I think someone needs to look up the word ARTISAN.....

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Minnesota school sells artisan cheeses, dairy staples

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — During World War II, Minnesota was named the bleu cheese

capitol of the world, in part because of the University of Minnesota's dairy

industry.

Today, the University's cheese making doesn't reach as far, but many say the

products at the Food Science and Nutrition Dairy Salesroom are better than what

they find in grocery stores.

Housed in the Boss Laboratory of Meat Science, the store is open every

Wednesday afternoon except for holidays. But things may change in the future.

A survey ended recently that allowed customers to mark their preferred day if

the store were to expand its hours. Jodi , a senior laboratory services

coordinator, said it is unclear what will be done with the results.

Every week there is a line to get into the store before it opens. Depending on

the weather, the store can see 200 to 300 people a week.

Some customers stop in for a snack — like a pint of ice cream between classes —

while others incorporate it into their weekly errands.

Jerry Koplos, a frequent customer and retired University maintenance worker,

said his mom used to come on a regular basis and, after her death, he took over.

He couples his visit to the dairy salesroom with a stop downstairs to buy some

meat from the University's meat lab.

" It's always a surprise to see what they have, " Koplos said. " They don't have

the same stuff every time. "

The products are made in the ph J. Warthesen Food Processing Center, a

multi-level, multi-room structure that houses new and old, manual and automatic

food processing equipment.

One of the larger and newer pieces of equipment calls " the elephant. " The

enclosed vat structure is run by a computer, an industry standard.

" When the company put this in they had some really high expectations of it being

able to work, " said. " It's not really useful to us that often ... they

learned a lot from it and we don't use it too often. "

Today, the products sold in the store are made a building away, far from the

caves in St. .

The caves were once sand mines, but were transformed into mushroom growing caves

in the early 20th century. In the 1930s, Professor Willes Combs

discovered the caves while shopping for mushrooms, and realized they were

similar to French caves where Roquefort cheese is made, wrote Greg Brick, a

Ph.D. candidate and author of " Subterranean Twin Cities. "

The last use of the University cheese caves was by graduate students in the

1950s. Now the caves sit in ruins because of Mississippi River flooding.

said that when she was at the University as an undergraduate, her

professor told her about the caves.

The only trace that remains of the old ways is the nickname she has given the

refrigerators that are used to house the bleu cheese while it ferments.

To the groups of school children that tour the Pilot Plant, the room is the

" stinky room, " because of the brine solution that makes some of the cheese.

The milk comes in from the dairy barn the day before the process. Products are

made once or twice a month between classes and outreach.

Outside companies can rent the space to test out products, which is often more

convenient than using their own facilities because they can make smaller batches

and do not have to stop production on their own machines.

Products in the store vary. Ice cream flavors change depending on the season.

Some specialty cheeses are made when visiting companies have excess milk, and

yogurt is sometimes available from classes.

The cheeses tend to be more artisan than production. Made from hand, cheeses are

held anywhere from 90 days to longer than a year — aged cheddar is held for more

than 9 months.

When the products are finished, they are stored in " Cave 2, " a locked

refrigerator filled will all varieties of cheese. Students, typically within the

food science and nutrition department, help run the store and keep it stocked.

beth Taraldsen and Bot have worked at the store and in the Pilot

Plant for one and two years, respectively.

They help make the products, clean and answer customer questions.

Bot said she also considers herself a promoter.

" I like to come up with new flavors, but our supervisors don't usually take them

too seriously, " Bot said.

She has been hoping for a s'mores ice cream, while Taraldsen has proposed carrot

cake.

First published in the Minnesota Daily, April 2011