News From The Cheese Caves

Today is one of those days. In describing the climate of the day, an old friend of mine called it “cheddar weather” meaning it is damp, cool, and overcast, with very light breezes. These are the conditions for maturing cheddar, as well as many other cheese types. It is also the kind of weather that can stimulate your appetite for cheese, cheddar included. The cool, damp, and lightly ventilated atmosphere is the type of atmosphere that we maintain in our cheese caves here at the Artisanal Cheese Center. The cheeses mature gracefully in these cave-like conditions.

When you see a label indicating that a cheese has been “cave-aged” it probably does not mean that the cheese has been aged in an actual cave; it more likely means that it has been cured in a room that maintains those atmospheric conditions. Cheese “caves” are becoming a more frequent fixture of restaurants and hotels. The conditions they should offer are appropriate for aging most cheeses so it would be almost a given that the cheese had spent some time in a “cave.”

I was invited to assess a cheese cave in a restaurant yesterday. I would rather not say what restaurant it was. The attractive “cave” unit had been recently installed and was shiny and new, with wooden shelves inside, atop which several cheeses were placed. When you opened the cave’s see-through glass French doors, any cool moist air that might have resided within it would be lost almost immediately. Granted, the cave did not have much moisture within it to begin with.

The cut cheeses inside were cracking and drying out; this was not a happy sight. The cheeses may have retained most of their flavor but the textures were brittle. The cool temperature helps maintain the cheeses for an extended period, but without sufficient moisture that period can be shortened. Instead of “cheddar weather” the environment within that cave was more “Sahara weather.” Some cheeses can benefit from a little drying, especially the younger ones, but the drying stage is a usually a short one for cheese maturing.

One of the problems with that cave was that it was simply far too large for the amount of cheese that might go through that restaurant. Had it been a smaller unit with more cheese it would have worked better. This is a frequent problem with the design of cheese caves: though they look nice, they are often too large and cannot maintain the humidity levels to prevent cheeses from drying out. And again, those French doors were part of the problem.

The restaurant’s plan was to have an attractive cheese cave in the small private dining room where wines were also cellared, and again, not in ideal conditions. Too often, architects and designers think of the aesthetics without considering the “cheddar weather” that is preferred for storing cheeses. I suggested that the Fromagère fill up the unit with several sturdy aged cheeses such as Goudas, Alpine types, and pressed sheep cheeses. I recommended that she use the unit for display of whole wheels only, and that she keep all the cheeses that she needed for actual service in a smaller box within her least cold refrigerator. It is far easier to achieve that “cheddar weather” in a smaller “cave.”

Granted, cheese can put up with a lot of abuse. It holds up much better if you give it a little TLC. I recommend that you order less but order often; leave the storage to the pros. One way to make sure that your cheeses arrive and remain in good form is to order Max’s Picks on a weekly basis. I go through the caves and select cheeses that I would have on my own plate that day.

Max McCalman

These three fine cheeses have special Father’s Day meanings for me. The Pecorino delle Balze Volterrane is a style of cheese that delivers a lot of bang for its buck (something that my father has always cared about greatly) partly because it is an unpasteurized sheep milk cheese. This signals plenty of flavor and aroma. The olive oil and vegetal notes come through, even after the cheese has been cut and left out for hours. It is a “primordial” cheese, from a family of cheeses that have been produced for millennia around the Mediterranean. The Pecorino delle Balze Volterrane is very nutritious: chock full of protein, vitamins, minerals, as well as the cancer-fighting conjugated linoleic acid. I want all that flavor, aroma and nutrition for my father, for myself, and for my daughter as well.

The Sbrinz we have in our caves now is what I call the “grandfather of Parmigiano-Reggiano” because it is another ancient type of cheese whose recipe was the inspiration for the Parm. My daughter’s first favorite cheese was Parmigiano-Reggiano. She could nibble on a chunk of it for hours when she was a toddler. There are no better sources of Calcium than what is offered in those two cheeses.

One day I presented her with some Sbrinz, which until that day, I thought was merely a “nice” cheese. After tasting it, she said that she would like some more. I remember that morning well. It was eye-opening to me – how she helped me recognize its qualities, by simply asking for more. Having those two cheeses helped make her MVP of her sports teams while growing up in lower Manhattan: basketball, softball, baseball, soccer, and hockey. In her early years she enjoyed her Sbrinz in larger chunks, though it is a cheese that is best enjoyed when it is shaved thin.

