Talking Cheese with Ivy: Who is Yanzi Wang?

Interview with Yanzi Wang, Operations Manager of Mongolian Artisan Cheesemakers Union (MACU), February 2019

Map of Mongolia (Source: geology.com)

During my training with Academie MONS, I discovered the network of MONS alumni reached as far as Mongolia, a landlocked country bordered by two giant states, China to the south and Russia to the north. With a population of around 3 million and a surface area of 1.5 million sq km, Mongolia is the most sparsely populated sovereign state in the world. About 45% of its population lives in Ulaanbaatar, one of the coldest capitals in the world. The country’s landscape is mountainous in the north and west, and dry and arid conditions from the Gobi Desert dominate the south. It is therefore not surprising that there exists very little arable land. A nation deriving from Genghis Khan’s early 13th Century Mongol Empire, today about 30% of its population is nomadic or semi-nomadic. Market economy came late to Mongolia, which only obtained its independence from China in 1921, but fell under control by the Soviet Union in subsequent years. Mongolia eventually underwent its own democratic revolutionary process in 1990, leading to a multi-party government and transition to market economy.

Yanzi Wang and her daughter Mao Mao

My curiosity about this alumnus hailing from Mongolia steered me to contact her via Sue Sturman, Academie MONS’s Anglophone Director. What I then learnt from Yanzi Wang and her husband Mike Morrow was a very inspiring story of vision, passion, survival and persistence.

Tumurkhuyag Urtnasan

It all started in 2014 when Mike was introduced to Tumurkhuyag Urtnasan, the doyen of Mongolia’s artisan cheesemaking industry and the maker of Mongolia’s most famous cheese Khustai Gouda. Tumurkhuyag has been making cheese in a remote atelier since 1995, working alone most of the year on a mountain steppe about 80 kilometres southwest of Ulaanbaatar. One important lesson in Mongolian artisan cheesemaking that Mike learnt from the cheese guru is that it needs to be practised where the animals pasture during the 100 days of summer when the mother animals are in full lactation and their young are strong enough not to require all the milk produced, thus creating a milk surplus.

Khustai Gouda

The American-Chinese couple began their year-long research into the socio-economic aspects of herding communities with the objective of identifying a feasible business model. Herder families principally derive their income from selling cashmere combed from goats in spring and selling meat and hides in the fall. During the hundred days of summer, herder incomes are low and labour is in surplus. If they could sell surplus milk for money, this would provide useful summer income and money for children’s education. By selling excess milk, the productivity of animals would be increased and herders would be encouraged to avoid overstocking and to better manage pasture conditions to improve quality and quantity of milk. This would not only improve animal husbandry practice but also help sustain the environment.

Mongolian ladies milking goats

Mongol Alatau Nomadic Pastoral Cheese Cow

Thus, Mongolian Artisanal Cheesemakers Union (MACU) was conceived in 2016, based on a networked socio-ecological entrepreneurship model. Yanzi and Mike soon realised that self-funding the business could take a long time to realise their goals and they could accelerate it by inviting a third party for capital contribution and sound business advice. Arvintsogt Ragchaa, one of the founders of Newcom Group, one of Mongolia’s most reputable business conglomerates, joined MACU as a Director in August 2017.






MACU currently has three subsidiaries, including its White Mountain Cheesemaking Plant built to international standards, and a cheese ripening facility. MACU plays multiple roles. It primarily sources investors and herders who are interested to become shareholders of cheesemaking plants. The estimated capital outlay for each cheesemaking facility is around USD 100,000-150,000, depending on location and capacity. Given the geographic spread of “sums” (districts) in Mongolia, each cheesemaking plant has different shareholders. Each MACU cheesemaking facility is committed to purchasing the milk from around 50 herders in each community at Mongolian Tugrik MNT 500 per litre (approx. USD 0.18 per litre), on the assumption that each family supplies 40 litres of milk on a daily basis during the hundred days. The price paid for milk will depend on quality of milk and animal breed. (In Mongolia, cheese can be made from the milk of cows, yaks, khainag (hybrid between cow and yak), goats, sheep and camels.) MACU’s management and technical personnel is committed to providing installation consultation, technical support and staff training to enable the cheesemaking plant to be suitably equipped and staffed to produce cheese to international standards and develop and create its own range of cheese products. MACU is committed to purchasing the freshly made cheeses, ripening them, marketing and selling them during the first five years of operation, at an agreed price. The cheeses will be sold either under the MACU brand or an independent brand. Where requested, MACU can also undertake to be the turnkey project manager and act as the initial plant manager for an arm’s length fee.

