Mark your calendars! The fourth annual International Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day is coming on April 21. We are anticipating over 600 events taking places in 15 countries around the world. To find an event near you, please visit our website.

We are happy to share our latest infographic on artisanal cheesemaking from around the world. In 2017, we conducted a global survey and discovered a lot of useful information about the concerns of both professional and home cheesemakers. This information is being studied and analyzed by our Academic Advisory Committee and we will soon release more information.
CALLING ALL CHEESEMAKERS!  Are you a cheesemaker aging cheeses? Please check the request below from Prof. Wolfe from Tufts University about help with an ongoing study on cheese rinds.  
We are happy to report positive news from Brazil, where the Coalition has been working closely with local stakeholders to promote and protect artisanal cheeses. The government of Santa Catarina has agreed to allow the production of cheeses using raw milk in the state, adopting forward-looking regulations that encourage small producers to seek the expertise necessary to make delicious, healthy products, while also formalizing the local artisanal cheesemaking community.

The involvement of the Coalition involved sharing lessons learned from our work in the US and from partners in Europe, including advice from some of our Academic Advisory Committee members. We also compiled sample legislation and regulations from around the world to submit to the government as templates of the structures in places in other cheesemaking countries. 
In partnership with the Guilde International des Fromagers, we were part of the launch of the Guilde’s chapter in Colombia and had the opportunity to meet many wonderful traditional cheesemakers. New artisanal cheesemaking in Colombia is growing and the Coalition is forging strong relationships there to ensure raw milk use and other traditional cheesemaking practices are adopted as part of this growing culture. 
Are you interested in traveling with Oldways and Cathy Strange? Join us from May 13-20 for an insider’s culinary adventure where we’ll meet artisanal cheesemakers in Northern Italy. We will be visiting cheese and wine producers in the regions of Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, and Piedmont. To find out more about this trip, including the producers we will be meeting, please check out our website.
Is Cheese a Superfood? 

We have long been proponents of the probiotic properties of raw milk cheeses, specifically dairy propionibacterium such as  Propionibacterium freudenreichii . Lately, research has focused on this bacterium, and the conclusions have sparked a barrage of viral headlines promising consumers a healthier lifestyle if they eat more of this one product. However, here at Oldways we prefer to promote balanced diets. Yes, cheese is good, because it is a complete food, but we don't feel the need to overhype it. To read more, check out our website , where you will find the base studies and also simple summaries of many scientific and health articles about raw milk cheese. 
Pumpkin-Gruyère AOP Tortilla

Ingredients

1 Butternut or Hokkaido squash (around 1 3/4 lb / 800 g)
1 bunch spring onions
2 oz. (60 g) pumpkin seeds - about 4 Tbsp
6 eggs
3/8 cup (100 g) sour cream
7 oz (200 g) Le Gruyère AOP
2 tablespoon olive oil
salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste

Preparation

1. Peel the squash (not necessary with the Hokkaido squash; simply wash it properly and rub it dry), halve, take the seeds out, and cut into about 2" (5 cm) slices. Wash the spring onions, rinse and cut in about 1" (3 cm) pieces. Coarsely chop the seeds. Beat the eggs and the sour cream. Grate the Gruyère AOP and add to the mixture. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

2. Heat the oil in a big pan that can be put in the oven. Let the pumpkin seeds and the pumpkin slices cook for about 10 minutes until they soften. Add the spring onions and let cook for a little while. Add the egg-cheese-mix and let on the fire for about 3 minutes, until the egg gets brown on the pan floor. Put the pan on the 350°F (180°C) hot oven and let cook for about 25 minutes until the tortilla is gold-brown. The tortilla tastes great with a green salad.

Original recipe from Gruyère AOP
The Wolfe Lab at Tufts University uses “fermented foods and other synthetic microbial communities to study the ecology and evolution of microbiomes.” They use “food as a tool for improving microbial literacy through teaching and outreach.”

Prof. Ben Wolfe has asked us to reach out to the cheesemaking community for your feedback. His lab has been working with a chemist to better understand the pigments that form during cheese rind development; they are specifically interested in pink/red pigments that form in natural rind cheeses where molds and bacteria are present.

They have identified the chemical that causes this pigment using their “lab cheese” and now want to confirm that it can be detected in actual cheese communities. They would love your help in obtaining samples of rinds with these pigments for their studies.

If you happen to have natural rind cheeses with pink/red pigments, could you email them a photo? If it looks like the same type of pigmentation, they will request a sample. In return, they will be able to provide you microbial biodiversity data from your rind and they will also let you know if the pigment is present. All information they obtain from your sample will remain anonymous. They will not identify you or your product(s) in any future scientific publications.

For more information and to send pictures, please contact Prof. Ben Wolfe at the Wolfe Lab directly.
We are honored for all the support we have from members , big and small . Y our contributions help us to be a strong voice for traditional artisanal cheeses around the world.

Show your love for diverse microbial communities by joining the Coalition today! We will send you a Beneficial Microbe t-shirt.

Sincerely,
Sara Baer-Sinnott, President
Oldways

Carlos Yescas, Program Director
Oldways Cheese Coalition
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