Culture Magazine

BES T CHEESES 2024 culturecheesemag.com 23 We know the Midwest is home to America's Dairyland, but the Badger State's next-door neighbor is one to watch. Despite a declining number of dairy operations over the past decade, milk production hasn't slowed. In fact, Minnesota produced 1.2 billion gallons of milk in 2022, and it was the sixth leading state in cheese production (behind Wisconsin, California, Idaho, New Mexico, and New York, respectively). More than 2,400 farms nestled around larger lakes and the Mississippi River, and some heavy hitters like Land O' Lakes and General Mills, call the state home. The artisan cheesemaking scene is a tight-knit community producing a number of award-winning cheeses each year. Redhead Creamery began with a determined 16-year-old Alise Sjostrom insisting her father's dairy farm become home to her future cheesemaking dreams, which eventually came true in 2013. Since then, the creamery has won numerous awards including Best of Class in the natural-rinded cheddar category and top 20 overall at the 2023 US Championship Cheese Contest. Alemar Cheese Company, founded in 2008, began with perfecting the make of one cheese: Bent River, a camembert-inspired wheel that quickly rose to fame in just three years. Now they make eight varieties of cheese in Minneapolis' Food Building. The Caves of Faribault, a creamery with aging rooms in natural sandstone caves, produced America's first blue cheese and distributes their lineup of single-source milk cheeses across the United States. Shepherd's Way Farms in Nerstrand began crafting sheep's milk cheeses in 1998, and their newest cheese, Sogn, won First in the sheep's milk farmstead category at the 2022 American Cheese Society Judging and Competition. Eichtens Cheese in Center City is a third- generation operation producing aged European-style goudas and other cheeses, including Tilsit, a semi-hard, pre-ripened, springy cow's milk cheese. Donnay's Dairy, a certified organic goat dairy, produces two goat cheeses—fresh chèvre and Granite Ridge, a bloomy rind aged 3 to 4 weeks—and distributes to over 80 restaurants across the state. Cheese shops include France 44, a multi-location, family-owned business focused on specialty food and quality products, as well as Surdyk's Cheese Shop in Minneapolis, which boasts an abundantly stuffed cheese counter with over 150 pre-wrapped and cut-to-order wheels and wedges for any palate. There's also Shepherds Table (run by the Read family's children of Shepherd's Way Farms), a shop on a mission to elevate Minnesotan producers such as Janet's Finest Compotes, Ames Farm Honey, and Sted Foods Chocolate. So, if you're looking for your next cheese trail adventure, consider Minnesota a top contender. From farmstead creameries to purveyors of local artisan goods, the Land of 10,000 Lakes has you covered—you betcha! Region to Watch: Minnesota BY MALLORY SCYPHERS

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