White Mountain Cheesemaking Plant

MACU’s vision is to build a network of 100 plants by 2024, with total production capacity of 1,000 tons of cheese per year (roughly 1 million kg per year). When fully operational, the plants are envisaged to employ about 500-750 people and provide summer income of USD 800 per family to about 5,000 families.



With this new source of summer income, children will have the opportunity to be educated when previously this potential income did not exist. Locals will be trained to become skilled workers and cheesemakers at each plant. MACU hopes that the prestige associated with the production of high quality products that generate meaningful income will serve to partially reverse the urban migration trend and help continue the nomadic pastoralism traditions. By-products from the cheese production can provide additional income, such as whey processing into animal feed, candy, baked goods and nutraceutical products. Herders can develop ancillary businesses to complement cheesemaking, such as honey production and production of winter fodder. In time, each “sum” will develop greater economic strength, stronger advancement opportunities for its people and a skilled and empowered workforce.



Aside from sourcing investors and building the network of cheesemaking plants, one of MACU’s most imminent tasks is developing the export markets, primarily to China and Russia, but also with Japan, Korea and Hong Kong in sight. The company is currently actively seeking distributors in these three markets. To develop export markets, MACU needs to build the brand, its credibility and consistency in quality.



Yanzi and Mike have embarked on a long and challenging journey to give socio-economic and ecological sustainability to nomadic communities and to developing Mongolia into a world-recognised producer of cheese when currently more than 95% of Mongolia’s own cheese consumption is met with imports. The journey has been fraught with challenges but also filled with rewards, rewards of being recognised by the privileged few who have had the opportunity to taste their products. The success of MACU will be Yanzi and Mike’s legacy to this landlocked country.



Yanzi is MACU’s Operations Manager and cheesemaker. She originally comes from Ying Xian 应县in Shanxi 山西 province, China. Her village is famous for the “Muta” 木塔, the tallest and oldest fully wooden pagoda in China, built in 1056 by the Khitan people, ancestors of the Mongols, when they led the Liao Dynasty. Fate had her sent to Mongolia from Beijing, where she was working in a different industry. In 2014, her husband Mike decided that cheesemaking would become the family business after his encounter with Tumurkhuyag Urtnasan. Mike had the vision but not the ‘touch’. So Yanzi took up the profession and enrolled into a number of training programmes to get up to speed in the shortest time possible. She completed most of her training in France and the UK. Her expertise is fresh, soft, bloomy rind and semi-hard cheeses. She created cheeses such as “Tsaagankhar”, “Piko” and “Larch” for the White Mountain Cheesemaking Plant’s major hotel clients, such as Ulaanbaatar’s Shangri-La and Kempinski Hotels.



I caught up with Yanzi on her return from China after the Chinese New Year holidays, while Mike had been battling with a broken septic tank, a crashed phone and an urgent need to recruit a new cheesemaker. Yanzi was very kind to share with us her background, experience and thoughts on cheesemaking for Asians.



IN: How and when did you decide to become a cheesemaker? Was there a particular incident or personality that triggered your interest in taking up this career?


YZW: I began to get interested in 2014. In 2016 we set up an experimental atelier in an abandoned student cafeteria near the Mongolian Agriculture University. We tried to train others but they did not stay. [During this experimental phase], I discovered I had a feel for the milk and my cheeses weren't so bad.



IN: Do you remember how you felt when you tasted the first cheese you made?

YZW: Being Chinese from the countryside, it was all new to me. At first, I didn't like any cheese. It was more the challenge of making cheeses that people liked that got me to begin paying attention to smell, taste and texture - especially that of Mozzarella and Brie. I discovered that I’m pretty good at it. I have a sensitive nose and acute taste buds and I can ‘feel’ the curd!



IN: Which is your favourite cheese amongst the cheeses that you make? Please tell us what it tastes like. And why it is your favourite?

YZW: I am happy with my Mozzarella and bloomy rind cheeses. But I kind of invented a semi-hard cow-milk cheese we call “Larch”. I'm still developing it. It's buttery and a little acidic when young, but gets progressively more nutty and fungal. I like to let the rind harden rough and brown like a Pecorino. It’s my favorite because I worked it up myself and I like tasting it myself, and because others like it too.