The Geit-in-Stad is a Dutch cheese produced from goat milk. My father likes the goat milk. He had some when he was a young boy. He also has a sweet tooth, and sweet is part of the allure of this cheese. When we include Geit-in-Stad as one of our featured cheeses at events, it is often the favorite. And a tip of the hat to my mother’s side of the family, the Dutch part, for that country’s many centuries of cheese making expertise.

Max McCalman

Originally posted at Brewing Some Fun

We have the marvelous Abbaye de Tamié in our caves now. This lightly pressed cow milk cheese is produced at the eponymous abbey in the French Alps. The abbey has helped sustain itself with the production of this marvelous cheese since its founding in the year 1132. The cheese has been produced pretty much the same away all along, thankfully.

If there ever was a cheese that screamed “beer” this is the one. Part of its success in pairing with all kinds of beers is its balanced flavor. It does not rely on the salt to make it work. Another part of the success of the pairing of beers with this cheese is that the soft texture of the cheese likes the beer’s bubbles. This cheese can be a little challenging for most wines, even though it is not a strong cheese. I have tasted the Abbaye de Tamié with several different styles of beers and it invariably works.

The cheese is produced with unpasteurized milk,which happens to give it an extended shelf life, as well as a full aroma and flavor. A generous dose of umami rounds out its flavor profile while the aroma takes you to one of the most beautiful places on earth – the Alps. You could easily consider having this cheese on its own. It has an eggy flavor; it reminds me of scrambled eggs, with a touch of salt and no pepper, cooked in butter.

Speaking of eggs, the Abbaye de Tamié has about twice the amount of protein in weight as an egg, and less fat, even before the egg is cooked in oil or butter!

If you would rather not be reminded of eggs then try this amazing cheese with the breakfast of champions – beer. You will get a great start to your day. A piece of fruit on the side is optional; the beer should deliver enough fruit flavor on its own. Some fresh crusty baguette will suffice. Along with the umami, the Abbaye de Tamié (being a youngish unpasteurized cheese produced from milk of animals who have a wide diversity of plant species in their diets) also delivers a lot of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) that beneficial weight-reducing and cancer-fighting fatty acid.

We don’t have the Abbaye de Tamié available all the time; the production is limited. It is here now though, and those that come in should be in great form through to the end of the year. So get them while you can.

Max McCalman

No two Chardonnays are the same, not even those produced within the same village. Of course the age of the wine carries some weight, as it certainly does with cheeses. One reason for the huge popularity of the Chardonnay grape is its success with many foods, cheeses included, as well as being a perfectly suitable wine to enjoy on its own.

I had the great pleasure of tasting two Chardonnays within a range of six wines recently. They were both Puligny-Montrachets, one was a 2006 and the other was a 1988. Though a twenty-three year old white Burgundy such as a Puligny-Montrachet might seem to be pushing it, this one was still very much alive, vibrant, resplendent with good fruit and not oxidized. On the other hand, the 2006 might sound like a youngster, as the Montrachets don’t usually come into their own until they have had a few more years in the bottle.

The seven cheeses we tasted with these two beautiful wines were perfectly ripened; all the cheeses happened to be French – a request from the host. The younger wine was a smashing success with the first four cheeses we tasted: Roves des Garrigues, Brillat Savarin, Abbaye de Belloc (a bit of a surprise) and the Epoisses (a no-brainer) and it also paired well with the Cantal and the Carles Roquefort (yes, this match can work). The 2006 Puligny-Montrachet was only okay with the Raclette, which was gorgeous by itself but a little too pungent. The older 1988 Puligny was beautiful with the first two cheeses yet the matches brought out different aspects. The 1988 was good with the Abbaye de Belloc and more successful with the Epoisses, nice with the Cantal and the Raclette, but only okay with the Roquefort.

The way these white Burgundies married with each of these cheeses brought out different nuances, from the wines and from each of the cheeses. None of the matches were disappointing. Overall, the cheeses scored as well with the wines as they did with the 2003 Sauternes!

It is little wonder that Chardonnay is such a popular varietal; it plays well with many foods, cheeses especially. I recall a few mismatches with this grape but they are rare. The quality of the cheeses helped make these pairings work well, no doubt. Few Epoisses can match the peak where this one was, semi-soft with just a little of its “heart” remaining in the center. When I first looked at the several wheels of Epoisses I thought they might be a little too liquid, a little overripe. Instead they were buttery, creamy, pungent, smooth, only slightly salty and aromatic, and recognizably cow. This cheese is one whose care we provide is unsurpassed.

