Willeke Teuwissen, Cheese Demonstrator
How did you get into cheese?
I grew up with cheese and eat it every day. My uncle owns a cheese business and asked me to work for him. I’m here for a few weeks doing demos.
What do you do if someone gets too handsy with free samples?
Usually I won’t say anything, but if they come back for five pieces, maybe I’ll say, “It might be nice of you to leave some for someone else.”
Can we show you this cheese guide we published back in March? What do you think?
I’m not familiar with this American cheese. Gouda cheese from Holland is still the best.
Where are you from?
Outside of Amsterdam. But I spend winters in Austria, where I’m a competitive skier.
Any similarities between cheese and skiing?
Both are cold. You have to keep cheese in the fridge … But actually, aged cheeses shouldn’t be refrigerated. So, actually, no similarities.
Lightning Round
From: Holland.
Staying: The YMCA.
Outfit’s provenance: “It was my great-great-great grandmother’s.”
Favorite New York spot: “I took the ferry to Staten Island to have some visibility around me, because it’s very narrow here and I needed more space.”
Favorite restaurant: Murray’s Cheese Bar.
Last splurge: “My ski boots, of course. They’re from an Austrian line called Lange.”
All-time favorite cheese: “Cheeseland Inc.’s Ewephoria cheese. It’s sheep’s-milk cheese, aged for a year, and is nutty and sweet.”
*This article appears in the December 1, 2014 issue of New York Magazine.