Cheese - Golden Wonder
Whatever the variety, cheese has an amazing ability to bring a dish alive - but it doesn't always have to play second fiddle
to the main act, says Richard Fox
Say cheese! Why not beef, or even chicken chow mein? After all, they all make our mouth elongate into a Cherie Blair-like expression. But no, it has to be cheese. Why?
Because it's ingrained into our national psyche; it's a part of our day-today lives, a fundamental expression of our desire to enjoy eating. If any food ever represented the culinary backbone of a nation, it must surely be cheese.
I have been guilty on many occasions of dissing our lack of a food culture and, while I stand by most of those comments, I must concede that a cheese heritage as rich as ours is evidence enough that there has been, could be, and may well in the future be, a rich, ripe and vibrant foodie culture
running through our nation.
From puck-sized, hand-dipped rounds of wax-clad Swaledale to enormous Parmigiano Reggiannos the size of a tractor wheel, cheese is as ubiquitous as the people who eat it. Maybe it's the variety that gives it such a universal appeal.
And because of these wild variations in appearance, texture and taste, there are virtually limitless ways for the chef to use it. In fact the only limiting factor is really your imagination.
Often, different textures and flavours can be combined to produce something better than the sum of the individual parts. For example, strong and salty Roquefort can be
blended with some cream cheese, formed into balls, wrapped in filo pastry and deepfried as a garnish for a warm Roquefort salad. Talk about extra value and impact!
Cheese can be used to give a dish a particular Continental flavour, or to reinforce the provenance of another ingredient or dish.
Roasted Mediterranean vegetable tart takes on a whole new identity if a melting layer of Italian Taleggio is draped over it. A humble onion and herb tart becomes a culinary giant with the simple addition of a Swiss Gruyere.
You can keep upping the ante on your menu with cheese until other dishes have to run just to keep up. Why bother with deep-fried Brie when you can have baked Camembert from Normandy or, more awesome still, Vacherin Mont d'Or - baked in its pine box to melting perfection. Never has a cheese been so aptly named; it translates as "Mountain of Gold", and I have no doubt that if gold was edible then this is what it would taste like.
Given the universal popularity of cheese, it's surprising we don't see it more often in all its naked glory - ie, the cheese board. It may be the head-scrambling choice that
makes putting together a well-balanced, perfectly-tended cheese board too daunting.
However, with just a little categorisation into types, the process can become quite simple. According to The Cheese Web website, 90% of cheese can be categorised into seven types using the "rind" method. The list that follows is its summary of cheese types (www.thecheeseweb.com).
1. Fresh (no rind)
These are only one to 15 days old when eaten, and have, therefore, had no time to develop rind. They can be smooth and creamy, or crumbly.
Examples: Feta, Ricotta, Banon
2. Natural rind (wrinkled rind, bluish-grey mould)
These are nearly always goat, chalky and moist when young, with a lemony fresh tang. Gradually they develop a delicate
bluish grey mould and dry out, producing a wrinkled rind that becomes more pronounced with age, while the flavour is more nutty, with a distinct goaty taste.
Examples: Sancerre, Crottin de Chavignol
3. Soft white (white fuzzy rind)
The curd retains much of the whey, ensuring the cheese becomes wonderfully soft, almost runny, and grows a fuzzy white rind of Penicillin candidum. The best of these taste of mushrooms, with a hint of sherry. Unpasteurised examples develop a reddish-brown ferment on the rind, whereas pasteurised versions have a pure white appearance.
Examples: Camembert, Brie, Chevre Log
4. Semi-soft (brownish-orange to greyish-brown)
There are two styles of semi-soft cheese. The first are those with a supple, elastic texture. They may have a barely-formed rind like Edam or they can develop a thick, leathery rind encrusted with a greyish mould.
Examples: Edam, Pont L'Evêque, Saint-Nectaire
The other style, known as washed-rind cheese, are rubbed or "washed" in strong brine to retain their internal moisture and attract special bacteria that create the characteristic orange sticky rind and strong, piquant flavour and aroma. The texture ranges from slightly chalky when young to rich, smooth and voluptuous when fully mature.
Examples: Langres, Carré de l'Est, Epoisses
5. Hard (thick, dense rind, often waxed)
The curd is cut finely then heated in large vats before the whey is drained off. The curd is cut again before being salted, packed in mould and firmly pressed. Some cheeses
are bathed in brine to seal them and prevent drying out in the curing cellars.
Examples: Cheddar, Parmigiano Reggiano,Gruyere, Manchego
6. Blue (gritty, rough, dry or sticky; variable in colour)
The blue moulds, like Penicillin Roquefort, need oxygen to develop their colour. This is achieved by piercing the young cheese with rods (normally steel); the blue then grows along the tunnel.
Examples: Stilton, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Cashel Blue
7. Flavoured (from barely formed to hard and crusty)
These are a great alternative for those who would rather have cheese than a dessert. All kinds of flavours are added in all sorts of cheeses, such as nuts, fruit, spices and herbs.
Examples: Cornish Yarg, Gouda with cumin, Stilton with apricots
We can see from the above that to just use cheese as second fiddle to a main act is only half the story. And while such dishes will always be great crowd-pleasers, there's nothing like a well thought out cheese board to give real personality and provenance to your menu. The secret is in getting the right number and appropriate variation.
Six different cheeses should be about the max - particularly if you want them to be always in top eating form.
Unpasteurised cheeses, which are undoubtedly the best, will have a relatively short period of peak condition - sometimes just a couple of days.
One of my biggest gripes relating to any cheese selection is cheese served straight from the fridge. It's like serving cold coffee, warm lager or unseasoned food. The finest
cheese is rendered impotent in flavour if fridge cold.
Make sure the cheese board contents have sat at room temperature for at least an hour before attempting to serve.
This doesn't mean unwrapped in the heat of the kitchen, but well wrapped - ideally in waxed paper - in an ambient temperature.
It's well worth getting some tasting notes on each cheese, which a good supplier should be able to provide you with, and then making sure the staff are conversant with it.
Finally, a word on accompaniments: I have to confess to coming from the French school on this one - ie, just give me the cheese and a knife. However, I recognise that such a minority approach is not commercially viable. So, I would advocate a 50:50 split between some fine artisan breads and simple, unflavoured wheat biscuits and Bath Olivers. A few grapes and a little fresh celery won't go amiss either.
Bon appetit
