Adam Ehrlichman and staff at PennMac photo credit Hollie Stephens
In Pittsburgh’s Strip District, famous for its international grocers, Pennsylvania Macaroni Company—or PennMac, as it is best known locally—started out in 1902, selling dried pasta and olive oil, supplying local mom-and-pop grocery stores. Today, it’s a top destination for cheese-lovers in the Steel City. The store carries a range of between 350 and 380 cheeses at any given time on average, and ships within the continental USA.
On busy Saturday mornings, there’s five or six people working the cheese counter to help keep the customers’ wait time as low as possible. Cheese monger Adam Ehrlichman, who has worked at the store for 18 years, says that he loves being able to be agile enough to meet the demands of regular customers. “Independent grocery responds directly to community,” he says. “Our community can want a product or a quality of a product, and we can make it happen within a few weeks for them.”
Italian cheeses are the specialty at the store, but there are nearly as many French cheeses, in addition to Swiss specialty cheeses and British cheeses. Ehrlichman buys from importers and distributors in Manhattan. He says that customers are interested in exciting high-end cheeses, and cheese that is great to cook with. After nearly two decades. Ehrlichman still loves introducing customers to wonderful cheeses from great producers. “It doesn’t get old,” he says.
Top Selling Cheeses
Parmigiano Reggiano
One of the most popular cheeses at the store is the 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s single sourced, which means that it’s 100% from one farm, and export quality. “I sell a minimum of 5 wheels a week of Parmigiano,” says Ehrlichman. “When I get down to 24 wheels, I order another pallet.” He explains that the farm makes less than 20 wheels a day by hand. The quality, Ehrlichman says, is consistently excellent, with plenty of tyrosine crystals—the white crunchy bits on the interior of aged cheese, which form as proteins break down. “Every time. I don’t recall opening a wheel and it wasn’t that awesome,” he says. “You can buy cheaper quality Parmigiano. But you can’t get it at this quality for this price.” Read more about Parmigiano Reggiano.
Tomme pur Chevre
Another especially popular cheese is the Tomme pur Chevre, a semi-firm goat cheese from the French Basque. The store also sells mozzarella curds, which can be used with hot water. “You knead them, and that aligns the proteins,” Ehrlichman says. He points out that there is a seasonal aspect to customers’ top picks, too. Large format alpine cheeses are popular in the colder months, whereas buyers are looking for more fresh goat cheese in the spring and summer.
Colston Bassett Stilton
Ehrlichman says that one of his personal favorites is the Colston Bassett Stilton at Christmas time, paired with a glass of port. The triple cream cheeses also sell especially well over the holidays, and pair fantastically with Champagne. When it comes to cheese and beverage pairings, Ehrlichman and his team do their best to assist customers with helpful suggestions whenever they can. A favorite pairing of one member of the team is the Prairie Breeze—a well-aged domestic white cheddar—with bourbon whiskey, as the richness of the whiskey fits well with the sweetness and sharpness of the cheese. Read more about Stilton.