FORMAGGI: The Cheese Course
Aug 1st, 2007 | 10:49 AM
#41
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 578
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Cream teas are a good way to sample proper tea. They are served in tea rooms up and down the country for as little as 3 or 4 pounds. Very filling too. And I confess to enjoying the odd cream tea when out and about. Though clotted cream is not too good for the old cholesterol levels though 
Aug 1st, 2007 | 10:51 AM
#43
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
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Sheila:
We're fortunate to have a neighbour who imports it in vacuwrap blocks from a chum. So there's usually just about enough in a block for us to eat before the stub gets useful for litle more than poochfodder - though dry parmesan's fine for things like souffles or macaroni cheese.
We're fortunate to have a neighbour who imports it in vacuwrap blocks from a chum. So there's usually just about enough in a block for us to eat before the stub gets useful for litle more than poochfodder - though dry parmesan's fine for things like souffles or macaroni cheese.
Aug 1st, 2007 | 12:30 PM
#50
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 10,420
Likes: 0
What a pleasure to see so many posts on a subject dear to my heart. I look for restaurants with a cheese course available and would select them over one without.
I don't get a dolce/sweet dessert when I get the cheese course.
Some restaurants list cheeses with the antipasti courses on the menu but will still serve it after the main course.
I've seen them served with a range of sides--nuts, honey, fig preserves, and usually sliced bread on the side. At home we add quince paste. I either finish my wine with it or order a glass of port.
Osteria San Marco and Osteria Antica in Venice both have good cheese courses.
Usually the chef selects. Sometimes you can order one cheese vs. three. Generally there's soft, semi-soft, and hard cheese, or sheep, cow, goat, or double-creme, blue, and pecorino/parmesian.
The best ever was at Lion D'Or in Bayeux, with a bountiful cart from which to select oneself or accept recommendations (of course Camembert!).
As for the US, many restaurants offer them, at least in San Francisco area where I live--though the best cheese course I've had was at Farenheit in Cleveland where the chef put one together even though it wasn't on the menu.
Regarding earlier post, "From what I remember, the only unique cheese in the US is the Monterey or also called Jack. "
Try Humbolt Fog or Point Reyes Blue or Mount Tamalpais double creme (from Cow Girl Cremery). Maybe distant cousins to some European types but from a small artisan company and well done.
I don't get a dolce/sweet dessert when I get the cheese course.
Some restaurants list cheeses with the antipasti courses on the menu but will still serve it after the main course.
I've seen them served with a range of sides--nuts, honey, fig preserves, and usually sliced bread on the side. At home we add quince paste. I either finish my wine with it or order a glass of port.
Osteria San Marco and Osteria Antica in Venice both have good cheese courses.
Usually the chef selects. Sometimes you can order one cheese vs. three. Generally there's soft, semi-soft, and hard cheese, or sheep, cow, goat, or double-creme, blue, and pecorino/parmesian.
The best ever was at Lion D'Or in Bayeux, with a bountiful cart from which to select oneself or accept recommendations (of course Camembert!).
As for the US, many restaurants offer them, at least in San Francisco area where I live--though the best cheese course I've had was at Farenheit in Cleveland where the chef put one together even though it wasn't on the menu.
Regarding earlier post, "From what I remember, the only unique cheese in the US is the Monterey or also called Jack. "
Try Humbolt Fog or Point Reyes Blue or Mount Tamalpais double creme (from Cow Girl Cremery). Maybe distant cousins to some European types but from a small artisan company and well done.
Aug 1st, 2007 | 12:54 PM
#51
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,229
Likes: 0
<b>Regarding earlier post, "From what I remember, the only unique cheese in the US is the Monterey or also called Jack. "
Try Humbolt Fog or Point Reyes Blue or Mount Tamalpais double creme (from Cow Girl Cremery). Maybe distant cousins to some European types but from a small artisan company and well done.
</b>
There's some AOG or something like this similar to the wines. Official cheeses have this "AOG" (or maybe the letters are slightly different)and this is the only cheese carrying this for the US. I'll have to look through my books and see if I can find this correctly. England has a ten to twenty, Italy had a bunch and certainly France has the most.
Blackduff
Try Humbolt Fog or Point Reyes Blue or Mount Tamalpais double creme (from Cow Girl Cremery). Maybe distant cousins to some European types but from a small artisan company and well done.
</b>
There's some AOG or something like this similar to the wines. Official cheeses have this "AOG" (or maybe the letters are slightly different)and this is the only cheese carrying this for the US. I'll have to look through my books and see if I can find this correctly. England has a ten to twenty, Italy had a bunch and certainly France has the most.
Blackduff
Aug 1st, 2007 | 05:43 PM
#53
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 0
Wow! I've been gone all day and came back to find 51 posts about cheese! So many good tips here.
