Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
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cheese focus brand of Greek cheeses in the U.S. with her husband, Ron. Until the couple sold the line to Blue Marble Brands in 2008, Cardoos tried unsuccessfully to find artisanal Greek cheeses to import. "I can't tell you how often I asked, 'Isn't there anybody doing anything new?'" she says. Cardoos recounts other challenges she faced in growing the market for specialty Greek cheeses. Producers of ladotiri, the sheep's milk wheel aged in olive oil, couldn't deliver high quality consistently. Another dairy, maker of a sublime manouri enriched with raw cream, refused to make an export version with pasteurized cream. Mizithra, a grating cheese, might have gone head to head with aged pecorino, "but I was never able to find a reasonably priced one," says Cardoos. According to the USDA, Greeks lead the world in annual cheese consumption, at roughly 68 pounds per person. Yet Greece doesn't even make the list of the world's top ten producers, so it's a fair guess that—feta aside—there's not much cheese to export. Seeking a Champion The mountainous Greek landscape and lack of pasture explain the predominance of sheep and goat cheeses. (Cows prefer a cooler venue and access to grass.) Many Greek cheeses, including feta, incorporate both sheep's and goat's milk in a ratio that varies seasonally. But most creameries make only a handful of styles. Blame the country's dry climate, but the Greek repertoire doesn't include many blue-veined, washed-rind or soft-ripened wheels. Rich Morrillo, cheese buyer for Di Bruno Brothers in Philadelphia, says he typically stocks manouri, halloumi (a Cypriot cheese popular in Greece) and occasionally kefalotiri. (See p. 60 for descriptions.) Most shoppers seeking such cheeses, and others like kefalograviera, are non-Greeks trying to Eplore Te Master in you Each cheese is made from the milk of small, family farmers and produced by the same farmer-owned cooperative in the classic Dutch way. Discover these award winning cheeses, explore the master in you. Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 3106 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com follow a Greek recipe, says Morrillo. "Since they're not often familiar with the cheese, they're usually willing to go with a substitute," the cheesemonger says. Aged pecorino can stand in for mizithra and ricotta salata for manouri, so merchants have even less motivation to carry slow-moving Greek cheeses. But who knows what demand might emerge if these cheeses had a champion, merchants say. Jenkins applauds Diane Kochilas, the Greek-American food writer and cookbook author, for her efforts to introduce Greek cheeses to a wider audience. High-profile chefs can also boost demand when they showcase a Greek cheese on their menu, especially in a simple preparation that diners can reproduce at home. Morrillo reports that halloumi sales have spiked at Di Bruno Brothers since Zahav, an acclaimed Philadelphia restaurant, put the cheese on its menu, pan-fried and garnished with pistachios and dates, or with golden raisins and pine nuts. Jenkins believes an energetic and entrepreneurial broker could unearth some gems in the Greek countryside—solid mountain cheeses worthy of a following. He cites Piave, the popular Italian cow's milk cheese, as a model of what strong marketing can achieve. In the meantime, the "Greek Cheeses" primer, p. 60, aims to inspire buyers to seek out these varieties, advocate for better availability and help sell what's already in stock. Janet Fletcher is the weekly cheese columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of Cheese & Beer. Imported from Holland, exclusively by Jana Foods. For more information please visit www.janafoods.com A Dutch Masterpiece is a brand of 62 Greeks lead the world in annual cheese consumption, at roughly 68 pounds per person.