FoodFood Information
FIRM CHEESES
Cheddar ranges from young and mild to sharp and mature; they aredryish slightly crumbly and quite firm. They and their English relativessuch as Gloucester, Cheshire and Wensleydale, may be flavored with sageor chives, or layered with Stilton for a striped cheese called Huntsman.Mimolette is a French cheddar-like cheese orange in color and very firmin texture. Dutch Edam and Gouda are pale colored cheeseswith an almost springy consistency: superb for sandwiches omelets or anythingthat needs a sparky-flavored melted cheese topping. Leyden is similar,but seasoned with caraway, cloves and cumin; it is best nibbled, accompaniedperhaps by a plate of sliced apples. Fontina ranges from springyand moist to firm and pungent. While the original Italy's Fontina Val d'Aosta,is an interesting flavorful cheese the fontinas from Scandinavia are usuallybland.
Swiss cheese encompasses the whole segment of firm cheeses with holes,which are created by a gas that forms as the cheese ripens. Appenzeller,Emmentaler, and Gruyere are among the traditional cheesesof Switzerland as is raclette ( around which a whole meal, appropriatelycalled raclette, is based). There are also good French versions, Beafortand Comte, the Greek Graviera, and Norwegian Jarlsberg. The nutty flavorand tender though springy texture of these cheeses is very appealing foreating as is. They grate easily and melt evenly making them the universalgrating cheeses (along with Parmesan-type cheeses for much of Europe. SomeEuropean versions of Swiss types, as well as many American Swiss cheesesare very bland with textures that can veer toward rubbery.
Jack - Somoma or Monterey- is California's native hybrid. It is moist,tender and melts extremely well. Its mild flavor snakes it a good all-purposechoice for cooking, or to mix with other cheeses that are more highly flavored.Jacks may be seasoned with garlic. onion, pesto or chiles and vary widelyin flavor.
GOAT CHEESES
Creamy, with a distinctive whiff of the barnyard, goat cheeses have becomeso popular in the San Francisco Bay Area in recent years that they nearlydefine California cuisine. Goat cheeses in French, chevre usuallycome from France or California. although a handful are made in other countriesand states. Bucheron and Montrachet are the most common Frenchcheeses. Available in shapes that range from logs to pyramids to buttons,discs and little balls, each goat cheese has a slightly different flavorand texture depending on how long it has aged and how it is prepared. Manyare flavored with herbs, peppercorns or vegetable ash (yes, it is edible).While fresh goat cheeses are the most common. Goat cheese can be aged intoa strongly flavored grating cheese. Some cheeses, such as the chestnut leaf-wrappedbanon and the flat disc called St. Marcellin, are made with milkfrom both cows and goats.
SHEEP'S MILK CHEESES
Feta and feta-type cheeses are eaten throughout the Middle East andthe Balkans. Although they also may be made from cow's and goat's milk,it is sheep's milk that makes the freshest-tasting, light and lyrical fete.Sheep's milk cheeses abound in Europe, including a wide range of light,tangy, fresh cheeses. One of the loveliest-and occasionally exported-isBrin d'Amour, which is coated with rosemary and other French hillside herbs.Pecorino, named after the Italian word for sheep, pecora, is usuallya well-aged cheese that is excellent for grating. It is also sold fresh,when it is much like feta, tender and moist. Few sheep's milk cheeses aremade in the United States, but Petaluma's Bellwether Farms makes a widerange of them. Manchego is an aged Sheep's milk cheese from spain,excellent for grating.
THE BLUES
Made with milk from sheep, goats and/or cows, blue cheese is tangy, saltyand pungent, with a consistency that ranges from firm
(Danish or Maytag blue) to creamy (Gorgonzola). Thereare also hybrids of blue cheese made in the form of a Camembert-type ofcheese. When choosing blue cheeses, avoid darkened, brownish-gray coloration,any oozing moisture and an ammonia smell. Some blues are actually white,such as white Stilton, yet they have the characteristic "blue"flavor. From the bracingly saline Roquefort to Spain s leaf-wrappedCabrales (at times strong enough to bring tears to the eyes). bluecheeses may be eaten in a variety of ways: on their own, in salads, in soupsand in sauces. When cooking with blue cheeses, however, keep in mind thatthey lose their distinctive flavor when cooked, and quickly melt into apuddle when heated. To maximize flavor, use in salad dressings or as anomelet filling: toss quickly into creamy pasta garnished with toasted pinenuts, or make a last minute sauce for rare beef.
SOFT CHEESES
The technique for making these cheeses grew out of medieval monasteries.and they're sometimes called monastery cheeses." Semisoft cheeses shouldstick a little to the knife as you cut them; they range in flavor from thearomatic to the well, very aromatic. Bal Paese, St Paulin, Muenster,Pont l'Eveque, Port-Salut, Reblochon, and Tomme de Savoie areall fragrant examples The Italian stracchino is decisively more pungent,but nothing compares to France's Livarot and Maroilles.
GRATlNG CHEESES
Parmesan is no doubt the best known grating cheese in the world.but the best-some would say the only is Parmigiano-Reggiano, thenutty, salty and fabulously flavorful cheese made in that small region ofItaly, although a reasonable tasting, reasonably priced Parmesan is madein Argentina). There are numerous other grating cheeses, and many are farbetter than impostor Parmesans that come close to the original but neverquite close enough. Asiago, dried Pecorino, dry Jack, Manchegoand Kasseri are all good for grating. To savor good Parmesan, however,slice it and eat it straight, to end a meal, with a ripe and luscious pearor a handful of seedless grapes.
BRIE AND CAMEMBERT TYPE CHEESES
Soft-ripened cheeses, with a "bloomy" rind-that is, powdery andsoft-and an unctuous, runny interior can be among the glories of the chessboard.Delice de France, Revidoux, and Coulommiers are threeof the other names you might find at the cheese counter. Explorateurand St Andre have a similar bloomy rind that they're richer, almostbutter like in consistency, with a tender-firm, not runny interior. Briecan be flavored with herbs or bedecked with nuts, glazes and the like. Brie'saromatic flavor and slightly oozing consistency can be very seductive.
FRESH CHEESES
Cottage, queso fresco, cream cheese, Boursin and boursault,mascarpone, ricotta and fromoge frais are the he most commonlyfound fresh cheeses, each with its own taste and texture. Fresh cheese iseaten in various ways-combined with pasta, as a filling for dumplings orpastries, stirred into polenta, flavored with herbs and spread on bread,sweetened and eaten as dessert. A favorite Corsican dessert is fresh goatcheese or a sheep's milk cheese) served with orange flower water and sugar.String cheeses are fresh cheeses made by stretching the curd. Freshmozzarella and Armenian stringy cheese are tasty on their own and fun topeel off in threads. Fresh mozzarella and its tiny cousin, bocconcini,are delicious sprinkled with a little salt, black pepper and olive oil-butonly just before eating. When these cheeses are a bit more mature, marinatethem with garlic, red pepper flakes, a dab of vinegar and a generous lacingof fragrant herbs such as oregano, rosemary or herbs de Provence.