Kirstin Jackson - It's Not You, It's Brie(55)
San Francisco, CA
BIO
When I was a little girl my parents bribed me into taking long road trips by telling me we were going to visit cheesemakers. Most times we actually did, and it was through these Northern Californian dairy travels that I became obsessed with the best food in the world-fromage! Formaggio. Queso. Any way you say it, I loved it.
After going to culinary school, cooking, and studying anthropology of food, I decided to dive into cheese even deeper. I visited Comté cheese caves in France, read tons of really geeky cheese books, started a blog, and drove all around the country to visit cheesemakers like Upland's, Briar Rose, Consider Bardwell, and Jasper Hill (all while managing a wine bar and teaching cheese and wine pairing classes).
Inspired to write an ode to our amazing makers after my tours, in 2012 I published 'It’s Not You, it’s Brie: Unwrapping America’s Unique Culture of Cheese.' Two years later, I took off again to make cheese in the British Isles and alongside world-class cheesemakers, made raw goat's milk cheese in Somerset, washed wheels at Gubbeen in Ireland, and flipped cheddars at Hafod in Wales (note to future cheddar-makers- be careful not to throw out your back while flipping). I adored it.
I fell so in love with the craft that I decided to start teaching home cheese making classes when I returned to California. To this day watching people's eyes light up when they see milk transform to curd makes me insanely happy. As does teaching them how to make simple food with their own creations, or pair wine or beer to cheese.
Nowadays you can find me traveling the world, teaching pairing classes and cheesemaking classes in people's homes or offices, or writing about... you guessed it!
I hope to see you at a cheese class soon.
After going to culinary school, cooking, and studying anthropology of food, I decided to dive into cheese even deeper. I visited Comté cheese caves in France, read tons of really geeky cheese books, started a blog, and drove all around the country to visit cheesemakers like Upland's, Briar Rose, Consider Bardwell, and Jasper Hill (all while managing a wine bar and teaching cheese and wine pairing classes).
Inspired to write an ode to our amazing makers after my tours, in 2012 I published 'It’s Not You, it’s Brie: Unwrapping America’s Unique Culture of Cheese.' Two years later, I took off again to make cheese in the British Isles and alongside world-class cheesemakers, made raw goat's milk cheese in Somerset, washed wheels at Gubbeen in Ireland, and flipped cheddars at Hafod in Wales (note to future cheddar-makers- be careful not to throw out your back while flipping). I adored it.
I fell so in love with the craft that I decided to start teaching home cheese making classes when I returned to California. To this day watching people's eyes light up when they see milk transform to curd makes me insanely happy. As does teaching them how to make simple food with their own creations, or pair wine or beer to cheese.
Nowadays you can find me traveling the world, teaching pairing classes and cheesemaking classes in people's homes or offices, or writing about... you guessed it!
I hope to see you at a cheese class soon.