Washed Rind Cheeses with Fons Smits

Monday May 26th from 2:00-5:00pm
Roots Down Market
54 Farmington Falls Rd, New Sharon, ME 04955

*Will have coffee and light refreshments*

Join us for a relaxed, discussion-based workshop to walk through the production of washed rind cheeses. Using a makesheet as our guide, we’ll go step by step, with plenty of room for questions, sidebars, and real-world cheesemaking talk. This isn’t a formal lecture—it’s a collaborative session where we explore the “whys” behind each step, troubleshoot together, and learn by doing. Great for cheesemakers who prefer conversation over instruction, and who want to understand the process, not just follow a recipe.

Fons Smits – Tulip Tree Creamery – September, 2024
Fons Smits, a dairy technologist and nationally recognized cheese maker, owns and manages
Tulip Tree Creamery LLC in Indianapolis, IN. In 2014 Smits founded the creamery, together with
Laura Davenport, and since then has managed the business and is the main cheese maker.
Smits was born and raised in the pastoral dairy region of the Netherlands, where he completed
advanced, specialized studies in Dairy Technology, and holds engineering degrees in Food
Science, Biotechnology, and Water Purification.

Smits has won several awards and kudos in the U.S.A. and in Europe for his aged and fresh cheeses, yogurts, and ice creams at various companies including
Cowgirl Creamery, Traders Point Creamery, Ludwig Farmstead Creamery, and now at Tulip Tree
Creamery.

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