Old World Market - Cheese Talk

Cheese tastes best when served at room temperature (allow to sit wrapped on counter for at least one hour)
You can't judge a cheese by its smell (some smellies are bland, some blandies are flavorful)
Raw milk cheeses that are aged more than 60 days are legal in the USA (let's keep it that way!)
Artisinal cheese is expensive because it's usually handmade, always available in limited batches & shipped fast to ensure freshness (you get what you pay for)
Cut pieces so that everyone gets a bit of the rind (flavor varies from rind to center)
Mold is natural (just scrape it away & enjoy the rest of the cheese)
Drinking plain water with cheese invites indigestion (think of butter & water together)
Hardest wines to pair are tannic Cabernet Sauvignons & buttery Chardonnays - easiest wines to pair are fruity Pinot Noirs & crisp Rieslings
Store loosely wrapped in wax paper in humid refrigerator drawer (cheese needs to breathe - never freeze!)
Hard cheeses can last for months, soft cheeses can last for a few weeks

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To satisfy and delight a varied group of attendees select a variety of cheeses. Our favorite way of creating a cheese platter would be to offer a blue cheese, a soft ripened cheese, a fresh cheese, a hard cheese and a unique cheese particular to the area. The typical cheese serving at a party would be 2 oz per selection per person.

A good rule of thumb is to take the cheeses that you are serving out of refrigeration so that they may come to room temperature prior to serving. This will take approximately 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the weight of the cheese that you are serving.

Serving Suggestions

Serve all soft ripened cheeses in wedges.
Serve fresh cheeses, like brie, in the entire form and spread on bread or crackers.
Semi-soft cheese should be served cut into any format desired.
Semi-hard cheese should be cut into wedges or cubes that expose the cheese to air.
Hard cheese should be served in large chunks.
Blue cheese should be served in chunks created by a knife.

What to serve with cheese?

Seasonally ripened fruits
Dried Fruits
Artisanal Breads
Nuts
Quince Paste
Olives from all over the world
Thinly sliced and cured meats
A great wine jelly!

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Best cheeses come from animals that graze on organic grasses, flowers, plants
Best cheese accompaniments are fruit, olives & nuts
Best appetizer cheeses are fresh chevres
Best dessert cheeses are washed rinds & blues
Best way to eat a flight of cheese is on order of strength, from mild to wild
Best cheese course is 3-5 types, with various milks & textures
Best way to taste hard, sharp cheeses is with the tip of the tongue
Best way to taste softer & blue cheese is pressed to the roof of the mouth

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DO:

Check on your cheeses daily.
Store like cheeses together. Milder cheeses are best stored separately from stronger cheeses. Store Blue cheeses on their own.
Rewrap them as necessary. Cheese should be wrapped in plastic wrap, foil or wax paper and stored in your refrigerator’s crisper. Always re-wrap it in new wrapping.
Allow them air exchange.

DON’T:

Freeze your cheeses. Freezing destroys the character of the cheese.
Let your cheeses dry out. Give them a bath if they’re too dry.
Expose them to excessively high or low temperature.
Suffocate them. Cheese needs to breathe, rewrap your cheese every 3-4 days.

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Many of us resolve to lose weight, get in shape or reduce our cholesterol. But what about eating cheese?

We are happy to say that nutritionists agree - cheese is actually beneficial to your health! Numerous studies show when integrated into your diet, cheese & other calcium-rich foods can help you shed those extra pounds. Because we knew you would be skeptical, we've compiled the top seven healthy facts about eating cheese:

Dairy foods have a number of compounds that work with calcium to augment the process of fat-burning and slow down the process of making new fat.
Cheese is rich in protein. Protein builds muscles and body tissues and helps you resist disease.
Daily dairy consumption helps reduce belly fat.
Lowfat dairy products, especially goat cheese, may help reduce the risk of colon cancer, the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.
Including three servings of dairy along with 8-10 servings of fruit are thought to help lower high blood pressure & reduce the risk of heart disease.
Cheese is great source of Vitamin A. Vitamin A helps you grow, helps you fight infections, helps your eyes adjust to dark and light, and aids in the making of strong teeth.
3-A-Day is all it takes - three servings of dairy (think cheese) is all it takes to maintain a healthy & happy body!

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Organic raw, unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk products are extremely healthy - science is not better than nature. Raw milk that comes from animals that are organically raised, free-roaming, grass-fed and not given antibiotics or growth hormone injections is very different from milk coming from a genetically modified animal that has been given injections, never allowed to roam, is fed chemically laced growth-enhancing feed, then pasteurized or homogenized. Which sounds healthier?
Healthy elements of all cheeses include calcium, protein & fatty acids - in fact, cheese has a higher concentration of these nutrients than milk, with little or no lactose remaining.
Cheeses are traditionally made with animal rennet, however vegetarian rennet cheeses are now more available.
Goat cheeses are almost always an alternative for those who are lactose intolerant.
Sheep cheeses have more calcium & protein, and less cholesterol than cow cheeses.
Average fat content of cheese is 45%.

Remember - one piece of quality cheese is infinitely more satisfying than more of the cheap stuff!

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Fresh - uncooked, unripened curds which are usually mild & moist (curds, ricotta, stracchino) - try sweet wines, dry wines, roses
Bloomy Rind - surface is exposed to molds that make them ripen inward & become creamy (brie, camembert, saint andre) - try medium reds, ciders
Washed Rind - washed or brushed with salt-water brine, wine or beer to promote sticky rind with “stinky” quality (epoisses, munster, red hawk) - try dry white wines, beers & ales, full-bodied reds
Natural Rind - self-made rind with an appearance of lichen-covered rock (stilton, ossau-iraty, castelrosso)
Uncooked/Pressed - curds are not cooked, and whey is removed by pressing (saint nectaire, port salut, tome de savoie) - try medium reds
Cooked/Pressed - curds are cooked until solidified, then pressed (parmigiano, gruyere, gouda) - try fruity whites, full-bodied reds
Semi-Hard/Hard - cooked and pressed, with our without rinds, then aged usually 1-2 years (cheddar, emmenthaller, gouda) - try spicy & racy reds
Blue - infused with penicillin mold spores, then aged in caves or cellars (gorgonzola, roquefort) - try sweet wines, port, light reds

Cheese Talk - Types of Cheese & Suggested Wine Pairings

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Typical cheese serving = 3 ounces per person
6 guests x 3 ounces = 18 ounces / 16 ounces per lb = 1.125 pounds needed
1 ounce ungrated cheese = 1/4 cup grated cheese
2 ounces ungrated cheese = 1/2 cup grated cheese
4 ounces (1/4 lb) ungrated cheese = 1 cup grated cheese
8 ounces (1/2 lb) ungrated cheese = 2 cups grated cheese
16 ounces (1 lb) ungrated cheese = 4 cups grated cheese

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