AHNY Field Ops: I was a Murray’s Cheese Intern! (Part 5)

Arthur Bovino — April 27, 2009

As much as they may wish they could, most turophiles cannot commit three months to an affinage internship in Murray’s cheese caves. AlwaysHungry volunteered there for two days to bring you a glimpse of this subterranean world. Our first installment gave a brief history of Murray’s and an introduction to the caves. It was followed by receiving cheese in Part 2, our first affinage experience in Part 3, and a cheese tasting in Part 4. The second day of the internship follows in Part 5.

The Monday following my Friday stint at Murray’s, I arrived again at noon per Zoe’s instructions. I slipped into my clogs, washed my hands, donned my cap, and jacket buttoned, entered the caves.

Caves One through Three were empty but I found Jessica Nilsen, a former museum curator on the final day of her affinage internship in Cave Four. On the floor leaning against the shelves were three removable wood board shelves marred by brown rings. Moist cheese sticks. Rinds that stick can tear away from the cheese. Cheese without rinds equals damaged goods. Every piece of cheese in the caves needs to be flipped at least once a week. In the process of flipping the cheese, interns check the boards for stickage. When moist cheese leaves marks on the wood the boards require washing with warm water.

“You want to wash those boards?” Jessica asked.

I was drafted into receiving a delivery before I could respond. We unpacked shelved La Serena, a thistle-rennetted sheep’s milk cheese from Spain and stacked them on matted wood shelves in the Hard-Rind Cave. Then we put away Ossau Iraty, a pressed sheep milk tomme from Hervé Mons made in the Basque Pyrenees. According to Zoe, there’s an acceptable way to lay the mats: two overlapping lengthwise left to right at the back of the shelf and three lengthwise overlapping them perpendicularly in the front.

Farewell to Roquefort and a ‘Mitey’ Stilton
Zoe checked on us halfway into putting away three and 12-month Manchego cheeses, “I forgot to tell you, the sides of the mats that have the two-rope seams should go facedown on the shelves. They interfere less with the cheese that way. It’s not a big deal.”

Oops. At least there wasn’t permanent damage to the rinds. After lifting the Valencay off the seam, then flipping and replacing it on flat straw, the indentation would barely be noticeable. Thankfully, cheese can be forgiving.

“What’s the deal with the brown paper ‘carpets,’ the length of the floor of each cave?” I asked Zoe as she unwrapped a foot-tall piece of Stilton.

“We had a ‘Farewell to Roquefort Party,’” she explained. Roquefort has been caught up in a trade dispute over a European ban on the import of hormone-treated beef. Starting April 23rd, it would receive a 300% U.S. tariff. It won’t actually make the cheese disappear but Zoe said it will likely increase the price from $30/lb to $70/lb. “It won’t make it completely disappear but most retailers will stop buying it and those who do carry it will be hard-pressed to move it in a way that keeps it in good condition,” she explained. The paper was to protect the floor from a scuffling public who had come to bid the iconic blue cheese adieu.

After removing the Stilton’s surrounding foil and placing it on a piece of paper, Zoe sounded impressed, “Wow, check out the mites.”

A halo of brown dust had formed surrounding the cheese an inch out. This ring consisted of living and dead mites as well as the rind particles they’d bored through. “Usually, you just see the dust they leave, not them,” said Zoe. The sheer number of mites jumping off the sides of the cheese tower onto the surrounding paper allowed us to see critters about the size of a pin prick.

“The French call mites ‘little affineurs’ because they contribute to the character of certain cheeses like Mimolette,” answered Zoe. “And also, they wont eat young or bad, ‘corked’ cheese – they’re picky.”

According to Zoe, Stilton wasn’t typically overwhelmed by this many mites (she later told me she returned it) but any dry, natural rind cheese is likely to pick up a few. Since mites are responsible for the rustic appearance and signature ‘floral’ aroma of some well-known cheeses, affineurs don’t hate them but they are considered a scourge on cloth-bound cheeses like cheddar. Zoe added that if a “cheese is young and semi-soft they can get through the rind and cause discoloration of the interior, usually dime sized brown ‘dirt’ spots near the rind.”

So while it’s normal to have some mites, there’s a weekly check to keep the population in check and make sure the shelves are clean. Each wood board is removed and washed with warm water and affected cheese is brushed with a dry paintbrush and replaced upside-down on a clean board. Jessica had already done this during her board check.

Tune in for Part 6: “Scrubbing Cheese in the Hard-Rind Cave.”