8 Tips To Maximize The Enjoyment Of Your Cheese Purchases

I would like to present a few tips to maximize the enjoyment of the cheeses that you purchase. The information presented here is based on the best practices for handling and preparing cheese.This is not meant to be the last word nor are my suggestions meant to be hard fast rules. Gourmet cheese like most other foods presents a set of preferences and tastes that the consumer is comfortable with. I hope that you, our reader, will find new and exciting possibilities here with goat, cow and sheep milk cheeses.

1) As a rule of thumb the younger the cheese is the less flavor it has. Therefore if you are looking for a sharp flavored cheese seek out an aged version.

2) “Should or can I eat the rind”? This is one of the most frequently asked questions. The answer is that it is literally a matter of taste. Soft cheese like Brie, Camembert or Explorateur have bloomy rinds that actually add to their flavor so yes you can eat them. Natural or washed rind cheeses like Stilton are gritty and somewhat unsightly, so their rinds should be trimmed off before serving Other washed rinds like Taleggio and Grayson are edible. Blue cheeses may be rindless but the outer paste can be very salty and others have inedible natural rinds. Some goat cheeses have a moldy outer layer that is edible but this is a personal choice. You can never really go wrong if you trim off the rind before if you are not comfortable eating it.

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3) Store your cheeses in the lower part of the refrigerator wrapped in aluminum foil, plastic wrap or wax paper. Let your cheeses breathe.

4) While in the refrigerator, the harder the cheese the longer it will stay fresh usually 1-1 1/2 months. Semi- soft cheese will last about 3-4 weeks and soft delicate cheeses should be used as soon as possible or within 1-2 weeks.

E) NEVER FREEZE CHEESE!!!

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5) Serve your cheeses at room temperature to assure their maximum flavor and aroma.

6) When serving wine with cheese try to select a wine that comes from the same country and region as the cheese. This environmental compatibility creates a wonderful synergy. I agree with Steve Jenkins that “a great cheese will elevate an average wine and that an average cheese will drag down a great wine”.

7) When melting cheese use a low temperature. Try placing sliced, grated or shredded cheese on your hot entrees and let it melt by itself. This is where you can experiment and have fun!

Pecorino Toscano A Great Italian Cheese From Tuscany

Pecorino Toscano is a sheep's milk cheese that is produced throughout the Tuscany region and parts of the Umbria region in Italy. It is a DOC certified cheese and its production is strictly supervised by the Consortium de Pecorino Toscano.

Details: Pecorino Toscano is made by using pasteurized sheep's milk then pressing the rennet induced curds to remove the liquid whey, then it is cooked to remove even more moisture. The pressed curds are then soaked in brine and allowed to begin aging. Depending on the dairy that produces it some Pecorino Toscano cheeses are rubbed with tomato paste to give the rind a reddish coloration and others are rubbed with olive oil to seal the rind and prevent the growth of mold.

Being made from sheep's milk Pecorino Toscano will have a high fat content of about 50%. With this in mind the cheese may seem oily but this is a good thing because the butterfat gives the cheese its great texture and flavor. So, when left out at room temperature the cheese will weep some of the butterfat showing that the cheese has not dried out or that it is getting stale.

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 Pecorino Toscano is sold in two forms fresco " fresh" and stagionato "aged". The fresh version, which is aged for a minimum of twenty days, has a very mild nutty flavor, creamy texture and a soft white or straw colored interior paste. At this stage it does well on grilled sandwiches or sliced thin and placed on top of baked potatoes or polenta.

The stagionato pecorino is aged for four to six months and will have a firm straw colored interior paste that lends well to grating. 

Tasting: The flavor of the stagionato pecorino has a sharp and salty flavor with sweet nutty overtones that teases the palate. Try serving it sliced with fresh pears as an appetizer or after dinner treat. It also is wonderful shaved over salads and grated over pasta dishes. Pecorino Toscano can be purchased in all good cheese shops, Whole Foods and online at Amazon.

Wine Pairing for Fresh Pecorino Toscano pairs very well with Ovieto or Lungarotti white wines. The aged Pecorino Toscano pairs well with Chianti Classico, Brunello or other Tuscan red wines.