I intend to take this thread with us to Italy in October. I won't be an expert; but I think this will help overcome my fear of feeling foolish. Thanks again to everyone!
I intend to take this thread with us to Italy in October. I won't be an expert; but I think this will help overcome my fear of feeling foolish. Thanks again to everyone!
Aug 1st, 2007 | 06:55 PM
#54
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 380
Likes: 0
The poster who put "Any cheese with a plastic or wax rind should be trimmed. But, cheeses with a flour type of cover can be eaten." is being a little bit OTT with this comment as I am sure that the OP knows not to eat plastic!!!
Aug 1st, 2007 | 11:18 PM
#57
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,282
Likes: 0
How to stop cheese drying out ? The main thing is to buy it in smaller quantities and more frequently.
When I've buy a large amount of Stilton for Christmas, I keep it wrapped in its wax paper from the shop, in a coolbox (no ice, just to guard it from animals & rain) in an unheated room/the garden/on the balcony (depending on where I'm living), as putting it in the fridge definitely impairs the flavour. The ideal would be a cool cellar.
But for normal amounts I must admit I wrap leftovers in clingfilm, which I know you're not supposed to but it just seems to work best. I then store it in a special ventilated plastic container from Lakeland, called a "cheese cave", but I'm not sure it makes much difference. And keep it in the fridge. But it doesn't hang about long enough to be seriously impaired !
I'd like to keep the usual smaller quantities in the waxed paper it comes in, but I can never work out how to wrap it up again as tightly and neatly as they do in cheese shops.
fall06 : yes, I had chestnut honey in Tuscany too. Must go to Valvona & Crolla to buy some !
When I've buy a large amount of Stilton for Christmas, I keep it wrapped in its wax paper from the shop, in a coolbox (no ice, just to guard it from animals & rain) in an unheated room/the garden/on the balcony (depending on where I'm living), as putting it in the fridge definitely impairs the flavour. The ideal would be a cool cellar.
But for normal amounts I must admit I wrap leftovers in clingfilm, which I know you're not supposed to but it just seems to work best. I then store it in a special ventilated plastic container from Lakeland, called a "cheese cave", but I'm not sure it makes much difference. And keep it in the fridge. But it doesn't hang about long enough to be seriously impaired !
I'd like to keep the usual smaller quantities in the waxed paper it comes in, but I can never work out how to wrap it up again as tightly and neatly as they do in cheese shops.
fall06 : yes, I had chestnut honey in Tuscany too. Must go to Valvona & Crolla to buy some !
Aug 2nd, 2007 | 09:33 PM
#59
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 736
Likes: 0
I agree – I have always seen bread served with a cheese course, in France and elsewhere. As others have noted, one doesn't normally spread the cheese on the bread. I generally take a bite of the bread, by itself, when I want to clear some of the cheese taste from my palate, and prepare it for the next cheese that I'm going to taste. A bit of something sweet is often served with cheese, also to help provide a foil for the cheese's flavors, and to help clear the palate a bit. For example, figs, raisins, quince paste, or honey might serve this purpose.
In a more formal restaurant, one would typically be served a plate with pieces of something like three to six pieces of fine cheese, arranged in a particular order. Here the idea is to study and savor every nuance of the cheeses carefully, and one would not normally take the cheese and the sweet element in the same mouthful. For example, drizzling honey directly onto a cheese would not normally be done in this situation. It would be sort of like adding a dash of salt or pepper to a glass of fine wine.
However, as some have noted, one can on occasion find what is known as a "composed cheese course." In such a course, a smaller number of cheeses, usually just one, is paired with a few carefully chosen complimentary items, all of which may be tasted together. This approach is not typically followed at, say, fancy Michelin-starred French restaurants, where the idea is to assemble a large variety of impressive cheeses, made by the finest producers and affineurs, and then to care for them lovingly in a proper cheese cave. However, there are worthy proponents of the composed cheese course, for example Thomas Keller of French Laundry in California, who admitted to himself that the resources of his restaurant were not sufficient to support a full-blown cheese program, and a cart wouldn’t have made it around his dining room easily.
The waiter should serve the cheese with the rind attached. This serves several purposes. For one thing, it’s visually appealing, and enjoying a cheese includes looking at it, as well as smelling it and tasting it. Also, the flavor of the cheese tends to vary as you approach the rind, and the type of rind that a cheese has is one of the main ways of categorizing the cheese, and understanding how it will taste. Types of rind include the following:
(1) No rind (e.g. Ricotta, Feta)
(2) Natural rind (e.g. most blue cheeses, cheddars, Parmiggiano-Reggiano). Sometimes the formation of these rinds is helped along by shaping, or application of cloth covering. Natural rinds are usually a little or a lot harder than the interior of the cheese, and serve to protect the more delicate interior without imparting a very strong taste.
