Americans are catching on to one of the best of Europe's traditions: serving a cheese course after a meal. Providing a variety of tasty cheeses tops off a great roast beef or halibut, or nearly any main course.
Add to its enjoyment by making a visually appealing display, and labeling the choices. Or, provide some mystery and take the opportunity to let your guests try some and ask you about each one in turn. Show off your cheese education! Either way, be sure to offer a few different samples to satisfy every palette.
Be sure to serve at room temperature, to bring out all the flavor of a fine cheese. For milder cheeses, that will require taking it out of the refrigerator about half an hour ahead. For harder cheeses it may take up to an hour.
Don't put them out too early, though. Cheeses can dry rapidly, and everyone may just want to skip the main course and head straight for the cheese! Leave the cheese wrapped or on a glass serving plate covered by a glass jar while it warms. Seeing the cheese is a great appetite enhancer.
You can provide a slab or wheel or tub of softer cheeses that spread delightfully on a fine cracker or small piece of bread. For harder cheeses, they should be sliced for putting onto bread, or cut into small chunks for individual sampling. Array a set of cheese knives to make things easy for your guests and to keep fingers from straying onto uneaten pieces. Be sure to have some cheese stickers in the center or nearby to make individual selection easy.
You can present the cheese on a nice wooden serving platter, surrounded by small slices of bread or little crackers. Or, you can array them in geometric patterns on the glass serving plate. You'll want a flat, sturdy surface whether marble, wood or glass as your design dictates. Knives should be sharp, but needn't be razor sharp. It's cheese, not tomatoes.
Separating the cheeses may be helpful for certain types. Cheese absorbs odors readily and you don't want a Limburger or even an extra sharp cheddar to overpower the more subtle ones. Laying them out on a large marble slab will do the trick, or you can arrange them in a wooden holding dish with separate compartments. But you'll still need to keep those extra aromatic ones a couple of feet away.
A separate knife for each type of cheese is best. That keeps each cheese isolated. If guests want to mix and match, their own palettes are the best place to do that. Not a bad idea, actually! Some cheeses work very well as partners.
A two ounce serving per person is about right. It's not a question of being stingy. Your guests are worth your best. But cheese can be high in fat and sodium and moderation is best. Besides, you still have that great dessert waiting!
How To Serve a Cheese Course after a Meal
Swiss Cheese Basics
In the United States, the people call any cheese with holes in it a “Swiss cheese”. The term Swiss cheese is just a generic name for any type of holed cheese, It can be made in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, or the United States, in fact, at this time, the largest Swiss cheese factory in the world is based in Ohio. All cheeses with holes are trying to simulate the cheese made in Switzerland, known as Emmetal.
There are other types of holed cheese in Switzerland, such as Gruyére, but Emmantal is the finest type of Swiss cheese there is. Guyére is imitated a lot. The holes are much smaller, and much more evenly spaced in the cheese. It is also aged longer, often over a period of 10 to 12 months. It is made from a cow's milk with a greater amount of fat, so it produces a sweeter cheese. As a Swiss cheese, it melts easily and can be used with almost any part of the menu – appetizer, entree, or dessert.
Baby swiss cheese can be fine, but as it is made in ways to comply with government regulations (regarding aging time and whether milk is pasteurized prior to making into cheese) this is difficult to assertain. The holes are much smaller due to the shorter aging time. Also, the flavor is sweeter and milder.
The holes are made by the bacteria involved in making the cheese. One of the bacteria consumes one of the other bacteria's byproduct, lactic acid, and then excretes carbon dioxide gas. The gas develops into bubbles, which turn into holes as the cheese solidifies.
Cooking With Cheese
Cheese makes for a wonderful addition to many recipes. In some cases, such as Welsh rarebit, it is an essential ingredient. But whether it's the centerpiece or just a tasty topping, cooking with cheese can be tricky.
Some, such as Brie or Camembert, become liquid easily since they are already quite soft. Others, like Parmesan, will simply become harder the longer they are heated. Much of the difference has to do with the amount and type of fat molecules suspended throughout the cheese. But we'll skip the chemistry lesson for now.
