Fine Cheese & Charcuterie July / August 2012

We’ve moved into the dog days of summer and, for much of the country, it’s been brutal. Now, admit- tedly, where I live, in the San Francisco Bay Area, those dog days are a lot less dogged than in most places. In fact, as Mark Twain once famously said (or didn’t say, depending on whom you believe), “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” As most Americans are sweltering in high heat and equally high humidity, summer days here are more likely to start out with a lazy blanket of fog, typically giving way around noon to warm, sunny days (unless one lives in certain parts of the city, in which case the fog stays all day). Nevertheless, having grown up in the hot, muggy summers of the Midwest, followed by many years living in New York City, I remember all too well the struggles of retailers to keep the customers comfortable, the staff presentable and the food palatable while the sidewalks literally radiated heat; and when nights brought relief only from the sun but not so much from the heat and humidity (out here, the nights can be quite chilly – OK, I’ll stop!).

In some ways, this issue looks forward to autumn as we delve into the category of smoked foods in our story “Up in Smoke” (page 17) and the product gallery that follows. The presence of smoked foods – meats, fish, cheese – in the gourmet store can’t be overestimated, especially as more and more foods are finding their way into the smokehouse to be touched by the subtly haunting allure of wood smoke and its effect on food.

We also look forward to SIAL Paris in October (page 11), one of the biggest trade shows in the world devoted to food and beverages. Our team will be there, no doubt inflicting untold atrocities on French verb forms. Calvin Trillin once said that as far as foreign languages are concerned, he “doesn’t do verbs.” Fortunately, the French and most other Europeans are much better at being multilingual than us, and English abounds at the show and in the city of Paris. Verbs or not, we hope to see many of you there as well.

I hope everyone survives the heat waves this summer. For many, relief has already come, and for others, it will be here soon enough. In the meantime, keep your cheese covered, think cool thoughts and dream of fourth-quarter profits

to come. Hope to see you in the course of our travels. Cheers.

James Mellgren Managing Editor,

Gourmet Business Fine Cheese & Charcuterie

 jmellgren@gourmetbusiness.com