Jungle Jim’s Big Cheese Festival offers international, gourmet cheeses

HOW TO GO

What: The Big Cheese Festival

Where: Jungle Jim’s International Market, 5440 E. Dixie Highway, Fairfield

When: Feb. 7-8, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Cost: $8-$10 (adult), $1 (children)

More Info: (513) 674-6000 or www.junglejims.com.

The cheese department at Jungle Jim’s International Market offers over 1,400 varieties of cheese, and 300 of those cheeses from over 80 local and international cheese companies will be available for tasting and purchase at the annual Big Cheese Festival Saturday, Feb. 7 and Sunday, Feb. 8.

“We’ll have some burrata cheese, which is an Italian mozzarella filled with cream, for the first time, it’s pretty exclusive,” said Brad Hacker, buyer/manager for the cheese shops at both Jungle Jim’s locations. “We’ll have an aged gouda from Holland, which is really caramel-y and rich. There’s also a guy in Sharonville bringing some Central American paisano cheeses, which are crumbly and ideal for tacos.”

Naturally, unless you’re Homer Simpson, cheese isn’t intended to be eaten on its own. According to Hacker, there will also be a wide variety of charcuterie (meat products), and beer and wine pairings.

“We’ll have some Italian prosciutto (dry-cured ham), some traditional and spicy salamis, and Portuguese sausages,” he said. “We’ll also have 20 wines of all styles, with Goose Island beer, Guinness and Leinenkugel.”

Special festival guests include Jason Sobocinski and Sarah Kaufmann (a.k.a. Sarah the Cheese Lady). Kauffmann is a cheese carver who currently holds the Guinness record for the largest cheese sculpture.

“She’ll be carving all kinds of things out of cheese,” Hacker said. “I usually just let her go so she can do whatever she wants to do.”

Sobocinski is the host of “The Big Cheese,” on the Cooking Channel. He will be present both days as well, signing books and teaching classes on chocolate and cheese pairings, wine and beer pairings, and gourmet Mac and cheese.

If all of this sounds a little esoteric for people who just really like cheese on their burgers, Hacker reassures us that there’s plenty for cheese newbies to enjoy.

“Newer people will typically go for the cheddars, and then slowly graduate into other things,” he said. “It’s nice because cheeses can be expensive, and this allows people to sample different cheeses without spending a lot of money, and being stuck with an $8 piece of cheese they don’t like.”