I have to admit: those Puligny-Montrachets were not too shabby either. To have aged out as well as they had is a testament to the care they received. For anyone who rebukes Chardonnay should try a nicely aged white Burgundy, preferably one of the Montrachets; and then to bring out the best that those wines can offer, pair it with a few of the cheeses mentioned above. It becomes a little more difficult to tolerate a lesser Chardonnay once you’ve had one of the best but these cheeses can elevate the lesser Chardonnays just fine.

Max McCalman

Terroir seems to be a word that is not easy to pronounce by most Americans. This could be partly because it is a word that is not understood particularly well so we are afraid to even try to pronounce it. It is a wonderful word though, and I fear that it is still misunderstood and is thusly used a little inaccurately by foodies and gourmands.

There is no one word in our English language that defines all that “terroir” encompasses. Terroir primarily refers to what is in the soil itself. In the case of cheese, the distinct qualities available in the soil feed the plants, plants that feed the animals, animals that produce the milk from which the cheese is crafted. Yet terroir also refers to what is available in the water, to the climactic conditions, the topography, even the culture or “soul” of a region. In the case of wine, terroir refers to those attributes that influence the wine: the soil, water, climate, and the topography of the region. These attributes influence the plants that produce the grapes containing the juice from which the wine is produced. Along with the influences of the personality of the region that determine the styles of wine making of a region, these considerations make “terroir” a rather important word. I doubt that we will come up with an English word that will quite match the weight of the word “terroir.”

Traditional types of cheese have a true recognition for the importance of terroir, though many of those older styles of cheese are increasingly influenced by components that are derived from other regions, sometimes from places that are on other continents! Those components include commercial rennets, cultures, salts and other flavorings. Though they usually comprise a tiny fraction of what the cheese vat contains, in volume or weight, they can have significant influences on the aroma, flavor and texture of the cheeses.

Yes, the milk is the greatest ingredient by weight and volume, and it is the most important ingredient influencing the profile of the cheese. The particular skills of the cheese maker have their influences on the final cheese, as well as the skills of the Affineur (cheese ripener). The steps that are involved in cheese making each have their role: the temperature of the milk when it is coagulated, the time that the coagulum is allowed to form, the temperature and atmospheric pressure of the cheese making room, the presence of ambient molds in the make and curing rooms, how finely the curds are cut, the amount of pressure that is applied, etc. Slight adjustments in each of these steps, and others, can have profound influences on the final cheese product.

These are some of the reasons why I have a hard time accepting the role of terroir in defining the success of pairing cheese with other foods and beverages. No less involved in cheese making are the complexities involved in wine and beer making. The grapes for wine making or the grains and hops for beer making may have been grown on land that adjoins the pasture where the dairy animals grazed (occasionally but rarely the case) but the other variables factor in.

It is a good starting point: choosing cheeses and beverages or other foods from the same region. We might expect that if these products have been crafted alongside one another for generations that they should marry well together. The influences of terroir have their play, disregarding the other foreign ingredients. Regional pairings make interesting studies, or they can provide thematic elements to tastings of cheeses with other foods and beverages.

When I look over my database of cheese and wine pairings (the beverage with which I have paired cheeses more than any other) I have found that the new world styles of wines, which are generally more “fruit-forward” than their old world counterparts, appear to have a little advantage. The fruit in these wines better balances the savory or salty qualities in the cheeses. We like to think that we prefer “dry” wines though we Americans actually gravitate toward the fruit. This is a part of the exploration of our Old World Cheese & New World Wine class: discovering those balancing and complementing attributes in each, beyond the balance of fruit and savory.

In addition to the many successful matches between old world cheeses and new world wines, there are thousands of successful matches to be found within the old world itself even though the shared terroir is not a factor. Experimenting with cheeses and wines that are produced hundreds (if not thousands) of miles apart from each other is what I refer to as “tasting outside the terroir box.”

It is evident that terroir plays a big role in determining the profile of these agricultural products but it should not be used as a crutch for determining successful pairings. Cheeses and beverages produced far from each other often deliver some of those gustatory thrills.

I predict that “terroir” will be a word that will be better understood in the future, or I hope that it will. Spell-check may eventually recognize it too, like the word “sommelier.” After all, the English language is about half-French anyway.

