Ihsan and Valerie own and run the Formaggio Kitchen family of stores. As is true of any folks passionate about their jobs, work intertwines throughout all aspects of their lives. Their travels – frequent and far-flung – are largely dictated by the food producers they want to meet or to revisit, by rumors of new and exciting foodstuffs and/or food conferences such as “Cheese,” the biennial Slow Food festival held in Bra, Italy. Their larder and wine cellar are stocked with favorite items they have imported or new items they are testing out. Even when on holiday, they are in direct communication with all three stores, coordinating deliveries from Europe and generally checking to make sure everything is on track. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Staff Profiles’ Category
Introducing Ihsan and Valerie: Owners of Formaggio Kitchen
Posted in About Us, Cheese, Christmas, Gift Giving, Gifts & Wares, Grains, Rice, Flours & Beans, Hanukkah, Herbs, Spices, Salts & Peppers, Holiday, Jams & Preserves, Meats & Charcuterie, Olive Oil & Specialty Oils, Pasta, Staff Profiles, Wine, tagged Arraya, Bleu des Basques, Comté, food, food gifts, gift ideas, Ihsan Gurdal, rillettes, robiola, Sainte-Maure Belgique, Saveur du Maquis, Vacherin Mont d'Or, Valerie Gurdal on December 12, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Introducing Tyler: Cheesemonger, Teacher and Cave Manager!
Posted in About Us, Christmas, Gift Giving, Gifts & Wares, Hanukkah, Recipes, Salads & Sides, Staff Profiles, tagged Comté Grand Cru, Dario Pozzolo, EH Chocolatier, food, Gruyère Vieux, Jean-Marie Cornille, La Vecchia Dispensa, macarons, Marcel Petite, Melata di Bosco del Roero, Mothais Feuille, olive oil, Raphaël, recipe, Robiola di Capra in Fico, San Giacomo on December 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Many of you may be familiar with Tyler as part of the two-man team behind our BBQ grill this past summer. Some of you may also know him as an instructor in our classroom where he teaches classes such as “Cheese 101″ or “Brave the Caves.” Not many though, will be familiar with his behind-the-scenes role as Cave Manager. On a weekly basis, Tyler maintains the cheeses in our caves – flipping them, rubbing them down to get rid of excess mold or cheese mites and patching cracks as needed (among many other tasks). This is no mean feat when you are handling 80-100lb. wheels of Comté, Gouda, Gruyère, cheddar and Parmigiano Reggiano! (more…)
Introducing Tripp: Cheesemonger, Teacher, Grillmaster and Domestic Cheese Buyer!
Posted in About Us, Christmas, Gift Giving, Gifts & Wares, Hanukkah, Holiday, Staff Profiles, tagged Arraya, Cheese, chicken liver mousse, Christmas, Fieschi, food, Goat Tomme, jam, Jean-Marie Cornille, Mostarda di Cremona, olive oil, Pâté Forestier, Pio Tosini prosciutto, Rush Creek Reserve, Stilton, Twig Farm on December 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Many of you may know Tripp as the jolly presence behind our BBQ grill this past summer. Others may be familiar with his stellar work on the cheese counter and in developing our domestic cheese program.
Tripp grew up in apple country – namely, Harvard, MA. He crossed the country to attend the University of Montana and, returning to New England after college, Tripp’s passion for food (particularly cheese) and his curiosity to learn more about food production brought him to Formaggio Kitchen Cambridge. (more…)
Introducing Julia: Cheesemonger, Teacher and Buyer of Chocolate, Tea, Jam, Honey and Spices!
Posted in About Us, Christmas, Gift Giving, Gifts & Wares, Hanukkah, Staff Profiles, tagged Christmas, Cole's fish, Dammann Frères, food, food gifts, gift ideas, Hanukkah, La Guinelle, Mas de Bories, Mast Brothers, Mulino Marino, Ortiz, pepper, Rancho Gordo, Rogue Chocolatier, Taza on November 29, 2012 | 5 Comments »
Julia is affectionately known in the shop as “Little Red” because of her lovely red hair. She has worked at Formaggio Kitchen Cambridge for 5 years and wears many hats – from cheesemonger, to classroom instructor, to buyer of chocolate, jam, honey, spices and tea.
Julia’s interest in food began early, as a young girl growing up on a small farm in eastern Oregon. It was on the farm that she learned about food in its most basic forms – between picking blackberries and making jam with her mom and sister, fishing for trout in the backyard, caring for their 30 bantam hens, or tending her own small vegetable garden next to her mother’s much larger one. In the evenings, her parents would cook everything from braised elk, to grilled whole salmon, to freshly baked bread. (more…)
Charcuterie: Pâté Grand-mère, Pork Butts and Secret Tricks
Posted in About Us, Meats & Charcuterie, Staff Profiles, tagged charcutière, duck, food, garnish, liver, meat, Meats & Charcuterie, pâté, Pâté Grand-mère, pork on December 8, 2011 | 2 Comments »
When I first signed on as the charcutière at Formaggio Kitchen, I was excited to work with meat. “What does the position entail?” I asked Ihsan, the shop’s owner. “You’ll be making sausages, curing meat, breaking down whole pigs and rabbits. Stuff like that,” he said. “And pâtés. Lots of pâtés.” That stopped me in my tracks. Sausages, great. Butchery, no problem. How hard can meat curing be? But pâtés? This was another story.
Pâté was mysterious, classic and tricky-sounding. I accepted the position with a bit of apprehension. Now, entering my third holiday season at the shop, pâtés have become one of the items I particularly look forward to making. And we make a lot of them! (more…)
Formaggio Kitchen Housemade Charcuterie
Posted in About Us, Meats & Charcuterie, Staff Profiles, tagged bacon, charcuterie, food, Meats & Charcuterie, pâté, rillettes, sausages on September 21, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Our kitchen takes great pride in the quality of their ingredients. Whether it is grass-fed hanger steaks, locally-grown heirloom tomatoes for a late summer chilled soup or organic Baldo rice from Lombardy in a rich risotto, we strive to let the beauty of each ingredient shine through. This pride is especially evident in our housemade pâtés, rillettes, bacon, pancetta and other cured and prepared meats. Our charcutière, Julie starts with whole cuts of pork, chicken, duck and rabbit and transforms them into small works of art displayed in our meat case.

Julie sources local, humanely-raised and in some cases, grass-fed meat for each of her creations. Pâtés are seasoned with a variety of ingredients including mushrooms, orange zest, pistachios, and golden raisins while cured meats such as bacon, guanciale and pancetta have simple herb and salt rubs that keep the meat’s flavor in the forefront. Julie also makes a variety of fresh sausages with ingredients that vary throughout the year. (more…)










