Emmi Roth recently welcomed six culinary instructors from around the country to participate in a Wisconsin Cheese Immersion at the company’s creamery and Culinary Education Center in Monroe, Wisconsin.
From July 30 to August 3, the instructors experienced a comprehensive cheese immersion though hands-on cheesemaking, working alongside Emmi Roth corporate chefs, and educational sessions. The externship coincided with the 30th Annual American Cheese Society (ACS) Conference & Competition in Madison, Wisconsin. This national conference drew cheesemakers, specialty retailers, and other industry professionals from around the country and offered additional opportunities for the externship participants.
“Externships are valuable training and relationship building experiences,” says Regi Hise, Emmi Roth corporate chef and director of Culinary Development. “Most culinary programs do not provide comprehensive cheese training, so we value the opportunity to provide much needed cheese education to culinary industry professionals and students.”
The program kicked off with a creamery tour and Cheesemaking 101 class, followed by a Raclette Challenge where teams of two brainstormed, developed, and served dishes featuring Raclette cheese to a visiting ACS tour group. Recipes included Calamari Garlic Raclette Bruschetta with Pickled Vegetables and Crustacean Butter Sauce, Mediterranean Raclette Paella Nouvelle, and Deconstructed Brandied Door County Cherry Pie a la Mode with Garlic Raclette.
The group attended the ACS Conference on Friday, August 2, taking part in educational sessions and tastings, cheering on Wisconsin cheesemakers at the ACS Competition Awards Ceremony, and later enjoying a special dinner at L’Etoile restaurant in Madison. On Saturday, August 3, the participants set up the Blue Cheese tasting table at the ACS Festival of Cheese, where members of the public were invited to join the conference and sample the nearly 1,800 cheeses entered in this year’s conference. The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board hosted the ACS portion of the program.
Culinary instructors who participated in the program were Daryl Nosek FMP, Curriculum Chair Culinary Arts of Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York; Chris Bugher CEC of Mountwest Community College in Huntington, West Virginia; Colin Roche, Ph.D., CEC, FMP, CHE of Johnson and Wales University in North Miami, Florida; Michelle Gaw of Cuyahoga Community College in Highland Hills, Ohio; J. Claire Menck, Ph.D., Culinary Director of The Art Institute of Wisconsin in Milwaukee; and Todd Barrios CEC of Stephan F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.