Max McCalman

Today, you can find entire aisles of grocery stores filled with different beers. The selection of beers often far exceeds the selection of cheeses. America’s taste for beer has gradually shifted toward the fuller-bodied ales and away from the lighter lagers. Our per capita consumption of “light” lagers still far exceeds that of the bigger ales, yet the trend toward the heavier direction is apparent. One might think that the lighter-flavored lagers do not measure up to the bigger ales on the “artisanal” scale, what with the way that the larger producers appear to be directing their creative energies into those vats. This has been the focus of most of the newer microbreweries as well. These bigger-flavored beers remain a niche part of the beer market yet that niche is growing.

There could be something to be said for getting flavor for your beer dollar. Possibly. It could partly be the desire to get more alcohol for that dollar, as many of these bigger beers have elevated alcohol contents. These levels often approach the levels found in table wines. It bears mentioning that those fuller flavors can hide those higher alcohol levels, perhaps unrecognizable until you have had that “one-for-the-road.”

Many of these new craft beers are flavored with other ingredients besides grains and hops. The added flavorings can make for delicious brews but they can also overwhelm meek cheese partners. Flavored beers and heftier porters and stouts can dominate cheeses. They tolerate few insipid cheeses. On the other hand, strong cheeses can be beautifully quenched with the lighter beers.

Those perceived imbalances that occur between stronger-flavored beers and lighter-flavored cheeses may be less problematic because of some advantages that beers enjoy. The more obvious advantage is the effervescence. This helps to lift up the acids and fats in cheese so they do not weigh down on the palate. The cheeses and beers can swirl around in the mouth and leave graceful finishes. Most beers have a lower alcohol level than most wines. This is desirable partly because the salts in cheese can make you thirsty. It is more effective (and advisable from a health perspective) to quaff your thirst with a little less alcohol.

A less obvious advantage that beer enjoys with cheeses is the pH levels in beers more closely approximate those of most cheeses. The acids in beers help to metabolize the fats and proteins in cheeses. The salt and sweet on the palate is a balancing relationship, while the pH relationship is one of harmony. The more acid cheeses generally pair better with the more acid beverages. Cheese is (or should be) a little acid and beer is a little acid too. This balance of acids helps make the pairing of cheese and beer more pleasing.

This helps explain why some of the bolder cheeses can pair fairly well with some of the lightest of cheeses; the acids are balanced. The more assertively flavored beers can find those balances and harmonies with cheeses, so long as their flavors are complementary. For example, a chocolate-flavored ale may find a successful mate in a cow milk blue cheese because the aromatics often blend well together, so long as there is that balance of salt (recognizable in most blues) and sweet (indicated by the chocolate in the beer) and harmony of acid levels.

Added to the aesthetic relationships of beer and cheese pairing, the wholesome nutritive qualities of fine cheese coupled with those qualities provided by beers (gentle acids, generally low alcohol contents, and B vitamins) add another advantage to exploring the wide world of beer and cheese partnerships. Plus, in many more cases than not, they just taste good together.

Max McCalman

When choosing cheese I always go for variety, the more the merrier. We all have our favorites and there is an argument for having the one “perfect” cheese. However mixing them up a little makes it more interesting, by selecting cheeses produced from different milk types, or choosing cheeses from different regions, or cheeses with different types of rind, or with different textures, etc.

The Scot in me dictates that I get plenty of nutrition for my cheese dollar. This makes a strong argument for choosing a variety of cheeses; cheeses have different nutritive values. No two cheeses are the same. Though the wonderfully broad diversity of nutrients in cheese is found in almost all cheeses, the relative composition of those nutrients is a little different. Some cheeses have more beneficial fatty acids than others, some have different levels of proteins and amino acids than others, and some have higher levels of certain vitamins or minerals than others. This is a good reason to try a variety of cheeses. Sign up for Cheese & Wine 201 to learn more about these considerations.

Another argument in favor of variety is that there are many different cheeses and everybody has their favorites. It is a good idea to have at least three cheeses when you are entertaining, even when you are entertaining only one person. You have better odds of pleasing your guest(s) if you have a variety of cheeses. This is a point that I picked up full well years ago when I was running a cheese program in a restaurant. We were able to please more guests when we had the broader variety of types. When we offered fewer cheeses many guests politely declined the cheese course altogether. We actually ended up with more waste when we had fewer cheeses offered, not what might be expected.

The variety will also elicit discussion (should your guest not be especially gregarious) by striking different impressions on the senses, often reminding them of lovely experiences they once had. The aromas in cheese can do that – take you to another time and another place.

You have a better chance of finding successful matches with your wines or beers when you have several cheese types. One of the best ways to learn about cheese, wine, and beer, is to use cheeses as “platforms” for your beverages, just as the beverages serve as “platforms” for your cheeses. It is easier to detect the nuances in a cheese or wine, or beer, if you try the different cheeses and beverages jointly. How different cheeses interact with different wines is highlighted in our Cheese & Wine 101 classes. How they interact with beers is highlighted in our Craft Beer classes.