An Introduction To The Types Of Cheeses Found In A Good Cheese Shop

There are several types of cheese that one will encounter in a good gourmet cheese shop. We are not talking about goat, sheep or cow milk cheeses but are referring to the terms used to distinguish the manner in which the cheeses are produced. These processes are important to the final product with respect to their taste, smell and texture.

Pressed Cheese: The curds of these types of cheese are hand or mechanically pressed to remove the maximum amount of water during production. This produces hard and semi-hard types of cheese. After pressing the cheese may be cooked to remove even more moisture from the curd. This cooking process creates a very firm inner paste and a hard outer rind. If the cheese remains uncooked or thermalized its inner paste and outer rind will remain only semi firm. Uncooked cheeses tend to be sweet and fruity when they are young but will develop a much more complex flavor as they age. After further drying the young cheeses are subjected to a salt bath and are then allowed to age in cool rooms or caves. Natural rind cheeses tend to have hard outer rinds and are for the most part inedible, however some cheddars and semi-firm cheeses will have edible rinds

Examples of Cooked Pressed Cheeses include; Gruyere, Swiss Emmental, Gouda,  Parmigiano Reggiano, Asiago, French Comte, and Idiazabal

Examples of Uncooked Pressed Cheeses include; Morbier, Red Leicester and Tete de Moine, Roncal, Pecorino Toscano, Manchego, Farmhouse Cheddar and Hirtenkase

Washed Rind Cheese: These cheeses have also become known infamously as " stinky cheeses". Before beginning the aging process some of these cheeses may be cooked. During their aging process these cheeses are washed or "bathed" with liquids like wine, apple or pear juice. The sweetness of the wash enables the growth of bacteria on the outer rind. This beneficial bacteria is actually encouraged and produces the stinky aroma and the sticky, reddish-orange rinds that are for the most part inedible. It also inhibits the growth of unwanted mold on the cheese. For many of theses cheeses the stinky aroma is only held in the washed rind so that when it is removed an exquisitely flavored inner paste is revealed. So reward yourself and be daring.

Examples of Washed Rind Cheeses include; Epoisses, Taleggio, French Munster, Stinking Bishop, Pont-L'eveque,Vacherin Fribourgeois and Mahon

Soft Ripened Cheeses or Bloomy Rind Cheeses: For the most part these cheeses are not cooked but their rinds are exposed to mold. The mold is encouraged to cover the entire outer rind and it forms a white or light beige velvety layer that holds in the soft inner paste. The outer rinds are edible but it is really a matter of personal taste. As these cheeses age or "ripen" they become gooey or completely runny. This type of cheese is wonderful as a table cheese when served with fresh fruits and crusty bread.

Examples of Soft Ripened Cheeses include; Camembert, Brie, Chaource and Italian Toma

As mentioned in previous posts a ripe Brie should bulge when it is cut but if appears to be runny you should avoid it because it is past its prime.

Triple Cream Cheeses: To be considered a triple cream a cheese must contain at least 75% butterfat. This high fat content produces sinfully decadent cheeses that have wonderful texture and flavor. Some triple creams are soft-ripened and some are freshly produced with little aging.

To fully enjoy these rich cheeses serve them with Champagne or indulge in a Parisian breakfast by spreading them on a crusty baguette. Mascarpone is sometimes considered to be a triple cream cheese becaues it does contain at least 70% to 75% butterfat but rennet is not used in its production so no curds are produced therefore many cheese purists consider it to be a dairy product like cream and not a cheese at all.

Examples of Triple Cream Cheeses include; Explorateur, Brillat Savarin or Pierre Robert

Blue Veined Cheeses: Blue cheeses are made from cow's sheep and goat's milk. After the cheeses have been formed and placed in caves or cellars and begin to age they are pierced with needle and molds are introduced to create the blue and sometimes green veining. Blue cheese can be mild in flavor or  have a very powerful flavor and some will be somewhere in between. So there is a blue cheese for almost everyone.

We hope that this will make your next visit to your local cheese shop a little less intimidating and that you will be a better informed cheese buyer. You should never feel that your questions or concerns are silly, any GOOD cheese seller will be more than happy to let you sample any of his cheeses and to answer any of your questions. If you meet some resistance to sampling or the sales staff seems aloof or uninterested in your questions find another cheese shop!