If ever a disservice was done to our country, it was the linking of our name to the bright yellow-orange sheets of plastic-wrapped and plastic-tasting processed food product commonly known as American cheese. Fortunately, all over the country, cheesemakers are changing our national reputation – so much so that domestic cheeses are bringing home international awards and even French-born and French-trained chefs are offering all-American cheese boards at New York restaurants.

Although there is a long tradition of cheesemaking in this country (cheddars from Wisconsin, for example, have been made for hundreds of years), the last 15 years or so have seen a dramatic increase in the quality of limited-production specialty cheeses in America, which include both farmstead and artisanal cheeses. (Farmstead cheeses are those made from the milk of animals from one farmer’s herd, while artisanal cheeses are small-production cheeses handmade from milk from more than one farm.) This change is a reflection of a growing desire in America to return to our roots and to “hand-crafted” foods. While some cheesemakers have taken over their families’ dairy farms, others have retired or left careers in business or law to pursue the alchemy of turning preserved milk into a nutritious and satisfying delicacy.

Vermont Shepherd, an aged sheep’s milk cheese made by Cynthia and David Major, is a favorite. But this delicious, rustic, sweet, and nutty hard cheese did not find its way from a farm in Vermont to the cheese plate at New York City restaurants all by itself.

The Majors first began experimenting with making sheep’s-milk cheese in the mid-1980s on Mr. Major’s family farm. (Mrs. Major’s family had also been in the dairy business in New York.) Dissatisfied with their first results, they traveled to the French Pyrenees in 1993 to study and observe how cheeses were made there. Applying what they learned, they made a traditional, farmstead mountain cheese and entered it in a competition at the American Cheese Society, an organization dedicated to upholding the standards, traditions, and quality of American specialty cheesemaking. The Majors won the award for best farmstead cheese that year, and their cheese came to the attention of Rob Kaufelt, owner of Murray’s Cheese in Manhattan. “We’ve been selling to Murray’s for 11 years,” Mrs. Major said, “They were one of our first customers. They helped make our company who we are.”

Max McCalman, then the maitre fromager at Picholine and now dean of curriculum for the Artisanal Cheese Center (500 W. 37th St. at Tenth Ave., 212-239-1200), discovered the Majors’ cheese at around the same time. “This cheese makes me proud to be an American,” he wrote about Vermont Shepherd in his 2002 book, “The Cheese Plate” (Clarkson Potter, $32.50).

As advocates of these small-production cheeses, Messrs. McCalman and Kaufelt do more than just promote and sell them. They also help to make them better by meeting with the farmers and cheesemakers, tasting their cheeses, judging at competitions, and making suggestion for improvements, as well as by offering space in their facilities for storing and aging the cheese.

Some cheese requires extra attention: Stinky washed rind cheeses (Redhawk, an organic triple-cream cheese from Cowgirl Creamery in California is one example) are washed with liquids such as salt water, wine, and beer to stimulate the growth of bacteria that give the cheese its distinctive colored rind and add to the complexity of the flavor and aroma. In the caves at Artisanal Cheese Center, these cheeses are bathed or rinsed while they are aging to make sure that the interior of the cheese gets the humidity it needs to ripen.

Murray’s Cheese, which had been on the same spot on Bleecker Street since 1940, is opening today in a new space that not only doubles the shop’s retail space from 600 to 1,200 square feet, but also includes a state-of-the-art underground cave for storing and aging cheese, which can be viewed from the sidewalk through a glass panel. There is also a classroom overlooking the store. The cave will allow Mr. Kaufelt to keep the cheese in the proper environment, and to “treat the cheese the way it wants to be treated.” (Murray’s Cheese, 254 Bleecker St., at Leroy St., 212-243-3289.)

Aside from visiting cheese shops such as Murray’s, one of the best ways to learn about American farmstead and artisanal cheeses is to sample all-American cheese platters at New York restaurants.

Chef Laurent Tourondel, a native of Montlucon, France, serves a domestic cheese course at his 9-month old American bistro and steakhouse, BLT Steak (106 East 57th St., 212-752-7470). Murray’s wholesale manager Liz Thorpe advised him on the selection of American cheeses before the restaurant’s opening. Mr. Tourondel was impressed with the cheeses she showed him. “I wouldn’t say better than French,” he said, in his French accent, “but they are close.”

At BLT Steak Mr. Tourondel presents 10 American cheeses on a butcher-block trolley alongside condiments such as quince paste, walnuts and honey, or figs marinated in port and balsamic vinegar. Diners choose three cheeses for $12 or five for $17. His selection includes the Majors’ Vermont Shepherd, the pungent Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk, a blue cheese from Rogue Creamery in Oregon, and Cypress Grove Humbolt Fog, a goat cheese that is runny and creamy on the outer layer and dry and crumbly on the interior, with a distinctive layer of ash running through the center.

Mas, a Provencal-style farmhouse in the West Village, carries a selection of 10 to 14 American cheeses (three for $12.50; five for $18), served after dinner or late at night at the bar (39 Downing St., 212-255-1790). “At Mas, we

try to focus on local products, and in the past three years American cheesemakers have come into their own,” said Mas’s chef, Galen Zamarra. “With the amount of choices, you can easily create a list that competes with European offerings.” The list at Mas includes Jasper Hill Constant Bliss and Bayley Hazen Blue, two raw-milk cheeses made from Ayrshire cow’s milk by brothers Mateo and Andy Kehler. Constant Bliss has a soft white rind, a runny outer layer, and a creamy interior; it is aged just 60 days to meet the American government’s restrictions. (The American Cheese Society is also fighting to change the rules against unpasteurized milk cheese that require that raw milk cheeses be aged at least 60 days.) Bayley Hazen Blue is distinctive – rustic, nutty, and strong without being overwhelming. Mr. Zamarra also offers Thistle Hill Tarentaise, a hard, nutty, sweet, deep-yellow farmstead cheese with a complex flavor, made in Vermont from the milk of grass-fed Jersey cows.

To continue your education in American cheeses, visit the Greenmarket at Union Square – only local cheeses can be sold there. Cato Corners from Connecticut sells a range of cheeses (you can taste all of them) including Brigid’s Abbey, a mild, creamy, solid cheese you can slice, or Hooligan, a softer, washed-rind stinky cheese, made from raw milk from Jersey cows. Balducci’s also offers a range of artisanal domestic cheeses including cheese buyer Richard Rosenberg’s newest find, Pennsylvania Noble, an organic, grass-fed, cave-aged chevre from Amish country. These domestic cheeses tend to be expensive (averaging around $20 a pound), so make sure to take advantage of the advice of the experts behind the counter. They’ll be happy to tell you which cheeses go well together, what order to eat them in, and how to build an all-American cheese board.