A selection of MACU cheeses

IN: Is making cheese in Mongolia very different from making cheese in Europe or US, using France, UK and USA as examples? What are the principal challenges and advantages?

YZW: I studied in France with Mons for less than a month, made Cheddar for a couple of days in England, and spent a few days visiting small cheesemakers in the US. I don't know much. We are beginners. Everything here is difficult, but also everything is open. We also have good quality whole milk directly from the animals. We have yaks, goats, sheep and camels as well as cows. Mongolia is one big grassland with various micro environments and wild grass of various kinds everywhere. It's paradise for creative cheesemakers if you can put up with all the problems and the climate, which is sunny but harsh.



IN: Historically in Europe, cheesemaking was a woman's job at the farm and the technique was passed from mother to daughter. Would you recommend cheesemaking to other women in Mongolia as a profession? Why or why not?

YZW: It is the same here. Unlike Chinese, Mongolian women have a long, rich association with milk animals, milking and making things from milk. Cheese in the European sense didn't develop because of the nomadic lifestyle and very cold and dry climate, but cheesemaking comes easily to Mongolian country women. We don't have to recommend cheesemaking to women here. Some are already making European cheeses. We are training more. More will follow naturally as artisan cheesemaking gets better established here.

Mongolian ladies milking sheep

Milking yaks and khainag

IN: As the MACU logo suggests, cheesemakers in Mongolia work with milk from different animals – goats, sheep, cows, yaks and camels. You learnt cheesemaking in France and the UK. Could you share with us how you have had to adapt certain techniques to work with different milk origins?


YZW: I personally only work with cow's milk. But even that is different. As a result of the wild, hardy grasses and the dry conditions, the cows may give only 4 liters of milk instead of the normal 40 litres, and the dry climate makes cheesemaking very different here. The milk smells stronger and earthier here. I also feel it when I run my hands through the milk. Perhaps it is because we only use whole milk to make cheese here.

Other of our [MACU] cheesemakers are making cheese with whole yak milk. It's got up to 8% butterfat. These are great cooking cheeses. Mike is busy developing cheeses from other animals with other cheesemakers, but so far I only eat them!

I make cheese at our own White Mountain cheese plant on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. To get yak and goat and sheep milk one has to go to other parts of Mongolia. We're working with local partners in such places. They come to White Mountain for training. Maybe this summer I will get a chance to go to them and make cheeses from other milks.

I like Pecorino so I am most interested in trying my hand at sheep milk cheeses.



IN: Which cheese do you admire the most from Europe? Why do you admire it?

YZW: I like Pecorino. It’s so many cheeses in one, changing from one to the other depending on how you age it. It also seems to change noticeably from one locale or cheesemaker to another. Also, most people seem to like it.

I make an imitation peppered Pecorino from cow's milk. We call it “Tsagaankhar” (White-Black). It is a great buffet cheese. The serving dish empties quickly. But if I teach someone else to make it, it won’t be the same cheese.

A selection of Pecorino cheeses on display at BRA

Mike Morrow

IN: What motivates you? What drives you?

YZW: Survival. My husband is crazy.



IN: Who is your hero? Is there a personality who has inspired you the most in your life? Or a cheesemaker you would like to create a cheese with?


YZW: Susan Sturman is not a cheesemaker exactly, but she arranged my training in France and helped me when I had difficulty because of the language barrier. She is an example to me of how cheesemaking can be more than a business, how it can be an activity that builds understanding and friendship from one part of the world to another.

Sue Sturman

IN: What is your vision/ambition for Mongolian cheeses?

YZW: We have worked very hard to establish Mongolian cheeses. Our goal is to develop a network of 100 cheese plants and at least 200 good cheeses.



IN: What will be your advice to fellow Mongolians or Asians who wish to enter into the cheese profession, either as a cheesemaker or cheesemonger?

YZW: Don't do it if you aren't prepared for a lot of difficulties and frustrations. Don't forget it is a business. But also make it more than a business. Focus on being as good as you can be. Quality precedes quantity in artisan cheesemaking.


IN: If you were a cheese, which one it would be? And why?

YZW: I already answered that -- a Pecorino. It's a cheese for all seasons, an interesting cheese that most people like.