In general, the more aged the cheese, the grainier it becomes on being melted. Younger cheeses tend to be creamier. Cheddar is an interesting middle ground, since even a fine extra sharp will melt quite nicely and make for an excellent topping on many dish.
On the opposite end of the temperature scale, if your goal is to grate the cheese you'll want to firm it up in the refrigerator. Ditto for easy slicing. For hard cheeses 30 minutes is about right, for softer 20 minutes will often be enough.
However, in the latter case, if you intend to serve a nice cheese course you may want to strike a middle ground. Cheese eaten as an appetizer or after the main meal treat should be served at room temperature. Though a little more difficult to slice that way, it will dry less if sliced later.
If you're using cheese as a topping, to be melted and applied as a garnish, you'll want to grate rather than slice. This opens up all the cheese flavor and allows for a smoother melt. Also, cooking sliced cheese tends to make it rubbery or stringy. Raclette will melt smoothly, but Mozzarella becomes stringy, for example. Unless that's the effect you're going for, grate instead.
Some care is required when cooking cheese, since most cheeses will brown, then burn, in high heat. Some of that effect may be desired to bring out a certain flavor profile. But overdoing it just leads to hard, tasteless, carbonized cheese. So, think about adding the cheese later during the cooking time.
If you're counting calories, you may be concerned about the fat content in cheese. Apart from using low-fat cheeses, which can be bland tasting, you can be a little more generous when using it for cooking.
Soft cheeses, like Brie, have a high moisture content. Since fat content is measured dry, Brie and similar cheeses will actually have less fat content per unit weight when cooked than harder cheeses. More aged cheeses, like an extra sharp cheddar, have a more assertive flavor, allowing you to use less and still have a very tasty dish. As a general rule of thumb, a half-pound of cheese will make about 2 cups of grated cheese. About 2 ounces per person is usually all you need to balance flavor and calories.
Cheese is a tasty and nutritious food, raw or cooked. But used in cooking it can have an entirely new flavor essence from the raw version. Experiment!
Camembert and Asparagus Tarts Recipe
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients: 50 g phyllo pastry, 12 ml melted butter, 1 spring onions, sliced25 g ripe Camembert cheese, sliced3 cherry tomatoes, halved20 ml canned asparagus salad cuts, drained.
Method:
1. Place two layers of phyllo pastry on top of each other, brushing each layer with melted butter Repeat with another two layers. Cut into 20 cm squares.
2. Grease muffin pans with butter and place one square into each muffin pan. Brush with butter and place another square an top so that the corners point in opposite directions to the first square. Brush with melted butter.
3. Divide asparagus, anions and tomatoes between pastries and top with slices of cheese. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and bake in preheated 180 ºC oven for 20 to 25 minutes until pastry is golden. Serve warm.
Serves 2 persons
Resource: Ideas, March 01, 2001.
Cheese Storage Tips
To keep Cheese as a food product fresh to enjoy at it's peak flavor, it needs to be kept under the right conditions. For most cheeses, most of the time, that means storing it away from exposure to air and at a cold temperature.
That doesn't necessarily mean storing it in a refrigerator, a good wine cellar might be appropriate in some cases. But for most people, the refrigerator is the most convenient and most effective means of storage. Keeping the cheese well sealed, and between 33°F-38°F (0.5°C-3.3°C), is optimal for almost all cheeses.
Softer cheeses, so-called fresh cheeses such as cottage or Mascarpone (a white Italian cheese) or Brie, are the most vulnerable. 'Fresh', in cheese circles, doesn't mean unspoiled, per se. It refers, instead, to the relatively short aging period. Since they're high in moisture, they spoil the most easily. Airborne mold spores combine more readily with food when they have water molecules to latch onto. But even stored correctly, they should be consumed with a few weeks at most, two weeks in most cases.
