buyers' picks
CHEESE ACCOMPANIMENTS
When pairing products, cheesemongers like sweet, savory,
briny, chocolaty and crunchy with their cheeses. Neutral and
BY NICOLE POTENZA DENIS
fruity crackers also rate.
Brian Wasik, Wasik's The Cheese Shop, Wellesley, MA
People buy what they are excited about. Wasik brand crackers and
chutney are top sellers. Honeycomb makes a dramatic presentation
on a cheeseboard, while glace fruit is up and
coming. My picks:
q Jan's Farmhouse Crisps
u International Glacé Apricots
• Savannah Bee Company
Honeycomb
• Wasik's Harvest Chutney
• Wasik's Sesame Gluten-Free
Crackers
Rob Lawler, The Truffle
Cheese Shop, Denver, CO
Customers like to pair cheeses
with pure dark chocolate—
especially blue cheese—spicy and
fruity jams, gingery bread and
imported mostarda. My picks:
• Accoceberry Piment
d'Espelette
• Dagstani & Sons Preserves
• L'abeille Royale Pain d'Epices
• Ritual Chocolate 75% Dark
• Sperlari Mostarda
Krista Daly, Wedge & Bottle, Phoenix, AZ
Some customers take the sweet and salty route when it
comes to cheese accompaniments, while others choose
briny like olives or pickles. Popular choices:
t Effie's Homemade Oatcakes
• The Girl and the Fig Black Mission Fig Jam
• Rustic Bakery Crackers
• Sour Puss Pickles
• Three Little Figs Jam
Bill and Tamara Krieger,
Cheese Louise, Richland, WA
Mild crackers pair best with cheese
because they don't overpower.
Honey is fantastic with softer
cheeses like chevre, and a Pacific
Northwest chardonnay pairs nicely
with a cow's milk gouda. Our picks:
• Forgeron Cellars Chardonnay
• La Panzanella Croccantini
• Oregon Growers and Shippers
Quince Paste
• Tasmanian Honey Company
Genuine Leatherwood Honey
p Valley Produce Co.
Crackerthins
Nicole Potenza Denis is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine.
CHEESE SHOPS FILLING A NICHE, P. 22
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PHOTOS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP): POTTER'S CRACKERS; MARIA SAN ANDRES; VALLEY PRODUCE CO.; MARIA SAN ANDRES; EFFIE'S HOMEMADE; MARK FERRI
Suzy Thompson, Forward Foods,
Norman, OK
Briny olives are great with fatty
cheeses, while tomato jam goes with
every type of cheese imaginable—we
use it with an Alpine class. Smoky
chorizo is great with Spanish Bauma
Garroxta. Our favorites:
t Lark Fine Foods Scourtins
• Mas Portell Arbequina Olives
• Mitica Doce de Tomate
Tomato Jam
• Olympic Provisions Chorizo Rioja
p Potter's Crackers in Classic White