Talking Cheese with Ivy Ng: Laurent Mons

Mons Fromager-Affineur (www.mons-fromages.com) is an international cheese business comprising cheese wholesale and retail, affinage (cheese ripening), cheesemaking and production of yoghurts and other dairy products, and training and education. Headquartered in Saint Haon-le-Châtel in the tranquil country of the Côte Roannaise, Mons now employs around 80 staff (almost 50% in affinage and the rest in the shops) and boasts a network of nine shops in France, with franchised businesses in Belgium, Switzerland and the UK. Mons works with partners around the world to export to more than 20 countries. In France, they also supply to top restaurants including Troisgros, Pic and Têtedoie.

 Hubert Mons had a vision to start a cheesemongering business in the 1960s. In 1964, he started selling cheese out of a mobile truck that would travel around the markets of the Roannaise region. There was no real ‘affinage’ in those days, except a separate cold storage area to store cheeses. In the 1970s, the business gradually took shape and became a well-recognised business at the main square of Roanne. The Mons family comes from the Auvergne and these roots run deep. One of the Mons affinage facilities is in the Auverge and almost 100% dedicated to Saint Nectaire.

Inside the mobile cheese truck in the 1960s

The original cave at Saint-Haon-le-Chatel in the 1960s

In 1983, his elder son Hervé joined his father in the business, after having gained work experience across the country with cheese retailers as well as with cheese producers, and decided to take up a permanent stall at the Halles Diderot in Roanne. This was soon followed by other shops in Renaison and Montbrison. It was around the same time when the affinage cellars at Saint-Haon-le-Châtel were created. Laurent joined his brother to help develop the retail side, leaving Hervé to focus on sourcing the best quality and authentic cheeses for their discerning clients, while supporting traditional farmstead practices. Mons now offers around 250 cheeses year round, depending on the season and availability. Hervé went on to gain the prestigious title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) in 2000.



  

Apart from the retail business, Laurent was also tasked with the formalisation of staff and client training. Thus was born Mons Formation (formerly Opus Caseus) in 2001. Initially the training was conducted in French. When Laurent wanted to reach out to their clients and other cheese professionals in other countries, he was introduced to Susan Sturman (by his brother actually)! The duo created the Anglophone Academie MonS in 2012. The English-language based training academy has grown to a network of training associates in the US, Brazil, Japan, Russia and Italy. Today, Academie MonS (www.academie-mons.com) provides training in different aspects of the cheese business, including retail, retail management, ripening (affinage), cheesemaking as well as city tours to world cities with a strong cheese culture.

Laurent Mons and Susan Sturman

During the training weeks, students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience by working alongside Mons staff, and to put into practise their classroom knowledge. My impression from brief encounters with Mons staff during my two weeks of training in cheese retail and affinage is that there is a strong and cohesive team spirit that keeps alive the Mons philosophy and practices with exigence the Mons methodology. To be a part of this ‘family’, you need to firmly believe in their philosophy and follow it rigorously. It is impossible to do a job half-well-done at Mons and not be spotted. In their pursuit of excellence, Mons people are demanding on themselves and their co-workers. But the ones who stay are those who are proud of their ability to deliver the country’s finest products to clients in France and around the world, conforming to the strictest safety and hygiene standards, while preserving the taste profiles of the cheeses in the best possible conditions.

Their adherence to strict safety and hygiene standards applies to all aspects. I noticed how the instructions on how to wash hands and keep the toilets clean were the most detailed and thoughtful I had ever seen, and with pictures to demonstrate!

Mons people believe in constantly striving to improve. Driving this desire or obsession is a strong conviction in the ability of teamwork, a strong innovative spirit, and the ability to question status quo. From the days of just cheese retailing to cheese affinage and now cheesemaking, the company has gone through a number of transformations that have required substantial investment in time and resources, backed by visionary foresight and firm conviction. An example being the investment in the immense project of rebuilding the affinage facilities at Saint-Haon-le-Châtel into a state-of-the-art complex of affinage facilities, using their own unique concept and design (patent pending), a project that took two years to complete (2015-2016). The design process took into consideration the optimisation of human and material flow, future capacity requirements, aerodynamics and humidity controls, and safety and hygiene requirements.

