Artisan Cheesemaking on the Rise!
Interlochen Public Radio’s Tom Carr has a nice feature on the rise of artisan cheesemaking industry Michigan that features Boss Mouse. You can listen above or read the article.
Sue Making Swiss – photo by Tom Carr
Sue Kurta is among those leading the way. As she stirs the curdling milk that will become Swiss cheese, you can see the colorful tattoos that cover her arms. They’re pictures of pineapples, a cruise ship and other upbeat things.
“It stirs for quite a long time like this and if you don’t give it a toss, it can mat together,” Kurta says.
Kurta’s business is called Boss Mouse Cheese, a memorable name that comes from an antique photo of her Aunt Julia as a child. In it, Julia wears an outsized bow in her hair that looks kind of like mouse ears.
“And so Boss Mouse to me is like BOSS — but it’s a little mouse,” Kurta says. “And then she’s this sort of startled little Victorian girl with big mouse ears. The whole thing is so funny to me, and it’s fun to say.”
Boss Mouse is one of about 20 small, artisan cheese makers in Michigan. Most are also dairy farmers.
“For the most part, it’s people who already have milking animals and decide to go into the production side of things,” says Terry Philibeck, deputy director of the Michigan agriculture department.