Inside Murray’s Boot Camp: The Ultimate Seminar for the Cheese Curious

If you think there’s no limit to the amount of cheese you can eat, New York’s Murray’s Cheese has a challenge for you: Boot Camp.

Murray’s Boot Camp is one of the best intensive cheese courses available to novices and professionals alike, short of getting a dairy science degree or a cheesemaking internship. Several cheese personalities profiled here on Cheese Professor credit Murray’s education program as the beginning of their cheese careers: Anne Saxelby, Mansi Jasani, and Olivia Vessel to name a few. Many among Murray’s own staff, including Manager of Education—and Boot Camp Drill Sergeant—Michele Molier, got their own start in cheese simply by attending and volunteering for Murray’s myriad educational sessions.

Murray’s Boot Camp doesn’t actually involve doing push-ups over large wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano. (More’s the pity?) Neither is it an intensive specifically designed to stretch your available stomach real estate for cheese. (Though it will.) Murray’s Boot Camp is actually a weekend-long seminar for the truly cheese curious at any level, covering topics from cheese history, to pairings, to affinage, and more. It is typically offered up to 4 times a year, though the pandemic created a 2-year hiatus on the program while Murray’s quickly pivoted to Zoom-based cheese instruction. The glorious return of Murray’s Boot Camp took place on October 15 and 16, 2021, and I was there to summarize it for you.

Who Attends Murray’s Boot Camp?

Murray’s Boot Camp began with introductions not only of the staff but of the 8 attendees. It almost reads like the set-up of a familiar joke: “a cheese writer, a 6th generation dairy farmer and a charcuterie board entrepreneur walk into a bar…” (Except the bar was a classroom in a loft above Murray’s flagship Bleecker Street location. But there was still alcohol.)

What ended up being a truly enriching part of the seminar was the diversity of perspectives brought to the classroom by the participants. With a few people traveling from as far as Michigan and Washington State specifically for Murray’s Boot Camp, the cheese experience among us classmates ranged from “I love to eat cheese,” to “I sell cheese boards,” to “I make cheese.” (I write about cheese, but still have a lot to learn!) Questions raised, and points made by people from every level helped to move the discussion in directions where we all benefitted.

Even if I hadn’t gotten to taste 23 different cheeses in about 24 hours, I’d recommend the experience for the cheese camaraderie alone. Several classmates and I have kept in touch through social media platforms.

Schooled in Cheese

Murray’s Boot Camp is broken down into 5 different sessions over the course of 2 days, each with a different topic and instructor from Murray’s diverse cast of educators, mongers, and affineurs. Two of the sessions dealt specifically with cheese pairings—condiment and beverage editions—but even during the more academic or practical sessions, generous cheese samples were provided to illustrate the points being made.

In History of Cheese, we learned about the likely genesis of cheese: a shepherd utilizing an animal bladder as a portable milk canteen. Rennet is discovered, fresh cheese is born, and to illustrate the style, Westfield Farm Capri is offered. Washed rind cheeses, with taleggio at the ready for tasting, probably came from a diligent young monk cleaning the monastery with a simple saltwater solution and not stopping when he got to the cheese wheels, giving them a good scrub, and so on. (Cheesemaking techniques—and food safety—have come a long way since then.)

The aptly named “Counter Culture” dealt with everything monger-related: cutting, wrapping, and portioning. With selections such as Jasper Hill’s Sherry Gray and Milton Creamery’s Flory’s Truckle, to demonstrate different principles for cheeses of various textures, we didn’t just cut the cheese, we ate the cheese.

In From The Caves, affineur Josh Windsor sang the praises of various molds, with selections from Murray’s own caves, 80:10:10 and Mistoa, among others, as examples of resulting rinds. The most science-heavy of the sessions, this was perhaps the only time I didn’t finish all the cheeses, as I was too busy scribbling notes, (Affinage 101 forthcoming!) and have just enough dignity not to plant my face directly in a plate of appealing cheese.

In all, between the 5 sessions, we tasted 23 different cheeses. Cheese appendix provided below to incite envy, and/or enlistment in Murray’s next available Boot Camp.

Champagne Has a Dual Purpose

Bubbles were provided throughout the session: from a practical standpoint, nothing cuts through the tongue-coating richness that cheese provides quite like sparkling wine, which is helpful when so many cheeses are on hand. From a cultural standpoint, there was indeed much to celebrate for the return of Murray’s Boot Camp.

For more Cheese Education content, see Gouda Cum Laude: 7 Schools Where You Can Learn About Cheese, How to Become a Certified Cheese Professional, and 3 Most Fascinating College Cheeses.