The legacy of cheese is neatly presented in The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin. So much a part of the soul and vitality of the state, Wisconsin cheese has an illustrious heritage of more than 160 years of quality, taste, and craftsmanship. In 1858, Wisconsin’s first commercial cheese factory was established in Sheboygan Falls. Today, the state is home to approximately 15,000 dairy farms, with over 1.2 million cows, each producing an average of 18,850 pounds of milk per year. The Badger State produces more than six hundred varieties of cheese, from bricks of, well, Brick and stinky Limburger, to such European favorites as Crescenza-Straccino (Italy) and Juustoleipa (Finland), to exotic specialties like cinnamon-ribbed butter jack and chipotle cheddar. The masterminds behind the glorious flavors coming from small-batch producers and the tiny artisanal studios alike are considered master cheesemakers. But where do these people come from, and who decides when someone is ready to become a master cheesemaker?
James Norton, a food editor and blogger, and freelance photographer Becca Dilley embarked on a project to explore the Master Cheesemaker Program run by the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They listened to student stories and teacher techniques, hoping to gain a depth of knowledge about the tradition. Norton and Dilley set out to meet each master in person, touring cheese plants across the state. And, of course, they ate cheese.
Wisconsin also has more skilled and licensed cheesemakers than any other state, and Norton and Dilley were able to interview and photograph forty-three of the forty-four master cheesemakers active as of winter 2007–08. What they found were stories of innovation, passion, and perseverance along a path toward a certification that takes between thirteen and fifteen years to complete. The eminently engaging result of their research is the recently published, The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin.
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