I wrote the following article for the International Association of Culinary Professional’s trade journal, after attending a session on old world cheeses.
I may not be as passionate about cheese as Ms. Harbutt is, since she has made it her life’s work to study cheese, but I do adore discovering new cheeses, and I don’t want to think that these age-old cheese types and their cheese makers would fade into oblivion if we ignore them. They are too wonderful to forget. I encourage you to seek them out at Whole Foods or wherever fine cheeses are sold in your area.
“Every cheese tells a story,” began Juliet Harbutt, author of four books on cheese, and founder of The Great British Cheese Festival.
Speaking to a crowd still swooning from the aroma of the 11 artisanal cheeses carefully placed on a diagram before them, Juliet continued, “Cheese is a way of life. If we don’t buy the cheeses, especially the ancient ones, they won’t be there. There is no ‘wildlife fund’ to save a cheese if it disappears.”
She explained that picturesque country sides, dotted with grazing animals, are in danger of disappearing as development encroaches on rural areas.
Before we tasted the cheeses, Juliet demonstrated how to experience cheese: first, look at the texture by breaking off a small piece; next, sniff the cheese to absorb the aroma; finally, taste the cheese and think about characteristics that describe the taste. The process is not dissimilar to wine tasting. “Cheese is no less sexy than wine, but you don’t get a hangover eating cheese,” she mused.
Juliet’s selection of cheeses for the tasting ran the gamut from sheep to goat to cow’s milk, and fresh to semi-soft to hard, and they came from Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, England, and the USA.
Particularly interesting was a Halloumi from Cyprus, a mild sheep’s milk cheese that is served cooked. It doesn’t melt when sautéed or grilled, and develops a sweet caramelized crust, while maintaining a soft, salty interior. Another favorite (and Juliet’s favorite) was Lancashire Singletons, a hard, crumbly cheese made in England from a 3-day curd, tasting faintly of sweet onions.
Other cheeses in the tasting included:
- Capriole Banon: an American goat cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves and soaked in brandy.
- Idiazbel: a Spanish Basque sheep’s milk cheese, tinged with smoke.
- Munster AOC: a stinky French cheese first created by Monks, with a yeasty, dimly raw meat flavor, tasting far better than it smells.
- Stilton Cropwell Bishop: a British cow’s milk blue cheese, winning 9 out of 12 years in the British Cheese Awards.
- Mountain Gorgonzola: a moist, Italian blue made from a 2-day curd, and poked from the top (instead of sides) for veining.
- Teleme Peluso: An American semi-soft cow’s milk cheese from Tomales Bay, tangy, yeasty, and vaguely tasting of apples.
Juliet peppered her presentation with stories of the cheeses we tasted: where they originated; how they are made; and what they mean to the villages and communities where they are produced. She concluded her presentation with a passionate plea to the participants to become “cheese evangelists,” by seeking out authentic cheeses made by small farms.
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