Wine Spectator – September 30, 2019

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

1

7

10

6

2

3

9

48

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