{"id":2802,"date":"2024-05-19T04:29:07","date_gmt":"2024-05-19T04:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/why-ai-ming-syu-is-passionate-about-bringing-artisan-cheeses-to-singapore\/"},"modified":"2024-05-19T04:29:07","modified_gmt":"2024-05-19T04:29:07","slug":"why-ai-ming-syu-is-passionate-about-bringing-artisan-cheeses-to-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/why-ai-ming-syu-is-passionate-about-bringing-artisan-cheeses-to-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Ai Ming Syu is Passionate About Bringing Artisan Cheeses to Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cI\u2019ve never been interested in tasting cheese just as a product,\u201d says cheesemonger Ai Ming Syu. It\u2019s not that she doesn\u2019t appreciate a delicious bite, it\u2019s just that she wants to understand the full story of where a cheese actually comes from. She explains, \u201cEverybody assumes, \u2018Oh, you must love cheese; you must love eating cheese,\u2019 but for me, cheese is the end product of a long, long process that you have to get right first.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ai Ming Syu Photo by Jean Paolo <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Learning About Cheese<\/strong> <\/h2>\n

Syu\u2019s journey to cheesemongering began in the early 2000s, when, lacking fulfillment in her corporate job and longing to work outside with her hands, she traveled from Singapore to Italy to work on a small, family-run farm. She enjoyed the work as much as she\u2019d hoped. From tending to the animals to cleaning the stables, Syu found great satisfaction in learning how a cheese-producing farm operates, and she spent as much of her vacation time as possible working on farms in the years that followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just about being able to learn how things work on farms and when milking happens and all of that,\u201d Syu explains. \u201cIt\u2019s a question of how you do those things respectfully\u2014to the animal and to the whole environment. It\u2019s about having a consciousness that, as a cheesemaker, you are one of many parts; working with all of these elements to make the end product. That was what fascinated me.\u201d <\/p>\n

The more Syu worked with small-scale farmers and independent cheese producers around Europe, the more people she met within the community who had stories to tell and cheeses to share. \u201cThe beautiful thing about farmers is that they\u2019re so aware of the obligation they have to do right by nature, by animals, and by what they\u2019ve been given,\u201d says Syu. \u201cI got to try more and more cheeses, and every time I just thought how crazy it is that I\u2019m the only one having the opportunity to taste all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Cheese Ark cheeses photo by Jean Paolo<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cheese Ark<\/strong> <\/h2>\n

Syu opened The Cheese Ark<\/a> in 2013 as a way to introduce rare and old-fashioned cheeses to the people of Singapore. She says it was less of a business decision than a desire to share and preserve the magnificent results of conscientious farming. \u201cWhen I opened, I really didn\u2019t expect to sell any cheese\u2014which sounds ridiculous as a business owner,\u201d Syu laughs. \u201cI think if I were a real entrepreneur, or if I were at all business-minded, I wouldn\u2019t have gone ahead with the idea.\u201d <\/p>\n

By then, Syu had over a decade of experience working with mom-and-pop farms, tasting rare cheeses, and seeing first-hand how traditions are fading with time. Less and less people want to work on farms, and perhaps even fewer want to take over farms. And in many cases, it\u2019s not so much that young people are reluctant to pursue manual labor\u2014it\u2019s that the cards are financially stacked against them.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t think about things like inheritance taxes, but it\u2019s a reality,\u201d says Syu. \u201cThere are so many macro factors working against the artisanal industry. Even 10 years ago I thought about how there\u2019s so much nonsense food\u2014to be able to eat something that is absolutely pure and unadulterated is such a privilege. It\u2019s just pure, pure joy.\u201d In an effort to better preserve this joy, The Cheese Ark features the only affinage room in Singapore, where Syu can ensure that the special cheeses she collects and sells are stored under optimal conditions. And, she can continue to age wheels of cheese long after they\u2019ve left the shelves of European producers. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t open The Cheese Ark because I wanted to have a shop, I just did it because I really, genuinely believed in good farming,\u201d Syu explains. \u201cI didn\u2019t know of another way to make people aware of these cheeses. I couldn\u2019t just stand on the street with an open wheel and hand out cheese\u2014if I wanted people to take me seriously, I had to have a shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

While cheese isn\u2019t as much of an everyday product in Southeast Asia as it is across Europe and the United States, Syu says that Singaporeans have been curious about her products and customers are generally willing to taste new things. \u201cThankfully, we all come equipped with a palate and the cheese is so good that, often enough, I don\u2019t have to try very hard to convince anyone. They can taste the difference.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The Cheese Ark shop photo by Jean Paolo<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Syu does admit that running a cheese shop \u201cis not a paradise.\u201d As with any specialty food product\u2014comparable examples include wine and chocolate\u2014there will always be consumers looking for a cheaper version. \u201cThere are people who have no choice but to economize, and I get that,\u201d she says. \u201cBut if you look at food media, the big focus is often on the glory and glamor of restaurants and chefs. The important parts of food systems aren\u2019t highlighted as much, and that doesn\u2019t help.\u201d So, Syu tries to educate where she can, telling the stories of the cheesemakers she visits regularly, and emphasizing the importance of environmental and animal welfare in creating such pleasurable cheese. <\/p>\n

For all of her experience and access, though, Syu has a strict no-favorites policy. \u201cThe concept of a favorite doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d she says, citing the fact that she simply doesn\u2019t need to choose. And because Syu ages the cheeses herself, she gets to follow their progress, often preferring one cheese today and another three days later. \u201cI love evolution,\u201d she enthuses. \u201cI think if you\u2019re working with cheese, with wine, with cured meats, the way that it changes is what you love\u2014it\u2019s not a particular profile that you love.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n

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<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg> View this post on Instagram <\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by THE CHEESE ARK (@thecheeseark)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While you won\u2019t find a menu of the cheeses she carries online, you will find some of them on her popular Instagram account @thecheeseark<\/a> including recent picks, Buffalo milk Surfin\u2019 Blu<\/a> aged in beer, the blended cow and sheep milk cheese of Piedmont Ciabot<\/a>, and Swedish Gardsost<\/a> and the basil filled Tomme, and the basil filled Basilica. <\/p>\n

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An Annual Cheese Sabbatical<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/h2>\n

Syu typically closes The Cheese Ark between February and March to continue her cheese travels, visiting the farmers who have become her friends and seizing opportunities to make new acquaintances. The landscaping of farming and cheesemaking may be changing, but Syu\u2019s passion for the craft isn\u2019t going anywhere. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can spend the rest of my life just eating produce from places like these, I\u2019ll die happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019ve never been interested in tasting cheese just as a product,\u201d says cheesemonger Ai Ming Syu. It\u2019s not that she doesn\u2019t appreciate a delicious bite, it\u2019s just that she wants to understand the full story of where a cheese actually comes from. She explains, \u201cEverybody assumes, \u2018Oh, you must love cheese; you must love eating … Okumaya devam et “Why Ai Ming Syu is Passionate About Bringing Artisan Cheeses to Singapore”<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[395],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-milk-and-diary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}