An Ode to Cheese Labels, and, My Face on One.

"Fromage Étiquette de Kirstin", by Curd Nerd.

Unless it's Casu Marzu and its claim to fame are the bugs crawling through its funky interior, cheese rarely has to try hard to be pretty. The best a Casu Marzu cheesemaker can do is adorn his wormy wheel in a bow and dress and hope it catches someone's eye. But an everyday artisan cheese? It comes out of the cave all glowy and bright, like it just had a facial. It's beautiful already, and likely relaxed from ample massaging.

 Well, when I was unwrapping cheese at work the other day, I found myself once again taking pictures not of the cheese, but of its label. And then I took one of cheese paper. Yup, that's what it has come down to.

I don't think I ever mentioned cheese labels here at "It's Not You, it's Brie."

In case you haven't been caught by a coworker before while taking shots of what's wrapping cheese, so perhaps aren't yet aware, the labels and wrappers can be almost as delicious as the cheeses themselves. Here are some of my favorites.

I'll be sure to record more in the future. Since I wrote this first post, I have learned oh so much, my dear readers. I have learned of one man's obsession with "Fromage Étiquette" (French for "cheese labels"). The added designs on this post are all Curd Nerd's. The label with my face on it above, thank The Man Himself (but really, thank you!) Curd Nerd is a lactose leaning, cheese-loving, fromage-ophile working the cheese industry in New Zealand. And he's awesome. See more here. Really loving the labels? Oh, but Curd Nerd has a pinintrest board too. Thank you for sharing, Curd Nerd! I had to redo this post after seeing such dairy art love.

 

Any favorites from your area?