Know Your Cheese

Listing out cheese, tastes and responses from across the world could form the content of a series of books — but here’s a quick look at some interesting ones

Feta Cheese
A goat milk cheese, which has a typical salty taste, Feta is of Greek origin.The cheese comes in two types — hard and soft. While the soft version is eaten best with salads, hard is best used in grated form with fish dishes.

Manchego
Made from ewe’s milk, this is a creamy but firm textured cheese, which originates in Spain. Popular in antipasti or tapas, Manchego is known for its strong cheesy taste.

Gouda
Originally Dutch, it is now also processed/ matured by local suppliers, and is ever-popular in the Indian context. Given the versatile nature of Indian taste buds, we can have Gouda in any context — it is exceptionally good for gratination and baking.

Parmesan
From the Parma region of Italy, Parmesan is a hard cheese. This comes in two forms — cooking Parmesan (Grana Padano), and table Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano) — of which the table form has been taken up by cheese- manufacturing companies and is available in packaged format.

Chevre
A semi-soft goat cheese found in France, and is excellent for baking and salads. It’s dense and creamy in texture, with a mild flavour — so for those who don’t fancy hard or salty cheese, this one is a clear winner.

Mozzarella
Called the ‘plastic cheese’, it is known for its stringy-ness as found in all our pizzas, and even some salads. The Italians have this one to offer the world too.

Sweet Cheese
Unsalted and used as a base for desserts, Mascarpone, Ricotta and Philadelphian Cream are called ‘sweet cheese’. You can find them in Baked Cheesecakes, Tiramisu, Crepes and even ice-cream.

Blue Cheese(s)
Gorgonzola (Italian), Roquefort (French), Blue Stilton (English) and Dana Blu (Dutch) are the better known ones among a long list of blue cheese. These are the ‘stinkiest’ of all cheese, but to a connoisseur or cheese lover, these are the tastiest. They should ideally be consumed by themselves with some fruit or crackers.

Tips for making summer cheese platter

* If you plan to serve wine with your cheese, you should select the wine first, then the cheeses. For summer, lighter wines are de rigeur: Sauvignon blanc or a sparkling wine are perfect. For example, a rich and creamy triple-creme like Brillat-Savarin will pair perfectly with a light and sparkly dry champagne. Or, try pairing one wine with five cheeses, or five wines and five cheeses.

* Goat and young sheep milk cheeses are at their peak in the summer. Select a soft goat cheese such as Valençay from the Loire Valley, which has an ashed rind; a young goat’s milk cheese; or a blend of goat, sheep and cow milk like La Tur.

* A bleu cheese can also be a great choice, as some bleus lean toward flavours that are bright, clean and citrusy. One of my favourites is Black River Blue from Wisconsin.

* Aged cheeses are refreshing in summertime as well. Try Garrotxa, from the Basque region of Spain. An aged goat’s milk cheese, its flavour is mellow, nutty and approachable. Another is Pecorino Ginepro, an aged sheep’s milk cheese from Italy with bright, tangy flavours that is soaked in crushed juniper berries and balsamic vinegar.

* Summer is the time when certain cheeses are produced or are at their best. Dairy animals are feasting on lush, nutrient-rich grasses, and their diet is reflected in the flavour, freshness and richness of many kinds of cheese.

* Fresh cow’s-milk cheeses — mozzarella and its even richer cousin, burrata — are now at their peak in richness and tangy flavour. Summer is also the natural season for fresh goat’s-milk and sheep’s-milk cheeses, such as chevre, feta and ricotta. Goats and sheep stop producing milk in winter, when they are breeding and preparing to give birth. Although some cheese producers freeze the curds collected in summer, the ideal time to enjoy these fresh cheeses is when they are made from fresh milk and curds.

* The salty sharpness of a good, aged pecorino Romano is perfect in summer because it goes so well with other robust flavours of the season: grilled peppers, briny olives and meaty heirloom tomatoes.

Cheese with Bill & Sheila

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