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Room to Grow for Local Cheesemakers: Announcing a Competition for all local cheese talent

Posted 6/16/2012 8:59pm by Susan Barclay.

The Story:

There is still room to grow for local cheesemakers and Slow Food Pittsburgh has set about raising funding to support education for one lucky local cheese talent.

"The goal is to award a Pittsburgh Cheesemaker's Grant annually," said Virginia Phillips, a co-founder of Slow Food Pittsburgh."This year a $2500 Cheesemaker's Grant will be given to the local professional who makes the best case for receiving great training."

"Western Pennsylvania has the pastureland, the milk animals and a nucleus of cheesemakers that offer potential for this area to sustain our working rural landscape and to build our own nationally recognized artisanal cheese tradition,"said Leah Smith of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.

The pace could improve if Pittsburgh-area cheesemakers had opportunities to rub shoulders with the country's top artisan cheesemakers. "The truth is that most small-scale cheesemakers have little time--and less money--to sign on for skill-building and inspirational experiences or other intensive training sessions away from the farm," said Susan Barclay, co-leader of Slow Food Pittsburgh.

To enter the Competition:

Applicants should submit statements of purpose, 500 to 700 words in length: "Better Cheese for Pittsburgh: Train Me and I Can Help."Essays should be emailed by June 20 to Susan Barclay, stbarclay13@verizon.net with the subject line, "Cheese for Pittsburgh."

Contestants must live and work in this region and be professionally engaged in one or more of the following activities:

--making traditional cheese, farmstead scale operations favored;

--sourcing and caring for quality artisan cheese, farmstead- scale operations favored, for resale or for restaurant service.

The winner may opt to:

--train with a distinguished cheesemaker or cheesemaking teacher;

--attend the American Cheese Society conference (this August in Raleigh, NC) offering training and exposure to people recognized by their peers as the best in the profession;

--train on-site with a distinguished cheesemonger or affineur;

--stage at a restaurant offering a distinguished cheese program.

Invited to judge will be the chef proprietors of the participating restaurants, Trevett Hooper of Legume, Kevin Sousa of Salt, Keith Fuller of Route 174, and Brian Pekarcik of Spoon. Also judging will be Big Burrito Group executive chef Bill Fuller; a cheesemonger from Lucy's Whey artisan cheese shop in Manhattan; a Pennsylvania cheesemaker who has won national honors; and representatives from Slow Food Pittsburgh and PASA.