July 25, 2007

July: Joachim Atterfors,
cheese lover

Joachim Atterfors has a passion for cheese and we have a passion for passion. That’s why we decided to team up with this outspoken niche gastronome to get the inside story.
It turned out to be a story about social pressure, amateur canapés, disrespect and kälkbackar - welcome to the life of a cheese lover.

Some people have to say cheese to produce a smile. For others thinking of it is more than enough.
Joachim Atterfors was born and raised in Solna just outside of Stockholm. He’s a single dad who loves music, frisbee golf and of course his daughter Mira. He also happens to enjoy cheese more than most. You might say he’s a very ordinary man whose passion for cheese has made him a legend against his will.

- The myth regarding my cheese consumption sometimes takes bizarre proportions, he tells us.

- Booth good friends and enemies are very keen on painting a picture of me as a guy who eats nothing but cheese. This is not the true story. I eat other food with great appetite as well. However, I do see a cheese solution to almost any cocking issue.

So what’s on your menu on an average Tuesday?

- For breakfast I’m trying to be a little conservative to avoid smart ass comments like “That’s a lot of sandwich on your cheese”. It’s always the same comments from the same guys with their clever pants pulled up way too high. For lunch all cheese consumption is a bonus since the lunch places around my office are quite ‘cheeseless’. Well, except for one of the places that has a bucket of parmesan cheese right beside the salad buffet. Sometimes it might need a refill when I’m through with it (laugh). An ordinary weekday dinner may have some cheese in it, but the most important thing is that it’s easy to prepare and that my daughter gets her vegetables. However, I usually treat myself to a late night snack - maybe some cheese filled olives or just a Babybel with some caviar on top.

If you dine out or if you're invited over to some friends for dinner, how do you manage to get your cheese quota?

- Something that’s very nice and also quite elegant when you go to a dinner party, is to bring cheese as a gift instead of the usual bottle of sour whine. I insist that the hostess or host must try it right away because it’s made from unpasteurized goat milk from some rare mountain goats in the Andes. Then everybody can have cheese instead of amateur snacks like potato chips or salmon canapes. Moreover, I think cheese is a much better extension to a dinner out than traditional deserts – especially when eaten slowly and accompanied with a nice sophisticated conversation and something good to drink.

Can you tell us a little bit about the background to your passion for cheese? How did it all start out?

- I belive that I’ve had a soft spot for cheese since early childhood. I remember carving kind of aggressively into the Hushålls-cheese at my parents place. But even as a child I never treated the cheese disrespectfully – no downhill slopes.

I have to ask the inevitable question: How do you manage to control your weight on such a diet?

- Cheese is life, weight is relative. Enough said about that.

Don’t you ever get feed up with cheese?

- Sooner or later you get fed up with everything if you’re afraid of trying new things. Food, music and relationships are perfect examples. It’s very important to know that cheese rarely tastes best on its own. It should be enjoyed together with other fine food, for instance some tasty salami or marinated garlic, a couple of olives and an ice cold bottle of Sancerre.

- What advise would you give to a young aspiring cheese lover?

- Cheese is enriching in so many ways and it may take you to so many different places in the world. Either you learn a lot on this journey or you don’t. It all depends on what intentions you start out with. You can choose to open your mind and take in a lot of different things on your journey with the cheese. I’m talking about people, culture, wine and so on. Or you might just decide to become one with the cheese. The risks are few ... the reward is enormous.

Are you a cheese addict for life or do you think your passion might start to fade some day?

- The cheese will always be with me. The only thing that might change is which types of cheese I prefer.

What’s your favourite type right now?

- Every type of cheese has its own magic. It’s like having to choose which of your children you like the most. It’s impossible and unworthy. If I still have to pick a favourite it would probably be the Danish cheese Gamle Ole. But it depends on the occasion and it changes over time. Some days you feel like biting into the old Roquefort. Other days you feel more like eating a whole tube of ’Kavli’s Bacon Cheese’.

Recipe for men’s man of the month in July

Name: Joachim Atterfors.

Age: 34.

Family: My daughter Mira.

Occupation: Brand manager at fashion distributor MNO International.

Favourite brand: Chanel.

Favourite city: Stockholm.

Vanity level: 3.5 – Which still is pretty high for a guy who likes Chanel and claims weight is relative.

Most beautiful place on earth: My happy-place and a packed Råsunda (a football stadium in Stockholm).

Looks up to: My daughter Mira och Steven Gerrard.

The world’s most beautiful man: Dave Gahan.