Off the Menu

Klee’s Daniel Angerer Invites You to Taste His Wife’s Breast-Milk Cheese

Photo: Courtesy of Daniel Angerer

The Strong Buzz recently reported that Lori Mason, wife of chef Daniel Angerer and his partner in Klee Brasserie, was turned away from the International Restaurant and Food Services Show when a security guard informed her that no one under 18 could be admitted (Mason and Angerer took their 8-week-old daughter). The results of Mason’s letter to the New York State Restaurant Association (which sponsored the event) remain to be seen, but one thing’s for sure — the NYSRA won’t be getting a taste of her breast-milk cheese. That’s right, chef Angerer tells us he’s making cheese from mother’s milk.

No, Angerer is not planning a breast-milk restaurant (he is working on a new project, but we were unable to squeeze any details out of him). He’s just making the cheese for proverbial shits and giggles. “Being a chef,” he explains, “you’re curious about anything in terms of flavor — you look out for something new and what you can do with it.” In fact, Angerer says his wife’s milk reminds him of the cow’s milk that he’d pick up, as a child, from a farm in Austria: “It was still warm and it would sour the next day.” Angerer says that two gallons of the mother’s milk yielded almost two quarts of cheese. “After two weeks aging, it was somewhat like a raw-milk cheese — it had all the flavors in there. It tastes just like really sweet cow’s milk. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, this is such an amazing cheese.’ It’s just like, ‘Can you use human milk? Yes, you absolutely can!’” In short, it’ll do in a pinch.

Actually, Angerer is so excited about the results that he has posted a recipe for “My Spouse’s Mommy Milk Cheese” on his blog, and is inviting folks over for a taste: “Our baby has plenty back-up mother’s milk in the freezer, so whoever wants to try it is welcome to try it as long as supply lasts (please consider cheese aging time).”

Klee’s Daniel Angerer Invites You to Taste His Wife’s Breast-Milk