There is a very human side too - Mons people have their unique sense of humour. An example is the cheese 1924. To put this into context, Roquefort was granted its AOC in 1925. Hervé and his team created their own version of blue cheese 1924 from a mix of sheep and cow milk, perhaps a defiant sign to show that their creation was even more original. [Author’s note: We tasted this during the sensory analysis on the course. It is a very harmonious blue cheese, with the salt deftly balancing the acidity, evenly spread blue veins and a creamy texture that allows the cheese to melt in the mouth. The faint buttery and nutty flavour complements the blue mineral flavour so well, adding much complexity. Finish is long and very fine.]

As the week of training drew to an end, I gingerly approached Laurent if he would be happy to be interviewed by me, not quite sure what his response would be…. He said yes! So let’s find out: Who is Laurent Mons?

Laurent Mons

IN: Was it your childhood dream to work in the cheese industry? What is your dream career? When did you decide to join the family business?

LM: In fact, I wanted to be a journalist or actor (more like a comedian as I do not have the look of Leonardo di Caprio!!) or teacher… [Author’s note: For those of you who have not met Laurent, he has successfully combined his comic acting skills with his teaching capability at Academie MonS. He often had us in stitches!]


IN : What is the Mons philosophy? LM: To be honest, straightforward and direct. We try to do the best possible, even with the least important tasks. To share and to instill a team spirit.

To hold true to the human values you inherit from the family and to transport them to the professional domaine. Never to shine just for the sake of shining. Help your business partners succeed and cherish their success stories!

To have all the knowhow!!!


IN: Which of the two is more important for you: The Auvergne or Mons?
LM: The two are related. Our roots are in the Auvergne and the Mons family are the branches.


IN : What is your vision/ambition for Academie Mons?
LM: A multi-cultural team where each person enriches the other. [We value] people who are humble and loyal. [We foster] a community that is serious and humane at the same time.

I envisage it as more than just a social network, rather like a network of neurons.

The multi-cultural training team at Academie MonS

IN: How do you keep yourself being challenged in the business/in life?
LM: Thanks to all of you who join us at Mons Formation. Thanks to all the people who believe in what we do. This consistently provides us with challenges.

I see it as a personal challenge to demonstrate that training is not worth less than operations, and that our ideas promote trade.

It is a challenge in the family where you are being stuck with being the Number 2 and you know you will be nobody if you do not create anything.


IN: Who is your hero? Who has inspired you most? Why?
LM: On the professional front, definitely my brother. In terms of human relations, definitely my father.

Hubert Mons and his two sons

IN: You are the second generation in the business. Is the third generation in place? What have you done to prepare the third generation?

LM: We are preparing the third generation, but it is a bit like a “prototype”, we keep it a secret at this stage. It is in the incubator!

Herve and Laurent inside Le Tunnel de la Collonge

IN : Is cheese a part of culture or lifestyle?
LM: Yes, it is an essential part. More globally, it is a part of the world of food, cooking and history.


IN: What is your favourite cheese/wine/beverage pairing?
LM: A farmstead Saint Nectaire paired with a Bandol red. [Author’s note: I must try this!]

Farmstead Saint Nectaire

IN: If you were a cheese, which one would it be? And why?
LM: It would be a Salers Tradition. [Author’s note: a farmstead cheese from the Auvergne, that is different from a cheese simply called Salers. Both are AOP cheeses, but to qualify to be Salers Tradition, the milk has to come from Salers cows.]

AOP Salers Tradition (source: www.aop-salers.com)

A cheese with an authentic history and an incredible identity association, a timeless cheese with an extraordinary taste. Best paired with a Meursault premier cru! [Author’s note : Another must try!]

Herve with Salers cows

Talking Cheese with Ivy Ng: Who is Susan Sturman?

I recently completed a week of training in affinage at Academie MonS, the English language affiliate of Mons Formation, the professional development center at Mons Fromager-Affineur based in the medieval village of Saint Haon-Le-Châtel, in the country of Côte Roannaise in the Loire Valley, France.

[Please see bottom of page for more on Academie MonS.]

It was a week of intense classroom learning supported by hands-on practical experience and sensory analysis training. We were a cohort of 5 students plus an instructor-to-be as an observer, all from different backgrounds and nationalities, including Ukraine, UK, USA, Spain, France/Mexico and Hong Kong/China. Our diversity made the learning even more interesting and enriching. The Academie's US-born Anglophone Director Sue Sturman was our chauffeur, instructor and minder from the induction lunch on Sunday at the Mons shop in Les Halles de Lyon-Paul Bocuse until Friday, when she put us on the train to Lyon at the end of the 5-day course.

