John Eats Cheese

Wine ratings: Getting to the point

How the major wine rating systems work, what the numbers mean, and why a score is a starting point, not a verdict.

Whey pizza dough

Making cheese leaves you with a lot of whey, and this is an easy way to use it: swap it for the water in a simple pizza dough. It makes one 12-inch pizza with a light, chewy crust. Ingredients 295 g (2½ cups) bread flour2¼ teaspoons instant yeast1½ teaspoons granulated sugar1 teaspoon kosher salt¼ teaspoon […]

Feta cheese

Feta by Rebecca Siegel

Feta is a Greek fresh cheese which is brined and made from usually either sheep’s or a mixture of sheep’s and goat’s milk. The name feta is usually associated with Greet feta, but the style of cheese is actually pretty common in the along the Mediterranean, Balkans, and pretty much everywhere there are sheep and […]

Guides

Go deeper, one chapter at a time

Cheese Basics

Everything I wish someone had told me about cheese: how it is made, the seven types, and how to buy, store, serve, eat and cook with it.

7 chapters

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Cheese Making

From your first ricotta and paneer to mozzarella: what you need, what to do with the whey, and how rennet and annatto work.

7 chapters

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Pairing Cheese

What goes with cheese: wine, beer, cider and whiskey, plus the fruit, nuts, honey and bread on the plate, with charts for 14 common cheeses.

5 chapters

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All guides →

Ricotta cheese (byproduct)

Drain by Joel Kramer

Gosh, I really wanted to start off with, Ricotta is a fresh Italian cheese, but by most accounts, ricotta is not considered cheese–but rather a cheese byproduct. Remember, when you make cheese, you’re separating curds from the whey. The curds are the milk solids (proteins) which ultimately are pressed, aged, etc. and become the cheeses […]

How to eat Brie

Picnic! by Nico Paix

Although most Americans know what to do with cheddar or pepper jack cheese, Brie is one of those foreign cheeses that many people are intimidated by. If you have not heard of Brie, it is a really popular French cheese; you can find it at most grocery stores. I have received a lot of questions […]

Cheese making: A guide for beginners

Cream Cheesemaking Fixins by Brian Boucheron

If you found your way to my blog, you are either stalking me, or you just love cheese. Loving cheese involves a lot of eating, but someone who takes cheese seriously wants to know where it’s from; what it’s made of; and, how it was made. If you are looking to level up as a […]

Cheese knives: Learn how to choose the right one for your next party.

The nine most common cheese knives, from the small spade to the cheese slicer, with what each one is for.

Mozzarella: Make your own at home

Buffalo milk mozzarella with pesto of dry tomatoes and cashew nut by Luca Nebloni

Ever want to make your own cheese? Mozzarella is one of the easiest cheeses to make and often one of the first cheeses that novices will venture to make at home. Below you’ll find a really easy mozzarella recipe to start you off on your path to cheesemaker. What you will need If you’re going […]

Pouring wine without removing the cork

This afternoon, I was at the Brooklyn Winery in Red Hook and saw the staff using an incredibly fancy gas injection system to pour their wine. Needless to say, I was intrigued. I’ve seen so many different systems to take the corks out of bottles, but never anything that is designed to leave the cork […]