- Max McCalman

With all the paper industry here in this country you would think that at least one company would make the kind of cheese paper that is used in the better European cheese shops. This two-ply semi-permeable paper is also now being used here in the states, and we use it here as well. It consists of very lightly waxed paper on the inside (the side that rests against the cheese) and a paper that is closer to parchment or butcher paper on the outside. This type paper allows the cheese to breath and does not leave the light plastic residue left behind by plastic wraps.

Most cheeses can tolerate plastic wrapping for a short time; the harder cheeses can hold up under plastic for weeks, but is not ideal. For convenience and cost considerations the cling film frequently used for wrapping cheese is kind of a necessary evil. Wrapping cheese in that two-ply paper is preferred. When I say that cheese is allowed to “breath” it is not as though the cheese is huffing and puffing. A little bit of air exchange helps to keep the cheeses in good condition far longer. Cheese is, after all, a “living” food.

Some cheeses require more air exchange than others, especially the goat milk cheeses. Even that two-ply cheese paper can be a little too suffocating for the young chèvres. And of course, the softer runnier cheeses can stick to the paper once the paste is exposed. For example, if you have not finished your Epoisses it is not so easy to wrap up the leftover portion. That would be like trying to put the toothpaste back into the tube. For those occasions that you think you will not finish your soft cheese in one setting it would be easier to leave it in its wooden box (if it comes that way) and then to cover the entire box with some cling film. A little air underneath that wrap will be sufficient for the cheese, and the film will not come in contact with cheese paste. If the softer cheese comes in some other wrapping you can reuse it if it is not soiled. The only problem with wrapping a softer cheese under paper (or plastic, or aluminum foil) is that some of the cheese will stick to the paper, and some of the moisture may make the paper so wet that it does not serve its purpose effectively. Another option with leftover softer cheeses is to put the remaining cheese into a bowl and then cover it with the cling film.

If your cheese has been under plastic wrap it is recommended that you “face” the cheese by taking a knife and scraping the edge of the cheese lightly. This should remove what little plastic residue may have settled on the cheese surface. In one of the finest cheese shops in Portugal the paper they use to wrap their cheeses is closer to the kind of paper used for grocery sacks. That kind of paper can soak up some of the delicious butterfats in cheese. You don’t want to lose any of that.

Cheeses that are wrapped in paper should be wrapped snugly. To observe our team wrapping cheese is a sight to behold. They are quick, efficient, and you would think that they had part-time jobs wrapping gifts at Macy’s.

For some cheeses the preferred wrapping is aluminum foil, especially for many blue cheeses.

- Max McCalman

Several years ago I was invited to be a guest on Cooking Live with Sara Moulton. One viewer called in with a question for the cheese guy. Her question was: why do they call all soft cheeses “brie?” Quite frankly that one stopped me in my tracks for a minute. After a pause I realized that this might seem to be true to many Americans–all soft cheeses must be brie. This was over a decade ago when the variety of cheeses, soft ones included, was much smaller than it is today. Yet, there were several hundred soft cheeses around back then; some of them were actually “bries” or something closely related to brie.

Even then, there were plenty of lovely soft cheeses that were available, a tiny fraction of which should have been called brie. Years ago there seemed to be a “don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude about importing soft young cheeses into America. Since people rarely if ever got sick from eating cheese, (fortunately still true today) there did not seem to be a good reason to obstruct access to those marvelous cheeses.

I recall informing that caller that there were other soft cheeses that I thought she would recognize, like Camembert. This is another cheese whose name has been stolen shamelessly too many times. Today it is increasingly difficult to find a good Camembert in France itself. Alors!

Yet all is not so rotten in Denmark, or in France, or in the lexicon of cheese. I suppose there could be a legitimate comparison of a soft cow cheese to brie, no matter the rind, the flavor, aroma, or the provenance. Still to this day many people will tell you that there favorite cheese is brie, even though tasting good raw milk brie may not have actually been one of their cheese experiences.

I say let them have it. Call it their entry into the wide world of artisanal cheese. Call those marginally related soft cheeses brie, call them whatever, enjoy them the best that you can. There are far worse things one can put in one’s mouth. To learn about the differences between cheese types, to get to the bottom of it all, sign up for Cheese Basics and taste the differences. Not all soft cheeses are bries.

- Max McCalman