles that are distinctly American.
