The 7th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival starts next Friday, March 22, and offers a full weekend of all things cheese

“Polenta with Sottocenere al Tartufo” is just one of the tasty dishes created by Garrett McCord and Stephanie Stiavetti, co-authors of Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese (2013) forthcoming who will be participating in “On-line to On-plate: Bloggers Cook with Cheese” at the 7th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival. Sottocenere al Tartufo is an Italian is a raw cow’s milk cheese laced with bits of black truffles that translates as “under ash, with truffles.” The outside is rubbed with a mix of ash, cinnamon, fennel, licorice, nutmeg, and other aromatic spices. Photo: Garrett McCord

With “Farm to table” the mantra on the lips of most foodies, it doesn’t get much fresher than local Northern California cheeses served up fresh in Petaluma.  Finely handcrafted artisan cheeses are celebrated at the 7^th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival which kicks off this Friday, March 22, in Petaluma.  There are bucolic farm tours to several small batch family farms and an inaugural “Meet the Cheesemakers” evening reception, offering a gourmet tasting warm-up for the full weekend ahead.  The festival, which runs through Sunday afternoon, culminates in Sunday’s popular Tasting and Marketplace  with over 70 artisan producers where participants can savor the very best of local cheeses, wines, beers and other specialty foods.  While the whole weekend is geared towards tasting, one of this year’s highlights is Saturday evening’s’ “Grand Tasting,” billed as a roaming feast involving more than 50 cheesemakers, restaurants, breweries and wineries from across Northern California and beyond. 

• Hands on Cheesemaking
• Farm Tours
• Wine and Cheese Pairing
• Beer and Cheese Pairing
• Cheese-Inspired Culinary Delights
• Cooking Demonstrations
• Panel Discussions
• Artisan Cheese Tasting and Marketplace

ARThound poured over the list of cheese talents speaking at the festival and food writer and culinary consultant Garrett McCord shot to the top of my list.  He’d done his master’s thesis at UC Davis on the rhetoric of the slow food movement.  About to publish his first cookbook, Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese (2013) (co-authored with Stephanie Stiavetti), and helmsman of the popular food blog Vanilla Garlic, which looks at food and life intertwine, McCord, now 28, seemed like a great interview.  Stay tuned to ARThound for our chat about the language of cheese.

Details: The 7^th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival is March 22-24, 2013, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at Petaluma’s Sheraton, 745 Baywood Drive, Petaluma.  Tickets $35 to $135.  Many events are already sold-out, so purchase tickets for all events now.  www.artisancheesefestival.com.