50 WINE SPECTATOR • SEPT. 30, 2019
milk has been coagulated or curdled and cut but before it’s further
cooked, cut, pressed and/or milled on the way to becoming the fi-
nal product. Mild, milky and slightly creamy-tasting, with barely
a hint of lactic sourness, they’re a kid-friendly snack eaten on their
own and versatile as an ingredient.
With regard to deep-fried curds, the question is not whether
you’ll find them on Wisconsin menus but who made them, what’s
in the batter and what’s the oil—all key questions, and don’t be
afraid to ask. Irresistibly crunchy and salty on the outside, chewy
and milky inside, they make a great lunch alongside a cup of thick
tomato soup suitable for dipping.
Other variants worth sampling are Wisconsin’s versions of
en route from Chicago or Milwaukee to Madison, is one of
those laudable family firms that welcomes visitors. Once you’ve
ambled in past the facade festooned with the shields of the
Swiss cantons, you’ll likely encounter the current generation’s
head cheesemaker, Joe Widmer, or the next, his son Joe Jr.
(“Joey”). “Joey and I are usually here, and we always try to talk
to tourists, time permitting, if they ask,” says Joe Sr., adding
that the time to see cheesemaking is between 7 and 11:30 a.m.
Wisconsinites’ informal, welcoming vibe isn’t hard to em-
brace; their overall unpretentious approach, however, means
that dining and hotel choices in the countryside tend to be
straightforward and comfortable but rarely deluxe. Family is
always first, followed quickly by beer, bratwurst, sports and,
of course, cheese in all its forms, including string cheese, fresh
curds and spreads, as often as not with added flavors.
Visiting the Widmers or other family operations, such as Ro-
elli down in Shullsburg, just 5 miles north of the Illinois line,
is the kind of cheese experience to be had only on-site: A Wis-
consin trek means discovering down-home local favorites that
don’t necessarily gain traction in the big cities of the coasts.
None other than Wisconsin’s most decorated cheesemaker, Sid
Cook, who by his own estimate has won 871 awards in a 50-year
career, sells more flavored spreads in his eight shops than anything
else. At his home location in Sauk City this spring, Cook spied me
casting a jaundiced eye on a tub of beer- and hot pepper–laced spread
in his refrigerated case. “That’s what I call football cheese,” he said,
chuckling. “I’d take it to a tailgate or eat some watching on the big
screen at home. And be sure to wash it down with plenty of beer.”
Curds have taken center stage among Wisconsin’s most popular
foods. They are in essence cheese at its first edible stage—after the
Hook’s Cheese at Madison’s farmers market
Emmi Roth /
Alp & Dell
National
Historic
Cheesemaking
Center
Widmer’s
Cheese
Cellars
Roelli
Cheese
Haus
Hook’s
Cheese
Company
Fromagination
Landmark
Creamery &
Provisions
Firefly
Coffeehouse
& Artisan
Cheese
Cedar Grove
Cheese
Carr Valley
Cheese
Company
Wisconsin River
151
18
23
23
69
14
26
26
16
90
90
43
MADISON
SAUK CITY
MONROE
NEW
GLARUS
MINERAL
POINT
SPRING GREEN
JANESVILLE
DELAFIELD
BEAVER
DAM
N
0 miles 10
Wisconsin
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7
10
6
2
3
9
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