Since 2012, the Academie's duo, Laurent (Mons) and Sue have created a training programme that is incredibly educational, relevant and interactive. Not only did they share with us their wealth of knowledge gained through years of experience, they also knew how to spice it up with a bit of humour too, making the week thoroughly enjoyable and memorable.

Our 3 instructions, from left to right: Sue Sturman, Laurent Mons and Eric Meredith

What did I learn? A lot but the most important lesson is that there is no shortcut to affinage. To do affinage well, it requires patience, knowledge (the art and science of it) and above all, investment. It is no longer sufficient to be just the craft transmitted from father to son - it has been refined into a professionally acquired skill through better understanding of the science behind the microbiology and the technical engineering of the environment. Above all, this skill is honed through years of experience - you may call it a long apprenticeship!

During my week of training, I spent a few moments with Sue to find out: "Who is Susan Sturman?"

Sue Sturman in a Mons technical coat

Sue Sturman's Brief Biography:
Academie Anglophone Director Sue Sturman has over 25 years in cheese education. At the ACS, as Committee Chair she led the creation of the American Cheese Society’s Certified Cheese Professional™ Exam program, and has been a frequent presenter at ACS conferences. Sue started teaching cheese in 1993, as Assistant Director of the Ecole Ritz-Escoffier cooking school at the Paris Ritz Hotel. She continued in New York as an instructor at New York retailers including Murray’s Cheese, and for private and corporate clients. In 2011 Sue was inducted into the Guilde Internationale de Fromage. She serves on the Board of the American Cheese Society and is on the the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Cheese Guild. She has served as cheese judge in France, Spain, the UK, and the USA.

IN: Is cheese a passion or a career?
SS: I think cheese is a vehicle for my passion, which is to serve and to promote and to help advance the passion and careers of others. In the community of cheese professionals I have found many that I admire, who have fire in their belly, who dream big and have the capacity to commit. And there is such warmth, such conviviality, such a spirit of sharing. I wouldn't want to be anyplace else.



IN: Reflecting on the success of Anglophone Academie MonS, what is your secret to this successful 'marriage' of two cultures - French and American? SS: Humility, persistence, a love and respect for the French, an ability to adapt. The differences between American and French work culture are not obvious on the surface, but they are real. Having lived and worked in France earlier in my career, I was ready to do so again. The French are very rigorous, and the best of the French (like the maison MonS) are the most rigorous. That is why their gastronomic culture is so great. It's also a tough environment to work in....we Americans need more ego-stroking than is the norm in French culture! So it takes a bit of a thick hide.

The success of the Academie is based, I think, on quality. The company has done such great work, it is such a leader in affinage, an innovator in cheese export, merchandising, and retailing, and also in education. We teach methodologies that have been proven through 2 generations, in the context of a spirit, an approach, a culture that is really inspiring.

We bring together in our very small classes people from the four corners of the world: as I write this we've just said farewell to a group of six people from Ukraine, England, Spain, Hong Kong, USA, and Mexico.

Also our teaching method is special: all of our courses rest on a pedagogical tripod of classroom work, sensory analysis practice, and hands-on work alongside the MonS professionals. It's unique.

Me practising the 'washing' of Soumaintrain

Eric doing some classroom teaching

Laurent explaining to the group how the organoleptic profile of each cheese changed during different stages of affinage

IN: Has the role played by France changed during your career in the cheese industry? Vis-a-vis other countries?
SS: France was the place my career in cheese started, when I started teaching the cheese class at the Ecole Ritz-Escoffier in Paris. French cheese styles have been my reference point from the beginning. When I moved back to the US in 1998, I discovered the newly emerging world of American artisanal cheese, and my mind was blown. So while French cheeses were my reference point, American cheeses became more of my focus. I also started giving cheese classes including Spanish cheeses and Italian cheeses, and expanded my repertoire. From 2012, my focus started shifting back to France as I was involved in writing about French cheese luminaries and starting to work with Laurent Mons to develop the Academie MonS.