(3) Bloomy rind (e.g. Brie, Camembert). In this case, a solution of mold spores is sprayed onto the cheese, and the mold grows a whitish coating on the cheese’s exterior, imparting a stronger flavor that may be more pronounced near the rind. The mold chosen is usually of the genus Penicillium, and I have heard reports of people who are penicillin-allergic having reactions to these cheeses. The same is true of the mold that forms the blue part of blue cheese.
(4) Washed rind (e.g. Epoisses, Taleggio). These cheeses are washed with some liquid (wine, water, marc, etc.) in order to stimulate the growth of a variety of mold and bacteria that form what it usually quite a stinky rind. These are usually the strongest cheeses, although their taste is often far more pleasant than their smell would seem to imply.
(5) “Other”: These rinds might include simple protective rinds such as the ash coating that is applied to Morbier, or coatings meant to directly infuse flavor, such as the herbs that are applied to Brin d’Amour.
Of course you can’t eat a wax rind. Most other cheese rinds can be eaten, but don’t ever let someone tell you that you’re wimpy or unsophisticated because you trim of the rind and leave it on the plate. I almost never eat cheese rinds, and neither did the noted French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (in case you need a name to drop for your judgemental friends). The rind usually just doesn’t taste very good.
To another poster’s comment I might add that raw milk cheeses (i.e. unpasteurized cheeses) are served not only in Europe, but in America as well. People who are pregnant or immunocompromised are often advised not to eat raw milk cheese.
In a more formal restaurant, one would typically be served a plate with pieces of something like three to six pieces of fine cheese, arranged in a particular order. Here the idea is to study and savor every nuance of the cheeses carefully, and one would not normally take the cheese and the sweet element in the same mouthful. For example, drizzling honey directly onto a cheese would not normally be done in this situation. It would be sort of like adding a dash of salt or pepper to a glass of fine wine.
However, as some have noted, one can on occasion find what is known as a "composed cheese course." In such a course, a smaller number of cheeses, usually just one, is paired with a few carefully chosen complimentary items, all of which may be tasted together. This approach is not typically followed at, say, fancy Michelin-starred French restaurants, where the idea is to assemble a large variety of impressive cheeses, made by the finest producers and affineurs, and then to care for them lovingly in a proper cheese cave. However, there are worthy proponents of the composed cheese course, for example Thomas Keller of French Laundry in California, who admitted to himself that the resources of his restaurant were not sufficient to support a full-blown cheese program, and a cart wouldn’t have made it around his dining room easily.
The waiter should serve the cheese with the rind attached. This serves several purposes. For one thing, it’s visually appealing, and enjoying a cheese includes looking at it, as well as smelling it and tasting it. Also, the flavor of the cheese tends to vary as you approach the rind, and the type of rind that a cheese has is one of the main ways of categorizing the cheese, and understanding how it will taste. Types of rind include the following:
(1) No rind (e.g. Ricotta, Feta)
(2) Natural rind (e.g. most blue cheeses, cheddars, Parmiggiano-Reggiano). Sometimes the formation of these rinds is helped along by shaping, or application of cloth covering. Natural rinds are usually a little or a lot harder than the interior of the cheese, and serve to protect the more delicate interior without imparting a very strong taste.
(3) Bloomy rind (e.g. Brie, Camembert). In this case, a solution of mold spores is sprayed onto the cheese, and the mold grows a whitish coating on the cheese’s exterior, imparting a stronger flavor that may be more pronounced near the rind. The mold chosen is usually of the genus Penicillium, and I have heard reports of people who are penicillin-allergic having reactions to these cheeses. The same is true of the mold that forms the blue part of blue cheese.
(4) Washed rind (e.g. Epoisses, Taleggio). These cheeses are washed with some liquid (wine, water, marc, etc.) in order to stimulate the growth of a variety of mold and bacteria that form what it usually quite a stinky rind. These are usually the strongest cheeses, although their taste is often far more pleasant than their smell would seem to imply.
(5) “Other”: These rinds might include simple protective rinds such as the ash coating that is applied to Morbier, or coatings meant to directly infuse flavor, such as the herbs that are applied to Brin d’Amour.
Of course you can’t eat a wax rind. Most other cheese rinds can be eaten, but don’t ever let someone tell you that you’re wimpy or unsophisticated because you trim of the rind and leave it on the plate. I almost never eat cheese rinds, and neither did the noted French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (in case you need a name to drop for your judgemental friends). The rind usually just doesn’t taste very good.
To another poster’s comment I might add that raw milk cheeses (i.e. unpasteurized cheeses) are served not only in Europe, but in America as well. People who are pregnant or immunocompromised are often advised not to eat raw milk cheese.
