Artisan Cheese Festival

9th Annual festival starts March 20

Chef and author Mary Karlin shows Virginia Merwin of Petaluma how to tell when the panir is ready to be put into a cheese mold during the Farm to Table cheese making seminar during the 5th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival held at the Sheraton in Petaluma, Mar. 26, 2011. Panir is a dense, firm cow’s milk cheese from India. Crista Jeremiason

Chef and author Mary Karlin shows Virginia Merwin of Petaluma how to tell when the panir is ready to be put into a cheese mold during the Farm to Table cheese making seminar during the 5th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival held at the Sheraton in Petaluma, Mar. 26, 2011. Panir is a dense, firm cow's milk cheese from India.   Crista Jeremiason
Chef and author Mary Karlin shows Virginia Merwin of Petaluma how to tell when the panir is ready to be put into a cheese mold during the Farm to Table cheese making seminar during the 5th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival held at the Sheraton in Petaluma, Mar. 26, 2011. Panir is a dense, firm cow’s milk cheese from India.
Crista Jeremiason

The annual California’s Artisan Cheese Festival kicks off March 20, with an ever-dizzying lineup of curd-wranglers, cooking demos and brunch, and the big Kahuna, the Sunday Artisan Cheese Tasting and Marketplace from noon to 4p.m. Details and tickets online at artisancheesefestival.com.