A handy FAQ for cheese lovers
Over the years I’ve noticed that students in my cheese-appreciation classes have a predictable set of questions. If these topics are on their minds, perhaps they are on yours, too. So before you ask, here are some answers to my personal list of cheese FAQs.
Q: Why is raw-milk cheese illegal?
A: It isn’t illegal. I eat raw-milk cheese all the time, and you probably do, too. If you sprinkle Parmigiano-Reggiano on your pasta or crumble Roquefort into a salad, you’re eating raw-milk cheese.
Many American cheese producers make raw-milk wheels, too. The acclaimed Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Wisconsin and Fiscalini’s Bandage-Wrapped Cheddar from Modesto come to mind.
Food and Drug Administration regulations require raw-milk cheeses to be aged at least 60 days as a food-safety measure. So cheeses consumed relatively young, such as mozzarella, Brie or Cowgirl Creamery’s Red Hawk, must be made with pasteurized milk.
Aged raw-milk cheeses have an excellent food-safety record, in part because they are dry enough, acidic enough and salty enough to inhibit pathogens.
Q: How long can I keep cheese in the refrigerator?
A: You can keep cheese in the refrigerator indefinitely, but it will eventually go sour, dry out, turn slimy, smell ammoniated or grow a fuzzy cloak of mold. Its fate depends on the type of cheese and how well you store it.
No wheel gets better after it’s breached, and even a whole cheese isn’t likely to improve in a home refrigerator.
The moister the cheese, the more quickly it heads south once cut. So unless you are buying a dry grating cheese like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano, try to purchase just what you need for the next few days, then come back for more.
Q: What’s the best way to store cheese?
A: If you take some time to store cheese properly, you will toss less of it. Never wrap it in plastic film, which smothers it. Use a breathable wrap such as wax paper, parchment, or the coated cheese paper that many cheese counters sell.
Press the wrap against any cut surfaces to protect them from drying and put the wrapped package in a lidded plastic container.
Store blue cheeses separately to prevent the mold from spreading, and it’s a good idea to keep stinky washed-rind cheeses separate, too.
Q: Can I eat the rind?
A: Depends on the cheese. Some rinds are waxed or hard and obviously inedible or at least unpleasant. Softer rinds, such as the wrinkled white cloak on Vermont Butter Cheese’s Coupole or the sticky coat on a Munster, can enhance your appreciation of the cheese.
Whether to eat them is up to you. If the rind tastes bitter, overly salty or ammoniated, leave it behind.
Q: Do you know any local creameries I can visit?
A: Many creameries discourage visitors because they can’t spare the staff or don’t relish the idea of a lot of people, with all their rogue bacteria, traipsing through. Few food-production facilities are more scrupulously clean than a creamery.
However, a handful of local cheese makers do have retail sales on premise or offer tours by appointment. The new Sonoma Marin Cheese Trail map (cheesetrail.org) points cheese enthusiasts to the producers who welcome visitors.
Q: When are you going to run out of cheeses to write about?
A: Not anytime soon, thank goodness. The American specialty-cheese world is booming, with many new producers emerging and many new cheeses from the veterans. And importers keep scoring finds from Europe and beyond.
Every time I go to a retail counter, I spot cheeses I haven’t tried before. To expand your comfort level with cheese, don’t just buy what you know. Pick up an unfamiliar selection each time you shop for cheese and watch your expertise grow.
Janet Fletcher teaches cheese-appreciation classes and is the author of “Cheese Wine: A Guide to Selecting, Pairing, and Enjoying” and “The Cheese Course,” both from Chronicle Books. Visit janetfletcher.com for a class schedule, or contact her at [email protected].
This article appeared on page H – 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Cheese Recipes with Bill & Sheila
_____________________________________________________________________
If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest. This site is hosted by (click on the graphic for more information)
Return from cheese to Home Page
If you want to increase your site popularity and gain thousands of visitors – check out these sites THEY ARE FREE. Spanishchef more than doubled its ‘New Visitors’ last month simply by signing up to these sites:
Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER
