The "Cheese Lady's" Insider Guide To Serving Cheese

Serving A Cheese Plate Estimate 1.5 oz. cheese per person when serving a selection of cheeses. If more than three cheeses are used, reduce portions to 1 oz. Allow cheese to breathe out of the packaging and to get to room temperature before serving, usually about one hour. Cheese that is too cold lacks flavor. If you slice cheese in advance, cover it with plastic so it does not dry out. Suggested accompaniments: almonds, quince paste (membrillo), fig or date cakes, fruit bars, fresh fruit. Serve a variety of cheeses. Take into consideration different milks - cow/goat/sheep. Consider texture - semisoft, soft, hard. Add a blue...Combine sharp, mild, smooth, piquant. As the cheeses may have many flavors, you should use simple bread or crackers that do not have many other flavors. Some ways to cut cheese: cubes. cut a wedge from a wheel and slice it sideways to form triangles. cut a wheel of semi-hard or hard cheese in half and chisel it out with a sharp knife. shave cheese for texture and more delicate flavors. Cheese is a living, breathing organism. Imported cheese is often sealed in plastic when it travels to the U.S. to help prevent mold growth but mold should be expected when dealing with natural cheese. The first thing to do when you get a cheese wrapped in plastic or cryovac is to let it breathe for several hours. A packaged cheese, especially a vacuum-sealed one, is like being in prison and therefore needs to breathe fresh air in order to return to its natural state. Once you are ready to eat the cheese, cut a piece from the wheel and make sure to cut off the rind on all three sides. If you are making a cheese tray, for aesthetic purposes you may want to leave the rind on for color or contrast, but it is a very good idea not to eat the rind. This is the part of the cheese that may have an antimolding agent on it or, at least, has been handled by someone who may not have been wearing gloves. Certain soft-ripened cheeses are customarily consumed with the rind but they are in the minority. Each wheel of cheese has its own identity and may not always be exactly the same. For example, if the coloring differs slightly this does not mean the cheese is bad. Most companies today make cheese industrially with machines allowing for overall uniformity in appearance. It is important to recognize that traditionally made, hand-formed cheeses do not necessarily fit the American concept of what "good food" should look like. These small peculiarities are part of what gives the cheese its fascinating character. Make sure the cheese is at room temperature before it is eaten. In this way you will get the maximum flavor from the cheese. The cold dulls the flavor just like it does a glass of wine. GENERAL RULES FOR STORING WHEELS: STORING CHEESE Do not stock up on cheese; buy what you need for a week or two unless it is a harder, sturdier cheese. Rewrap the cheese often to prevent mold, also to prevent the cheese from tasting like plastic. You may need to shave off the face of the cheese, which has been in contact with the wrapper. Cheese paper is good to wrap cheese for short periods of time but eventually the cheese will dry out unless you then wrap it in saran wrap. Plastic will maintain the cheese for a longer time period. Hard cheeses can be wrapped in foil to prevent them from tasting like plastic. This also retards them from getting too hard. TEMPERATURE: The ideal temperature for storing cheese is 42-50 degrees Fahrenheit. HUMIDITY: The need for humidity in the refrigerator varies with the variety of cheese, but most do well at 65%. The more humid the climate in the refrigerator, the more friendly it will be to molds. White rinds, bloomy rinds and blue cheeses need more humidity and the careful encouragement of their molds. Storing these cheeses in a place closer to the door of the walk-in places them in a slightly warmer temperature that is more comfortable for the molds. Cheeses with washed rinds require more humidity. Other rinds need air circulation and a less humid environment. However, they should not have so much air circulation that their surfaces dry out, as can happen if they're placed too close to the blowers. Cold will retard aging to some degree so fresh cheeses are best keep in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Separate cheeses with white mold rinds or blue veining from others when possible to avoid mold growth. Washed rind cheeses like Taleggio should not be stored too cold as they may crack. HANDLING CHEESE A. From a distributor point-of-view It is important not to stock too much cheese. You want to sell. Although it is frustrating to sell out of your products, you do want to deliver fresh product, not product in any condition just to say you were not out of stock. Let the importer stock the product and rotate it to insure the maximum freshness to the distributor and the rest of the chain that follow it. Who you choose to handle your cheese is obviously an important part of this equation and we at Forever Cheese are highly qualified to serve you. Some suggestions to store your cheese better - Low temperature, low humidity coolers can dry out cheeses so put your more delicate cheeses in the protected areas of the cooler. If you can, it helps certain cheeses to turn them from time to time. A cheese like Taleggio should be removed from its box so air can circulate around the cheese. Consult your importer to learn how to handle each of the cheeses that you obtain from it. B. As a Retailer/Chef The most important thing to remember is that cheese is a living, breathing organism. Each cheese has its own individuality, no one is alike. MOLD - ah that 4 letter word. Mold is good and a sign that the cheese is healthy. No mold means that something unnatural is preventing it from growing. Cryovacked cheeses - A necessary tool used not only to prevent mold but also to protect cheeses from cracking since they are stored in refrigeration. Cryovacked cheese may have mold if the packaging is not perfect. Air can get into the packaging during labeling, perhaps the packaging is not as tight as possible - many things can occur to impede the cryovac from keeping the cheese perfect. Please note that sometimes cheeses that have been vacuum-sealed are a bit slimy when opened. Wipe down the cheese and let it breathe for several days before cutting it. Before you cut and wrap cheese, if it has been in cryovac, make sure to open the wrapping and let the cheese breathe. If you don't, then your customer will have cheese that has always been closed in packaging and it may taste bitter or like the plastic. Consult your distributor or the importer for as much information on the cheese as possible. Cheeses last longer when they are kept in their original form so try not to precut the entire cheese. What is the best way to cut the cheese? If you are working with large wheels, perhaps you want to show one half, another quarter and then cut a few wedges. If the cheese is small, show a few original forms and then one cut open. Soft cheeses may look good stacked but that may flatten out the cheese and shorten the shelf life of the product. If the cheese does not sell quickly, only cut a few pieces at a time so that the precut pieces do not deteriorate. It is important to remember that cheese is alive. Like a person it evolves. It changes from day to day, wheel to wheel. Merchandising - a mini dilemma balancing the integrity of the cheese with the desire to sell more! It is proven that you sell more cheese when you either put it on a special table or on top of the counter. Leaving the cheese out of refrigeration for long periods of time will deteriorate and perhaps even change the texture and flavor of the cheese. It is very important to rotate the cheeses on display to avoid this. Sampling - When you sample cheese, make sure it is at room temperature. Discard any rinds on the cheese to avoid your customers eating it and thinking that it tastes like plastic. Do not leave it out all day or it will dry out and work against you. FOR THE CHEF: If you're planning to use cheese in cooking, consider how often you will use it and how much you will need each time. When possible, order pieces rather than whole cheese rounds unless you'll use them within a reasonable time. The exception is if you're ordering a semi-hard or hard cheese that will keep for an extended period. Consult your purveyor for the best way to handle and preserve the cheese. Often, your cooler is not the best place to keep cheese, as it is very cold. Make sure to wrap your cheese well so that it does not dry out and protect the rind so it does not crack. Remember that moldy cheese is not a reason to return it. It just needs to be wiped or scraped off - the rind is what protects the cheese. Good products require care. C. As a Consumer - Please see the introduction at the top of this page.