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Let them eat cheese! Invite your friends over for a party that is sure to delight the senses. Photo Courtesy of Onmyplate.org.
June 2005 |
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Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Cheese-Butter-YogurtA Cheese Tasting PartyHold a Fromage SoiréeDiscover New Cheeses and be the Toast(ed Big Cheese) of the Party!
So many food-lovers love cheese that we actually see people waiving the tempting desserts at great restaurants, in favor of the beckoning sirens of the cheese cart. You don’t have to throw a lavish dinner party to be popular with your food friends: just have everyone over for a cheese tasting. There’s so much to taste, you can do it once a month and have people clamoring for invitations. PlanningBalance the tasting. Carefully choose your cheeses. Look for contrasts in:
Limit the number of cheeses. Cheeses should be savored: go for quality, not quantity: a large number of cheeses will tax your mind and your palate.
Work with a knowledgeable fromagier. An expert at cheese shop or specialty food store can help you reduce many decisions to a few. A number of these tips came from Murray’s Cheese in New York City, and Great American Cheese Connection of Chicago. Determine how much cheese you need. If it’s the cheese course of a dinner party, figure two ounces of cheese per person. If it’s a cocktail party, one ounce per person. If the focus of the evening is a cheese tasting, four to six ounces per person. You may have leftover cheese, but that’s not a tragedy. Keep Notes. If you’re not planning to take tasting notes, at least keep notes on what you purchased so you can plan a different assortment next time. It’s logical to want to keep buying what you enjoyed, but do that for your regular dining and entertaining, and keep tasting events as group learning experiences. Serve the cheeses at room temperature. Cold cheeses do not showcase their textures, aromas and flavors. The cheeses should be out of the refrigerator at least one hour before serving. Have the right tools to slice the cheeses. After all your hard prep work, you don’t want things to crumble at the appointed hour.
The goal in slicing cheese is to cut equal portions and avoid giving someone an end piece that’s mostly rind.
ServingDepending on the size of the group, you can create individual plates, pass one cheese plate around the table, or have people serve themselves from a buffet. Select Cheese Condiments. Some people are purists: they believe nothing should be eaten with the cheese to get in the way of its flavors. Others believe that serving accompaniments with cheese is as important as serving condiments or sides with other great foods.
Choose A Serving Platter. In less creative times, cheese was served on a “cheese board.” Today, a cheese board is anything you wish to serve the cheese on—whether an official cheese board, an all-purpose platter, a wooden cutting board, a slab of granite, a straw mat. Just be sure the surface can bear the blade of a knife without damage. TastingTasting Order. Taste mild cheeses first, and progress to the stronger ones. Finish with blue and “stinky” cheeses. This is one of the most important steps in tasting, whether wine or cheese. Two other rules of thumb:
Taste each cheese beginning at its center; then work your way to the rind where the cheese is most aged and stronger in flavor.
Evaluate Each Characteristic. Sniff the cheese just as you would a glass of wine, to understand and appreciate its aroma. Notice and evaluate these characteristics:
Pair Matching Wines And/Or Beers. A cheese tasting also affords the opportunity to taste different wines with your cheeses. Your fromagier may be able to make recommendations; if not, your wine store advisor may; or you can do research to find many recommended pairings. Don’t feel obligated to like the textbook matches: this is your opportunity to let your palate be your guide. Try Variations On A Theme. If you and your friends are sophisticated cheese lovers, consider a pot luck tasting: tell everyone to bring his/her favorite cheese and a matching wine or beer, along with a hand-out sheet of background information on each. A group of 6 or 8 can have an enjoyable time around the table discussing both the cheeses and the wines/beers. Serve with fruits and nuts, interesting breads (don’t forget the walnut or currant and walnut), charcuterie and a large salad, and you have a great dinner party with very little muss and fuss. Take notes. As much as you’ve enjoyed certain cheeses or wines, the likelihood that you’ll forget several of them is high: festive occasions tend to dull the mind for academics. Keep a food journal with all of your notes, preferences, places purchased (we still are trying to figure out where we purchased certain seemingly irreplaceable items), etc. We keep a large Filofax® in the kitchen sectioned with all of our entertaining, cooking, and food planning notes. If we’re out at a tasting, we need only bring the note paper and add our notes to the binder when we return. Share. When you find something truly special, e-mail your tasting notes to your foodie friends. That’s how THE NIBBLE™ newsletter got started, way back when.
Cheese Lover’s Library
Slice In Style
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