Zip, Zing, Woosh: A Cheese-First Dive into Zingerman's Creamery

What was your Anton Ego moment? For those of you unfamiliar with the Pixar film Ratatouille, we’re talking about the moment that the classic French dish touched Anton’s taste buds and whisked him back to the happy times of childhood. Food, after all, is transformative, both literally in the sense of cooking, and figuratively in the emotions that it can inspire.

For me, it was the first bite of cheese from Zingerman’s Creamery. Sure, I had my share of sharp cheddar and Provolone, and even the occasional holiday Harbison, but my limited exposure to the vast world of cheese had followed familiar paths. So when I first saw Detroit Street Brick, I was intrigued. Borrowing from the classic French and Spanish traditions of fresh goat cheeses, Detroit Street Brick is indeed a brick, but the transformative trick was an ingredient I hadn’t ever put together with cheese, peppercorns.  

When i first tasted it, the result was almost cartoonish, words like “zip, zing, woosh” were whirling across my tongue in technicolor green.I was hooked.

That initial joy of discovery deepened into a desire of exploring just what Zingerman’s was all about.

Though American cheesemaking is a relatively young industry, Zingerman’s is one of its oldest advocates. It opened its doors in 1982 with a desire to provide great deli sandwiches and to be a hub for some of the best artisanal foods from around the globe. A couple of years later, the American cheese boom began in earnest, with luminaries like Vermont Creamery, Lively Run Goat Dairy, Capriole, and Cypress Grove all opening their doors and beginning to produce cheeses that went beyond the typical yellow squares wrapped in plastic.  

Zingerman’s Creamery opened early during the second wave of this expansion of American cheesemakers in 2001, first focusing on making cream cheese but laying down the foundation with their primary farming partner, Calder Family Dairy, to explore further cheese-making opportunities.  

Named after the brick-laden street in Ann Arbor that their initial delicatessen is found on, Detroit Street Brick was their first runaway hit, winning the American Cheese Society awards in 2006, 2007, and 2012.

Now, the creamery makes over 20 varieties of cheese, and we always try to have a few on hand. This month, we’ve just received our first batches of Little Napoleon, Manistique, Bridgewater, and our favorite guilty pleasure, Pimento Cheese.

Little Napoleon is affectionately called their little cheese with a big complex. Modelled after the classic Loire Valley goat milk cheeses like Chabichou and Bonde D’Anton, The hand-laded little button is butter colored on the outside and zesty and creamy on the inside. It’s perfect for your next little cheeseboard, or if you just need an excuse to eat a baguette.

Bridgewater is the cow’s milk equivalent to the Detroit Street Brick with a couple of twists: one, it comes as a little snowball instead of a log; two, it’s studded with Tellicherry peppercorns, one of the most highly sought after peppercorn varieties. It’s a true star on any cheese plate, and usually the first one to disappear.

Manistique is a true labor of love. Inspired by the classic Italian recipes for Robiola, this cheese is a double cream that’s been wrapped in cabbage leaves. The leaf-wrapped approach started as a practical one, designed to help keep in moisture and keep away pests before the onset of modern refrigeration, but it’s a heck of a good looking and great tasting cheese. We got the tip from the Zingerman’s Creamery team that this cheese is even better grilled—just put it on for three minutes a side for a smoky, savory delight.

Bridgewater and Manistique are named after local towns in Michigan not far from their Ann Arbor home, but Pimento Cheese is strangely “southern”. That doesn’t mean that folks in the Midwest have no business making it. The secret to success is actually a Vermont classic, Cabot Cheddar, mixed with slow-roasted red peppers, Tellicherry black pepper, mayonnaise, and just enough cayenne to give it some heat. It’s a delectable treat with just about any cracker, or even a stalk of celery, if you want to be healthy about it. 

We encourage you to find your own Anton Ego moment, and with the great cheeses from Zingerman’s Creamery, it might only be a taste away.