Even when inside a tightly sealed container, if they've been exposed to air at all, there's typically enough oxygen inside to cause considerable spoilage of the surface. That spoilage can propagate to the interior to a degree. Even if that process doesn't proceed very far, soft cheeses are harder to 'fix' by carving off mold spots or moldy surface areas than harder cheeses.
Harder or semi-firm cheeses will last 4-8 weeks if kept well-sealed and wrapped. It's helpful if the wrapping is close to the cheese. That keeps air away from the surface that is inevitably trapped inside the container. Aged cheese can last longer, especially if it's vacuum packed. Small commercial devices for vacuum sealing cheese and other foods are readily available.
Hard cheeses, such as Parmesan or Asiago (a crumbly Italian), can last a very long time but, if not frozen, after a couple of weeks they will lose flavor. When frozen they can be stored for up to about three months.
If you need long term storage in the freezer, be sure to transfer the cheese to the refrigerator for at least a few hours before bringing it out into the kitchen. The more gradual thawing process will help preserve the flavor and texture.
Other cheeses, such as Gouda or Cheddar, don't react well when frozen, even if thawed properly. It's best simply to refrigerate and consume before they spoil. That can be as long as three weeks if they're kept properly. Processed cheddar will last a bit longer, but a gourmet cheese has a much shorter life span.
Left out in the room, even if covered, some cheeses will become oily, a result of fat molecules oozing out of the block as they melt. That can make for an interesting taste variation, but the process shouldn't be allowed to go too far. Serving at room temperature is ideal for most cheeses though slicing is easier for slightly cold cheese. But after a few hours in air most will alter in undesirable ways.
Airborne spores are the primary cause of spoilage and they interact readily with cheese. Heat, per se, isn't the culprit but it encourages most chemical reactions to speed up. So, keeping things stored and cooled will keep your cheeses optimal.
Goats Milk Cheese Dip Recipe
This Goat's Milk Cheese dip recipe will make approximately 2 cups of dip.
Preparation Time: 10Minutes
Ingredients:
300g Goat's Milk Cheese
6 Tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
1 Tablespoon Dry white wine
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parshley and chives
Fresh vegetables or crackers to serve with.
Combine Goat's milk cheese with creme fraiche, olive oil, wine and herbs. Put in a blender and blend untill smooth, then chill in the fridge untill ready to use.
Serve this delicious cheese dip with crackers.
Camembert Cheese
Camembert Cheese are made from the milk of cows raised on the grasses of Normandy, this ivory delight with its creamy consistency is a favorite of many fine table. Its similarity to Brie, its royal cousin, is the result of using penicillium camemberti (or a related strain, penicillium candida) used to form the curds. It's then aged in the mold for about three weeks, producing a soft cheese.
The final product is typically molded into small disks called 'rounds', about 11 cm (4 in) wide by 4 cm (1.6 in) thick, weighing about 250g (about a half pound). Often wrapped in paper and sold in small wooden containers, it makes for a great gift.
In France it is often produced from unpasteurized milk, but in the U.S. there are severe legal restrictions on using unpasteurized milk. As a result, the cost is often more than many are willing to pay for the final product. Most Camembert produced in the U.S. is, therefore, made from pasteurized milk. The difference is subtle enough to escape the notice of all but connoisseurs.
Like many cheeses originating in a region of France, genuine Camembert is ensured by its AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) stamp of approval. The AOC system in France is used to guarantee that cheeses, wines and some other agricultural products actually do come from the region they are named after. Whether that guarantees a level of quality is a matter of some debate in cheese circles, as it is among wine connoisseurs.
But whether you acquire it on a vacation to France or from a farm near your city, you are very likely to have a wonderful eating experience. Crumbly even when fresh (unlike Brie which is usually soft), it is great all alone, atop a piece of excellent bread or served beside a slice of fish.
The actual history of Camembert goes back much further than the date of the lively story with which we began, but it makes for great storytelling while enjoying a bit of this delectable treat. Sometimes truth is not only stranger, but tastier than fiction.
Real Camembert is a delight. After being given to French soldiers as part of their rations during WWI, its lasting fame was assured. And that's more than just a fairy tale.
