Murray’s Cheese has since expanded to host regular tasting events and courses in subjects that range from hand-making your own cheeses to how to best pair wine with cheese. As an importer of rare and artisan cheeses, Murray’s is also a destination shop for anyone looking to purchase award-winning cheeses and delicacies from all around the world.
Most Americans don’t actually think that much about cheese. While we consume a lot of it (in 2021, Americans consumed 5.3 billion pounds of cheese or about 40 pounds per person), we tend to gloss over how complex and varied the world of cheese is. It is most comparable to wine in the complex regional variations and aging processes that give individual cheeses distinctive flavor and taste. At Murray’s Cheese, they aim to make artisanal cheese more accessible to the public, both in the sense that they host classes aimed at introducing people to new cheeses, and they have some of the largest stock of rare and artisanal cheeses in the country. If you are interested in learning more about the complex world of cheese, Murray’s Cheese is the place to go.
What is Murray's Cheese Shop?
While the shop was originally founded by Murray Greenberg in the 1940s, it wouldn’t become what it is today until the early 2000s when they moved to their present location and began selling fine artisanal cheeses (though, as they tell it, it took some time for the fancy stuff to catch on). While the brand was acquired by Kroger in 2017 and has since expanded to have hundreds of locations and a robust online cheese-selling platform, the original shop still remains and regularly hosts tasting, events and classes for anyone interested in learning more about cheese or looking to buy rare and exotic cheeses.
What Are Classes Like?
Murray’s Cheese offers three basic kinds of classes: classes on making cheese, classes on tasting cheese and classes on pairing cheese with other foods. In all these classes, students will work with experienced cheesemongers and cheese makers to learn how artisanal cheeses can become a part of their regular diet. They offer live in-person classes and live online courses, giving students additional options for learning about cheese. Each class will feature a curated selection of cheeses and pairings (depending on the class in question) that students will enjoy as a component of the class. All of the cheeses are provided as part of the tuition fee for the course, with more options available for purchase if you find something you happen to enjoy.
What Classes Do They Offer?
Anyone new to the world of artisan cheese should consider enrolling in Murray’s Cheese’s Cheese 101 course. In this class, students will get a crash course in the science and art of cheese from expert instructors who aim to make cheese tasting a more accessible and enjoyable experience. In this class, students will sample six curated cheeses (varying from lesson to lesson) with an emphasis on the science behind the process of making the cheeses. Students will learn how different cultivation techniques and different kinds of milk produce unique textures, flavors and rinds and consistencies. By the end of this class, students will have a newfound appreciation for the world of fine cheeses, and they will have had the opportunity to sample varieties from around the world.
If you are looking for a more focused tasting experience, consider enrolling in the Tour of Europe: Wine & Cheese Pairings course. In this course, students will go on a guided tour of Europe without ever leaving Manhattan as an expert sommelier and cheesemonger has you sampling four European kinds of cheese and four accompanying European wines. You’ll learn what makes the cheeses produced in France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Austria (among other possible locales) different from one another and what kinds of wines those countries produce. This course is designed to help students understand how specific regional differences in climate, cultivation and technique can produce radically different cheeses and wines, and it will help students better understand why certain parts of the world are so protective of their cheesemaking traditions.
Murray’s also offers a more introductory Wine & Cheese Crash Course aimed at students looking to learn the fine art of creating accessible cheese and wine pairings for their own social gatherings or events. This course will see students learning the basics of selecting cheeses and wines to pair with each other and selecting other accompaniments, like nuts and chocolates. Students will sample four curated cheeses and four curated wines to understand how they pair together and how they were selected. Your instructor will explain the basic pairing principles that went into the course selections as students sample the wine and cheese to determine how specific pairings complement one another and what kinds of cheeses and wines you most enjoy. This class is a great introduction to the world of event hosting and planning, and all of the sample cheeses are available at Murray’s when you intend to build your own tasting platter.Â
Finally, Murray’s Cheese is also a producer of artisanal cheese, and they offer hands-on lessons in making your own cheese such as their Mozzarella Making class. In this class, students will sample various curd cheeses like Mozzarella and Burrata, and then, they will take to hand-making balls of mozzarella using techniques they can replicate in their home kitchens. As students learn how to make mozzarella cheese, they will be able to sample some of Murray’s Cheese’s house wine, and they will learn about the history of Mozzarella making and what makes it such a popular cheese.
What Else is There to Know?
Murray’s Cheese is also an award-winning cheese-making shop in its own right, having won several yearly awards for its cave-aged originals. They operate four different cheese caves, each calibrated to cultivate specific flavors, textures and rinds in the cheeses, and they are a treat to have the opportunity to sample. In addition, Murray’s Cheese stocks artisanal cheeses from over a dozen countries, and they have a special cheese club program where subscribers can get a monthly cheese box delivered directly to their homes.
To find more cheese classes, consider exploring the options available through CourseHorse.