Cheese, Is it the underrated course...?
HOW TO BE CREATIVE WITH YOUR CHEESE COURSE
So many restaurant openings are without a cheese course, or even little to no sign of cheese on their menus. Is it a sign of the times that the one food source that contains enviable beneficial elements is now being side-stepped and ignored by chefs? I am not alone in thinking that cheese is good for you ….one of our regular customers in Highbury is founder of Zoe, Tim Spector, an epidemiologist, medical doctor, and science writer, working on the relationship between nutrition, the gut microbiome, and health. who loves cheese and eulogizes about fermented foods in general.
It started me thinking…..why is cheese not on the menu?
Many chefs will cite costs or rather cost cutting. Buying in a course for the menu that they don’t actually cook is a loss leader; apparently. So much waste is another statement, as well as It’s not popular with the customers.
If that were the case then La Fromagerie would not exist. We have restaurants within our shops and thankfully they are running on a par with the retail side to make them stand tall and share in the popularity of the business. Cheese is obviously a major element of the menu and one our chef Alessandro and his team enjoy incorporating and creating into dishes and accompaniments to salads..
We run our own tutored events as well as private events, and the Cheesemongers Event where attendees learn more about the joy of cheese and how to pair them and create a cheeseboard, sell out as soon as they are listed.
We are associated tutors to the Academy of Cheese where a day is spent in our Marylebone shop learning more about the history and science of dairy, creating new depths of knowledge and appreciation of a great single source food.
In my head I believe the cheese course is the pause in the meal for a shared enjoyment; to eat, chat and maybe either finish off the wine or have a distinctive style of drink to complement the cheese.
Am I dreaming when I remember holidays touring France, Italy or Spain and stopping off along the way for lunch or dinner, walking into the restaurant or auberge past a table with bottles of local wine and a tray of cheese as a welcome? It is probably what made me want to become a cheese monger.
So here is my easy route to a cheeseboard, and how to keep the cost in check and what to serve with it. It’s simple really – you go with your sense of taste starting light and finishing strong. You can have just one cheese that fits all these sensations, or three or five --- always odd numbers rather like how to plant your garden…
For one cheese it could be just a chunk of blue as the body of the cheese is creamy and rich with a sweetness of the milk which then has the blue moulds threading through to give sharpness and strength. Pair with a bold dessert wine or classic Bordeaux style like St Emilien or a Jura wine – Savagnin for instance – which to my mind, along with Chenin Blanc wines is the great wine for cheese.
Parmigiano Reggiano is a delightful standalone cheese too with is heightened acidity from ageing that almost sparkles in the mouth and a great crumble breakdown. Paired with a sparkling wine it is a perfect aperitif.
For three cheeses go with a goat first to freshen your palate and create a mouthwatering acidity, followed by an aged hard cheese as you will taste a different depth of acidity which is more rustic and farmy along with richness and bite and finishing with either a blue or a meaty aromatic rind washed cheese that picks up the acidity but with an earthy, mellow rounded finish.
For five cheeses you start with the goat, follow with a lighter crumbly cheese like a Caerphilly or Cheshire with the hints of crème fraiche break down, then a bloomy white coated Brie de Meaux or Triple Cream with a rich yet surprisingly robust wild mushroom character; next a hard aged fruity Gruyere or Cheddar, although I am partial to Old Winchester and aged Lincolnshire Poacher with their salty crystals crunching through the cheese like a Parmigiano Reggiano, onto a brine or spirit washed cheese and ending in the blue. You can explore so many diverse cheeses from Britain, Ireland, Europe and beyond mixing and matching along the way.
Having the path of taste to your cheese course is not only more enjoyable but allows you to actually eat in the right rhythm of the flavour sensations, slowing down the tendency to eat without thinking together with opening up conversation around the table. Your tastebuds are unique to you and that is why the cheese course is so interesting.
Finally how much cheese to eat – 25-30g per person per cheese for a 5 cheese plate, and 50-60g for a single cheese and 40-50g per cheese for a 3 cheese plate. So it’s not so expensive when thinking about the cheeseboard, but even if you are just buying for yourself, 100grams of cheese will be good for a couple of moments in the day whether as a lunchtime easy meal to an early evening snack.
As for restaurants – having the option of choosing 1, 2, or 3 cheeses is a good way to showcase the course rather than a set plate, or go down the 5 cheese route to open out the choice, a little explanation about each variety is a simple and effective way to create interest, and also an option of a glass of wine or zero alcohol by the glass. You have a section of wines by the glass on the list so choose a couple just for the cheese; they can vary from classic, natural, digestif, low to no alcohol. I love the pairing side of my work, and all the events we run are carefully thought through for the affinity of cheese with drink pairings. I don’t like seeing cheese as a supplement to a menu as it looks like an afterthought and showing no interest; having the cheese listed with a price per cheese allows the customer to decide their choices and even have it as a sharing plate on the table.
Whether you have a cheese shop near you or you pick up cheese in the supermarket, think about how you want your selection to flow. Obviously the supermarket has pre-wrapped cheese but a cheese shop will cut to the weight you want….the experience shopping in a dedicated space is always enjoyable whether it’s the butcher, baker or fishmonger, although some supermarkets now have almost gone back to dedicated spaces again.
I am always asked what cheeses am I enjoying right now and for May and June it is all about goat, so it’s Crottin de Chavignol from Loire, Redlap a new semi hard goat with a brine wash rind from Cornwall, Harbourne Blue from Devon, and finally the taste of Spring and Summer Banon Feuille from Sisteron, Haute Provence which I love with a chilled glass of Valdition Rose whose estate is close by in Eygalieres; perfect pairings.
Patricia Michelson
