Meet the Cheesemonger: Nicole Pinch

Editor’s note: Nicole Pinch is one of the Official Conference Cheesemongers for the American Cheese Society’s 2023 conference in Des Moines. We previously featured the other Official Conference Cheesemongers Liz Steeves and Austin Banach.

Nicole Pinch is an Official Conference Cheesemonger for the American Cheese Society’s 2023 conference in Des Moines. She works as the Salumi e Formaggi Manager at Eataly Toronto, where she began her cheese career. In between stints at Eataly, Nicole worked as a monger at Whole Foods and earned her CCP certification in 2022.

How did you start working in cheese?

My first job in cheese was mozzarella maker for Eataly, which is where I now work. I had been working in cosmetics, and in the cosmetics company, we used a lot of food. The idea that we would put 30 kilos of avocado into something just didn’t sit well with me anymore, and I missed working in food. So when I left there, Eataly was opening in Toronto, and they needed a mozz maker. Their recruiter thought if I could make soap, I could probably make cheese.

Tell us about some of your favorite cheeses and makers at the moment.

There’s a cheese called Wildwood by Stonetown Artisan that comes from two hours outside Toronto. What’s coming in right now is absolutely stunning. It’s an Appenzeller style with a really beautiful rustic look, it’s really herbaceous. It’s aged about 12 months, so it’s still got a really lovely creaminess to it, and it’s just knocking customers’ socks off. It’s perfect right now.

As for cheesemakers, I think of Andy Hatch at Uplands Cheese and Mateo Kehler at Jasper Hill. Those two really speak to my values and what I believe cheese and food should be. Mateo reversing the flow of capital from cities into rural areas instead of it going the other way is very cool. He said on a recent podcast that he’s the “chief meaning officer.” So much of working in cheese can be the same every day: you milk the cows, you feed the cows, you rotate the pastures. His job with his staff is to show them the meaning in what they’re doing. I feel the same way about my role as a manager. Andy Hatch’s love for refinement, not redesign, speaks to my heart so greatly. I come from a sports background—I played roller derby for a long time. The idea that you go back to the tapes to see what you did, and you don’t need to necessarily start over or create something new. You’ve just got to tweak what you’re doing until it becomes exactly what you want it to be.

Which cheeses do you feel are underappreciated, and why?

Authentic cheeses from Mexico are super underappreciated, because very few people in the United States and Canada have had access to them. If we had more access to authentic Cotija or quesillo, we would refuse what we’re being offered by makers in both Canada and the States. They’re both gorgeous, and they’re so different from what we see on the mass market.

Which wedge is always in your fridge?

I do work for Eataly, so there’s always Parmigiano-Reggiano in my fridge, usually one or two different years or breeds of cows. Gennari is really beautiful. Their 48-month wheels are just gorgeous. That’s my luxury go-to. Read more about Parmigiano-Reggiano and the three original breeds.

What’s the pairing you just can’t get enough of right now?

Mountainoak Gouda and Instigator West Coast IPA — Mountainoak Gouda and Instigator

I’ve been doing a lot of pairing with a local brewery, Indie Alehouse, that has a brewpub in our building. Mountainoak three-year Gouda is from Ontario, and it’s just gorgeous. The crystallization in it is stunning, with the caramel notes and the sweetness. We’ve developed a pairing for that with a super hoppy, bitter, citrus-y, piney West Coast IPA called Instigator. I’ve continually paired Instigator with different cheeses, and every time, it becomes a different beer. The three-year Gouda brings out all the pine notes that you might not get when you pair it with a Gorgonzola or something.

What’s your favorite thing about working in cheese?

The connections. If you’re mongering, most people come to you in a pretty good mood. They’re usually buying something because they’ve had a good day, or they’re entertaining friends or family and they’re excited about that. Sometimes we’ll get somebody who needs a gift for someone going through bereavement, but there’s always that connection. My job and my staff’s job is to make a connection with that customer, but also to bridge that connection between the producer and the customer and also the food and the customer, and the experience that all creates together.

What are you most looking forward to as an Official Conference Cheesemonger at ACS this summer?

Again, those connections. I’m so excited. And being able to be involved in the presentation of some of the best cheeses. In Canada, we don’t get a lot of American artisan cheese. When I was studying for my CCP exam, there were a lot of trips to Buffalo to get my hands on everything. It’s so exciting to have that access again. And the connections with other mongers. We try to connect, and social media can be amazing for that, but there’s nothing like an in- person connection, which is what I think we’ve learned over the last few years.

How does it feel to represent Canada at ACS this year?

It’s very cool. The way I look at it is it’s allowing me to open up the idea that the ACS means more than just America—to my own staff and to customers and to other people in the industry in Canada. I think there’s only like 20-something Certified Cheese Professionals in Canada, and I think there are around 900 total. I love the idea that there’s this world open to us and these opportunities open to us in cheese. Cheese in Canada tends to be a little isolationist. What the American Cheese Society has done is phenomenal with the amount of collaboration and the makers and mongers that all know each other and share information. There’s no sort of protectionism. I’m super stoked to show my staff these other opportunities in cheese, and ACS is a big part of that. In Canada, Kelsie Parsons and Erin Harris are working on the Canadian Cheese Collective, which has been around for about a year now, which is really cool. The more of us that can participate in ACS and see how people collaborate, the more we can funnel those experiences into this other really cool thing that can also be a part of the cheese world.

What’s one of the most important lessons you’ve learned over your cheese career?

Patience. Nothing happens overnight in cheese, whether it’s making or importing to helping a customer decide what they need or what will make that experience special for them. And not making assumptions about people’s palates or bank accounts as a monger. You should present cheeses at all price levels as the same. There’s a cheese for everyone.

What’s your cheese industry dream job?

That’s tough. I’ve been in the role I’m in right now for almost a year. I was at Eataly as a mozz maker, then I moved over to Whole Foods to expand my knowledge of cheese, because we’re very niche at Eataly. If it’s not Italian, it’s local, so for us, that means Ontario and Quebec. Then I came back into this bigger role at Eataly. It goes back to that idea of refinement, and that if you want to do something well, you’ve got to practice and take time, so I feel like I’m still learning. I’m still learning about mongering, category management, buying—all of those things. So right now, that’s my dream job. But because I want to keep learning, I want to do things like attend Cheese Camp. I’d love to spend a Rush Creek season staging or working at Uplands. I’d like to get into a cave at one point.