I’m teaching a British Cheese and Cider class this weekend, so I thought I’d share a little about why I’m so excited about it. While I’m currently the British Cheese Buyer at Formaggio Kitchen, I used to work at a natural cidery, Botanist & Barrel. …
In July, I got to be an aesthetic cheese judge for The Big E. As a cheese judge, I focused on the flavor, taste, and overall presentation of cheese. While I am still early in my journey to develop my palette, (we’ll talk A LOT more about that later,) I had excellent help and advice from those who were more experienced.
The Big E is short for the Eastern States Exposition, and it covers all of New England. Even Connecticut! It’s like a big state fair for all the little north eastern states. The fairgrounds in Springfield, Mass were vacant when I was there, so I could clearly see the layout. Adorably, there were buildings for each of the New England states, and it looked like there was a pretty nice beer garden. And there was even a cute little early American village. So I’m sure come September, it will be packed with food vendors, rides, farm animals, and people there to witness the spectacle. I see the Avett Brothers are playing this year. (Boo hoo for me that I”m working that night.)
Obviously, farming, and specifically dairy farming, has a long history in New England. You cannot talk about dairy in the United States without talking about Vermont. Compared to behemoth dairy states like California and Wisconsin, Vermont punches way above its weight. Interestingly, even Connecticut also has some great cheesemakers as well.
When you think about dairy, you usually think cow. Cows are not happy everywhere, specifically dairy cows. They need access to fresh water and lots of pasture. If you think about milk as a fluid that is being extracted from the cows (weird way to say it, but that IS what is happening,) dairy cows need a lot of water to just replace what they lose during milking. So it makes sense in the climate of New England, which is on the wetter side, there are a lot of happy cows.
As cheese judges, we tasted butters, yogurts, and a couple dozen categories of cheese. We had a brief training on how the grading rubric worked, and we got to it. I have to admit, at the beginning of the day I was scoffing a bit at the other judges delicately spitting out the cheeses they were sampling. By the end of the day, I was spitting the cheese out along with them. It was not easy work!
What I came away with, besides knowing I am capable of spitting cheese out, was that I can absolutely identify tastes and flavors. So I was a little shy at the beginning in expressing opinions, and I normally doubt myself a little anyway. By the end of the day, I felt a lot more comfortable and felt more keyed into putting flavors into words than I had ever been.
In the future, I hope to share that feeling with you all in our classes. Developing your palette really does just take exposure and practice!
About Crumb & Rind I’m Jennifer Tolliver, and I’m the editor of this website, and the public face of Crumb & Rind. I’m the one you’ll communicate with and see out and about. But rather than just talking about myself, I wanted to properly introduce …
British cheese exists in its own category. And by that we don’t just mean any cheese made in the UK, but rather the traditional territorial styles that originated there. They are often fondly dubbed The Crumblies, (specifically Cheshire, Caerphilly, Wensleydale, and Lancashire,) thanks to their …
In May of 2025, I went to Cilento to see the water buffalo and cheese with my dear friend Jennifer and her sweet daughter. We drove down from Rome to an agriturismo in gorgeous Roccadaspide. We had a beautiful meal at the house, including estate grown olives and their own house made wine. After having spent a few days wandering the bustling city of Rome, my heart and head craved the tranquility of the Cilento coast. I highly recommend staying in an agriturismo, for the cost and the experience. Plus, you’re supporting small scale agriculture!
The next day we went into Castelcivita, and toured the Grotto. Because it was May, the tourists were not in full force and we got the tour guide to ourselves! My friend and her daughter listened to him in Italian, but I borrowed headphones with a recorded tour in English so I could keep up.
So I have never seen anything like this in all my life! We walked for an hour through this cave and did not reach its depths. The photos do not capture the immense otherworldliness of the caves. I still can’t believe it was real!
Before we entered, I hoped that I would hear something about cheese aging in the cave, but no one discovered the cave until modern times. Even after discovery, it was quite dangerous. Cheese adventures would have to wait until our next day!
Before we returned to Rome, we went to a Mozzarella maker that one of my coworkers recommended. Tenuta Vannulo is clearly set up to handle visitors. There are tour guides, a leather shop with buffalo hide products, a restaurant, and even a museum. But we were there for the buffalo and the cheese! The one thing I had my heart set on for this entire trip to Italy was to taste same-day Mozzarella di Bufala! This cheese requires its own post, which I will link once I write it. 🙂
I was thrilled by the fresh, tangy, luxurious taste of the cheese. I wish we had had more time to stop and try all of the many buffalo cheese makers on our way back to from, via Sorrento. There are many different styles and shapes, not just our familiar mozzarella ball or burrata. Stay tuned for more cheese posts and classes!
This is a love letter to Neal’s Yard Dairy. In January 2022, still in the grip of COVID-era precautions, I visited the Arches at Neal’s Yard Dairy in Bermondsey, London. Happily for me, my boss at Boxcarr Handmade Cheese, Sam Genke, introduced me to David …
Hi, I’m Jennifer Tolliver. and I’m excited to share my latest adventure with you. Welcome to the Crumb & Rind journey! It’s been quite a journey already! Before all this, I was a lawyer, a Navy linguist, a stay-at-home mom, a bartender, a farmer, a baker, …
We wish to welcome you to Crumb & Rind! We host classes and seasonal feasts, pairing artisan cheese with everything from tarot to textile arts. Jennifer, our traveling lecturer, storyteller, and sharer of snacks would love to put together a thoughtful spread of cheese, charcuterie, and small delights for your next party, circle of friends, seasonal gathering, or anything in between. Additionally, her partners, Eglantine Crumb and Aritz Rind, a cheesemaker and an affineur, share their perspectives on the blog posts.
“Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.”
—Lovelle Drachman
Crumb & Rind was born from a love of cheese, science, and storytelling. Besides being delicious, cheese brings out a childhood sense of wonder. We believe cheese should be shared with laughter, questions, and crumbs on your shirt, not just behind a glass case.
The first time Jennifer saw curd form in the vat while working at Boxcarr Handmade Cheese, she knew that cheese was alchemy. In the instant, she was brought back to summer afternoons in her childhood garden, her mother’s saucepan in hand, stirring up potions from unripened veg, weeds, snail shells, and stones. She knew it was pretend, but part of her always wondered, what if there is magic?
We love cheese for its flavor, its texture, and its power to enchant, but we also love it as a time capsule: a survival strategy, a manifestation of love. Before cheese was indulgence, it was insurance, tucked into saddlebags, pressed into molds by mothers and monks. Cheese allowed people to survive the winter. Out of necessity, something exquisite emerged. Cheese isn’t just made. It’s summoned.
“Cheese is milk’s leap towards immortality.”
—Clifton Fadiman
In the end, after we’ve gotten a bit misty-eyed and sentimental introducing ourselves, we’re really just here to have some fun. Learning about science, folklore, and history makes it all the richer, but we never take ourselves too seriously. Life is meant to be savored. We’re so glad you found us.
