An Intro to Serving Cheese
Try these helpful tips for handling cheese from the cheese professionals at Artisanal Premium Cheese:
- Cheese needs to be brought to room temperature 65 to 75 degrees
- If cheese has been stored for more than a day, remove wrapping and face with a knife
- When possible have a different knife for each different cheese, or wipe the knife with a damp towel, after each cut
- Cheeses should be cut from the center to the outer rind, in order to maximize surface usage.
- Softer cheeses should be sliced lengthwise into wedges with a butter knife, or small pairing knife
- Harder cheeses can be sliced with a chef knife or a microplane slicer that can be pulled across the flat surface of the cheese to obtain paper-thin slices
- Soft runny cheeses may be spooned into small containers
- Cheese wires can effectively be used to cut cheeses in a high volume restaurant or cheese shop
Creating a Cheese Plate
- An eclectic mixture of milks and ripening processes are needed when assembling a cheese plate, while paying attention to colors and textures
- Cheeses should be placed in plates with a light color to best showcase them
- The tasting should be arranged from milder to stronger, beginning usually with the creamier, milder ones, followed by the washed rind, harder cheeses and always ending with a blue
- If plated, the mildest cheese would be placed at the 6 o’clock position, placing them in a clockwise manner on the plate
- Cheeses can also be displayed on marble slabs, wooden boards and serving trays
What Goes Well With Cheese?
- Breads, crackers, breadsticks
- Fruits, like apples, pears, and figs
- Mostardas, chutnies, and preserves
- Cured meats, olives, and tapenades
Storing Cheese
- Cheese needs to be stored at around 50 to 55 degrees
- High humidity environment (vegetable compartment) is ideal
- Softer cheeses do not keep as long (buy less more often)
- Harder, more aged cheeses can be kept almost indefinitely
- Cheese cloth, parchment paper, wax paper are ideal to wrap cheeses
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