There’s so much more to appreciating good cheese than slice, chew and swallow – it’s about using all of your senses, then looking out for a ‘staircase of flavours’. Patrick McGuigan removes the mystique, step by sensory step
PART ONE
NEXT MONTH
Part two: the language of cheese flavours
Picture a room the size of a football field filled with thousands of cheeses. That’s the wonderful sight (and aroma) that greets judges at the World Cheese Awards, which this year take place in Wales in November.
It may sound like the ultimate cheese party, but judging is a serious business. Teams of white-coated experts diligently prod, sniff and nibble each cheese, using professional techniques.
You may not want to don a white coat at home, but adopting a few tricks of the trade will help you get more from your cheeseboard. The first tip is to take the cheese from the fridge an hour before you eat it. Cold kills flavour, so cheese is best at room temperature. Then let the strictly come cheese-tasting commence…
LOOK
You can tell a lot about a cheese just by looking at it. A brie with a monotone white rind is probably under-ripe, but brown and cracked suggests it’s over the hill. A thin ivory coat with copper flecks is just right.
The interior of a cheese, known as ‘the paste’, also holds clues. A powdery, pale stilton with wishy-washy veining probably should have stayed longer in the maturing room.
TOUCH
It’s completely normal to give cheese a squeeze. Cheddar graders work a piece between thumb and finger to check the ‘body’ is firm and close. The texture of lancashire and cheshire is usually more open and crumbly, while camembert is best when it’s soft and bulging, not running off the board.
SMELL
The keen nose of a
