Artisan cheese boom is changing home architecture

Staff report

NEW YORK: It has been said that artisan cheese is the “new wine.”

Artisan cheese sales are up 29% over 2002 and are now estimated to be almost a billion dollars a year by the National Association of The Specialty Food trade.

Americans now eat three times as much cheese on a per capita basis as in 1970 with a 2003 per capita consumption of 31 pounds.

According to The Wall Street Journal, this new love of cheese is starting to affect home architecture.

While home cheese-aging has long been popular in Europe, it is becoming fashionable in the USA as well.

Some homeowners are now building cabinets with humidifiers to keep their cheeses from smelling or drying out between servings.

Others are converting wine refrigerators into cheese-storage units and a few are even building cheese rooms or subterranean aging caves.

One northern California homeowner has built a subterranean stone cave for cheese aging and storage around a natural artesian well that will provide humidity.

California homebuilder, Sam Benzacar, told The Wall Street Journal he is building 300-square-foot cheese rooms adjacent to the wine cellars in his 16,000-square-foot spec homes.

Because cheeses can absorb odors on the material it is placed on, maple wood is often used for shelving. Unfortunately different cheeses require different environments.

Hard cheeses like Cheddar, Gouda and Parmesan can last for months stored at 55 to 60 degrees and 80% humidity.

Blue cheeses, on the other hand, should be kept at 45 degrees and 90% humidity.

A countertop cheese refrigerator from Napa Style will have four different compartments for different cheeses, each with its own temperature and humidity controls.

The appliance roughly the size of a toaster oven will cost about $300.

Mississippi-based Viking Range said it will have a special cheese refrigerator available soon as well.

© by The Stockman Grass Farmer

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