Ladies, gentlemen, children: we continue our series about cheese. For this article, we introduce you the correct ways of eating it, while showing some elegant and proper manners, no matter if you are at home or in a high-end restaurant.
Rule 1: the order
Don’t: you shall not start to eat cheese in a random order.
Do: Traditionally, you start from the lightest to the strongest in terms of taste, in order to preserve the tastes: from goat’s cheeses and continue with cow’s cheese. But nowadays it depends on your own preference.
Rule 2: the smell
Don’t: never smell a cheese, and, worse, never say a cheese “stinks”, even if everyone in the room can’t breath after opening an old camembert. It would be a crime against French gastronomy (at least).
Do: potentially, you may say this cheese is “strong”, with a smile of course.
Rule 3: the rind
Soft cheeses: Don’t be afraid to eat the rind from soft, creamy cheeses. This rind is usually soft and white, like for Camembert and Brie.
Hard cheeses: Some people would also eat the rind of hard cheese, but most would peel or cut it off. The rind is usually hard and waxy. Examples of cheeses where you should peel/cut the rind off include Cheddar or Gruyere
Rule 4: fingers or not ?
Don’t: never take any piece of cheese with your finger (it’s acceptable only in standing cocktails with small pieces of hard cheeses).
Do: the cheese service is with the cheese knife from the platter to your plate. Once in your plate, either you eat it with the dessert fork and knife directly, or you use your cutlery to place your piece of cheese on a piece of bread, which you may grasp with your fingers.
If you eat cheese on bread, avoid such a big slice
Rule 5: the bread
Don’t : don’t go plopping a whole wedge of cheese on a hunk of bread like some kind of savage.
Do : take a small piece of bread, a small piece of cheese. Just gently place the morsel of cheese on the bite-sized morsel of baguette.
Rule 6: no crackers, no sandwich, no spreading
Don’t : never use crackers for eating cheese (again, it’s acceptable only in standing cocktails). At a dinner, never do a sandwich with your bread over the cheese, you are not in a fast-food. And never use your knife to spread the cheese on the bread like some vulgar butter.
Avoid spreading the cheese that way
Do: you may use a wide range of breads: white, dark, with grains, etc. Only place the piece of cheese on the bread without crushing it.
Better elegantly place it like this on the bread
Rule 7: pairing with fruits
Cheeses go well with sweet items in general, especially fruits (but avoid citrus). You may consider this advice :
-Try dried fruit with hard cheeses, such as: apricots, cherries, and figs.
-Try fresh fruit with fresh cheeses, such as: dates, figs, apricots, and plums.
Rule 8: Jam pairings
One of my favourite ways to eat cheese is with jam (especially strawberry jam to goat’s cheese), it’s delicious! You can also try it with honey, or onion jam, etc. The sweet touch will probably not pair well with the strong cheese, but again it all depends on your own taste. Try by yourself.
Just for once we will allow you to break one rule: normally you shall not ask for a second helping of cheese. Yes, this is true. But it is so good, that we shall now tolerate a second (but moderate) service. Let’s keep it our little secret.
