February 20, 2018
Sarah Kellar
A mix of cheese tasting and innovative transportation research will be the focus of GOCA’s first event in their Chit Chat series this week.
GOCA will host Hyperloop and Cheese on Feb. 22. Radu Cascaval, associate professor of mathematics, will present his research on the Hyperloop, and Sharon Dahlen, owner of Cherokee’s of Manitou, will provide a tasting of cheeses from her shop in Manitou.
Along with teaching, Cascaval mainly researches two fields – nonlinear wave propagation and cardiovascular math. Cascaval is developing his research at UCCS.
Dahlen owns Haystack Mountain Goat Cheese in Manitou Springs, which she opened as an art gallery featuring her own oil paintings more than 20 years ago. The shop began selling cheese in June 2016.
At the Chit Chat event, there will be samples of a hard cheese, a soft cheese and a cheese somewhere in the middle. Dahlen will present on how different cheeses are made and what causes certain colors and textures.
“These are cheeses that are not well known, and artisanal means more that they are produced from lower amounts of milk, and it is usually higher quality,” stated Dahlen.
Dahlen knew little about cheese before her daughter-in-law asked her to sell cheese in her shop, but she has learned quickly taking three cheese classes and planning on taking a fourth in August.
“My daughter-in-law, Cari, is actually the cheesemonger. She worked at Gourmet Foods international. She was the international cheese buyer and chocolate buyer,” Dahlen said.
For more information on the Hyperloop & Cheese event, visit uccs.edu/goca/EVENTS/CHIT-CHAT.html.