Developing sensory analysis skills

Now my role is one of bridging the Atlantic to a certain extent: I've given several presentations and written articles for French cheese professionals on American cheeses, and have brought Americans (and other English-speakers) to France to study cheese in a French context. I now translate the French publication Profession Fromager from French into English for an international online edition. As far as other countries are concerned, I have been incredibly fortunate to learn about what is happening in cheese in countries as far afield as Romania, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, the UK, Spain, Mongolia, Kenya...the list goes on and on...from our students who come to the Academie to study. I have been fortunate to serve as judge in Paris at the Concours Générale Agricole, and at the World Cheese Awards in London, San Sebastian, and (in November) Bergen, and for the past three years I've been the only American judge at the Spanish GourmetQuesos competition. I have programs organized for 2019 to bring groups to Madrid, London, Paris, and Vermont, San Francisco, and New York.



IN: Describe the achievement you're most proud of so far, personally and professionally?
SS: Two, actually: The Certified Cheese Professional exam program at the American Cheese Society, which is truly a legacy project, and the development of the Academie MonS, opening opportunities to English-speakers from around the world to learn from some of the top French experts. Both projects support people in developing their careers and success. I'm extremely gratified and proud that I've been able to develop these vehicles to empower cheese professionals.


IN: Who is your hero? Who has inspired you most? Why?
SS: The first person who hired me back in my previous career as a caterer, Ann Vivian, taught me the simple grace of saying thank you to people who are simply doing their jobs.

I'm inspired by people like Laurent and Hervé Mons, for their vision, tenacity, and entrepreneurial spirit.

And ever since I first moved to France, I have been deeply inspired by all the people who have picked up their lives and moved elsewhere, braving the unknown, to find opportunities and open up their lives. I've seen that in Tamil dishwashers in Paris restaurants, in Croatian concierges, in housekeepers from Morocco, in cab drivers from north Africa....having lived as an expatriate in pretty cushy circumstances, I have vast respect and awe for those who expatriate themselves with nothing: no language, no money, no network.....and make a life for themselves. Some of the strongest people I've known, and for whom I hold endless respect.

Our international student group

IN: What is your most memorable experience in the cheese industry?
SS: Again, working with Laurent Mons, and working with the incredible team of volunteers at the American Cheese Society to build the CCP exam. Cheese professionals are incredibly generous and I am in awe of the expertise of the people I am fortunate to associate with.


IN: What do you think is the most challenging aspect about cheese judging? And the most rewarding?
SS: Being an aesthetic judge at the American Cheese Society! We can only find good things to say, we can only add points. Even for cheeses that have obvious organoleptic faults, we must be positive. It's a fabulous exercise in divorcing observation from opinion.....this is the first principle we emphasize in our sensory analysis training.


IN: Do you have a favourite cheese and wine/beverage pairing? Or a cheese and jam/honey/food pairing?
SS: At home I love making grilled cheese sandwiches with aged cheddar and Sarabeth's plum-cherry jam on cranberry-pecan bread. Just yum. Pure comfort food.

Our cheese tasting platter on the last day of the course

IN: Do you eat cheese at home with your family?
SS: Yes, but my husband probably eats more cheese than I do on a daily basis! My kids are also pretty discerning.....last year my son started working part-time as a cheesemonger (both my kids have completed our basic mongering course - a job perk - and both have worked as cheesemongers) and we loved evaluating and enjoying new cheeses he would bring home from work to share.



IN: If you were a cheese, which one would it be? And why?
SS: I think maybe a St Nectaire. Well-ripened as I am, I can be craggy and a bit intimidating on the outside, but on the inside I'm all soft and gooey, with a lot of complexity. Not everybody's cup of tea.....

Watching curds being cut during the production of Saint Nectaire

Saint Nectaire

Academie MonS:

The Academie MonS is the English-language affiliate of Mons Formation, the professional development center at Mons Fromager-Affineur. Established in 2012, the Academie currently offers five week-long courses, for retailers: Cheesemonger Essentials, The Big Cheese: A Manager's Toolkit, and Affinage: The Art and Science of Maturing Cheese; and for cheesemakers, Cheesemaking 101 and Cheesemaking 201, taught by Ivan Larcher. The programs were translated and adapted for an English-speaking clientele of cheese professionals from around the world, based on the curriculum and methodologies developed by Laurent Mons. The courses are unique in that students do hands-on work during the programs alongside the MonS professionals, cementing their experiential learning. In addition, six different Insiders' Tours are offered: Paris, London, Madrid, San Francisco/Marin, Vermont, and New York. To date, the Academie MonS has trained students from some 26 countries. MonS Formation works with partners in Japan, Russia, Brazil, and Italy, offering training in these countries' local languages.

Find out more at: www.academie-mons.com