Cheese Guy

Favorite Product:  Provvista CHILE PODS, NYORA

These Peppers are the essential ingredient for the true recipe for Romesco sauce. They have the perfect balance between sweet and savory. When combined with nuts, vinegar, garlic and great olive oil, this is a combination of ingredients that tastes great on anything. The best recipe, in my opinion, can be found in Coleman Andrews’ cookbook, Catalan Cuisine: Europe's Last Great Culinary Secret. Any aged sheep’s milk cheese: Call it pecorino, call it Manchego. Whatever the name, it’s all great. My most favorite these days comes from Ancient Heritage, and is called Scio Heritage. This aged cheese from Scio, Oregon has an amazing old world flavor and is made right here in our own state. The taste is sweet, nutty and pleasantly milky. Siurana olive oil: I have learned to love all types and flavor styles of olive oil. A long time favorite is the Siurana olive oil from Catalonia, Spain. The buttery, smooth and rich flavor of this oil is great on bread, pasta or any type of vegetables. I love the smooth flavor. Parmigiano Reggiano: My refrigerator has a few essential ingredients. If Parmigiano isn’t there, I’m not happy. It enhances many of my recipes at home.

In His Own Words

People often ask me how I became the ‘Cheese Guy’ at Provvista. My fast answer is that I was born and grew up in Wisconsin, ‘America’s Dairyland.’ When describing myself and what I do, I have to explain that agriculture and food has been with me all of my life. I lived on a beautiful 500 acre farm in SW Wisconsin. A day in the life for me included plowing fields, putting hay up and feeding animals. As a young adult, I made a slow segue to working in restaurants. When I moved to Portland 20 years ago I never figured I would stay that long, but I settled in with a good job, a wonderful wife, and great friends. My fifteen years at Provvista has awarded me with an interesting career that has allowed me to travel around our country and Europe to see many of the culinary wonders that we bring to our region. It has been a blast growing up with a company that was and is in lock-step with the fantastic food scene in the Pacific Northwest. Along the way I have met countless wonderful people that I am proud to call dear friends and extended family.

Little Known Facts About Me

I tend to collect a lot of quirky things. These include antique electric fans, old toys, space needles, and small totem poles. The house is getting ridiculous. When I was 21 my father sent me to Auctioneer College. The skill and I never took to each other, but if you feed me a beer or two I might just try. It was called “Colonel Gordon E. Taylors World Wide College Of Auctioneering.” Look it up.My basement is a miniature fabrication shop. If it’s made of wood or metal, I will try and take a crack at building it or fixing it. I love to tinker. It helps me to relax. This Spring, an interview with Tom was featured in Mix Magazine. Read the article here.