Jessica Beer is one of the top experts on cheese in the Front Range — she placed second at the 2015 Cheesemonger Invitational in San Francisco, putting her in the top tier of the nation’s cheesemongers.
And now she’s sharing her passion with a series of classes at Cured in Boulder, where she works as the cheese-and-charcuterie shop’s manager.
Alpine cheeses are the topic for March 21, when she’ll be offering tastings of the various cheese and lots of stories about that tradition.
“Cheeses from the German, French or Swiss Alps are big beautiful cheeses that have been made the same way for thousands of years,” she said.
“People took the herd into the mountains each summer, and each week they went higher and higher, so the cows grazed at different altitudes on different things. All these beautiful cheesemaking huts dotted the landscape.”
They made cheese in huge wheels because it was easier to carry down the mountain on the backs of animals, she said, and some alpine cheeses were shaped to fit easily on the backs of cows.
Also, the recipes were low in salt because “they didn’t want to schlep a bunch of salt up the mountain,” she said.
On April 18, she’ll be teaching all about spring cheeses, when goat and sheep herds graze on tender grasses and flowers.
“Their milk is very rich and diverse, with a lot of different flavors,” she said.
Some of her favorite spring cheeses are goat cheeses from Pat Morford’s Rivers Edge Chevre in Oregon and the award-winning Avalanche Cheese in Basalt.
The cheese classes will be kept small, about 10 people, and include cheese tastings and wine or beer pairings for a cost of $55 per class. To make reservations, call 720-389-8096.
Cured West, 2019 10th St., Boulder
Green Bagels and Ham
Doug Anderson is celebrating the seventh anniversary of the , his Larimer Street restaurant and bakery. Because he opened March 14, close to St. Patrick’s Day, he’s launching joint festivities.
He’ll be making green bagels on the day of March 12, and giving away Guinness muffins. (He’s also making green bagels on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.)
On the day of his restaurant’s anniversary, March 14, he’s giving away Yeti Imperial Stout brownies and donating one bagel to the Denver Rescue mission for every bagel purchased that day.
He’s a guy who made his dreams come true.
Back when he was a stay-at-home dad, he got interested in baking and ended up getting a job at Moe’s Bagels in Boulder.
Then he spent time at a bagel bakery in south Jersey, working with East Coast bagel recipes, and brought that expertise back to Denver.
In addition to bagels, his restaurant offers such sandwiches as the Italian sub with salami, capicola and provolone, and the Cuban sandwich with ham, pulled pork and cilantro mayo.
And for those who don’t eat meat, there’s the vegan black bean chorizo sandwich.
2162 Larimer St. 303-296-3656. hirisedenver.com
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083, coconnor@denverpost.com or @coconnordp
