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.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/480793
S pecialty cheese producers who target the foodservice market must address a raft of concerns that don't apply at retail. Chefs want versatility, convenience, and sensible packaging. They care little about label aesthetics but a lot about consistency. A cheese intended for a restaurant recipe must perform the same way every time, and "out of stock" is not an acceptable reply when a chef reorders cheese for a dish on the menu. These specialty varieties offer the flavor, convenience, and consistency needed to be successful in the kitchen—and on the plate. BY JANET FLETCHER Cheeses for the Chef Nevertheless, several American creameries have profited from the growing demand for specialty cheese in foodservice. Here's a look at 10 products—many of them new—that may inspire other specialty cheesemakers to consider this niche and raise the bar for cheese options in foodservice. Beehive Cheese Company Big John's Cajun Not a new item but a Cheddar-style wheel that delivers built-in sea- soning, Big John's Cajun has proven popular for panini and macaroni and cheese. "It's meaty-seeming so chefs use it in vegetarian appli- cations," says Pat Ford, one of Beehive's co-owners. A chef friend developed the proprietary cayenne-laced blend that transforms Promontory, the creamery's signature cheese, into an item useful in Southwestern, Cajun, and Latin concepts. Initially, Beehive attempted to market the cheese as a whole 20-pound wheel, but chefs balked. "Nobody wanted that much cheese," says Ford, so the format changed to quarter-wheels. Some chefs trim the quarters to make a loaf that can be sliced for sandwiches. BelGioioso Black Truffle Burrata Responding to the burrata boom and brisk sales of everything truffled, BelGioioso introduced this product expressly for chefs in mid-2014. At San Matteo Pizza and Espresso Bar in New York, chef Fabio Casella serves a whole 4-ounce Black Truffle Burrata on a prosciutto-draped wooden board with cherry tomatoes and arugula. Christopher Mangless, a chef and caterer in Green Bay, Wis., has used it on butternut squash bruschetta and for a salad course with a ginger-pear preserve and pumpernickel crumbs. Beehive Cheese's Big John's Cajun has proven popular for panini and mac-and-cheese. "It's meaty-seeming so chefs use it in vegetarian applications," says Beehive co-founder Pat Ford. PHOTO: BEEHIVE CHEESE COMPANY 30 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com cheese focus