Diary of a Shopkeeper, 20th March
A perfect cheeseboard, and cool Henners wine…
Our cheese fridge developed a technical problem this week. At first there were one or two innocent-looking icicles, hanging from the underside of the steel shelf. By the following morning those frosty stalactites had grown in number and joined together into a curtain of ice behind the cheese. On Thursday there was a glacier expanding towards the Cheddar. Something had to be done, otherwise by the weekend the whole fridge would be filled with a solid block of ice, and we’d have to use a pickaxe to chip free the Manchego.
All of which set me thinking about cheese and temperature. It’s well known that wine tastes better if drunk at the right temperature. Not that you have to be too precise – no need for a thermometer – but a crisp refreshing white is crisper and more refreshing if it’s cool, and a bold, fruity red tastes bolder and fruitier if it’s at a warm room temperature.
It’s not so well known that eating cheese at the right temperature can also enhance the experience spectacularly. The rule is even simpler than with wine: never eat cold cheese.
Cheesemakers typically mature their cheeses between 12 and 15 degrees. Humidity is also carefully controlled. Together these factors drive the chemical changes that create the complex flavours and textures we love. Once the cheese has reached the level of development the cheesemaker desires, you don’t want more changes – or at least you want to slow them down as much as possible. So, once ready to eat, cheese should be stored at a cooler temperature of around 6 to 8 degrees. The salad drawer in your fridge is usually about right. However, that is not a good temperature to eat cheese at.
Its aroma and flavour are largely carried by fat molecules, and these contract at cold temperatures, muting the taste enormously. What’s more, because animal fats are near solid at room temperature, their structure solidifies further when they’re chilled. So, straight out of the fridge, Brie feels like Gruyère in your mouth, and Gruyère feels like rubber.
The answer is easy. All you need to do is take the cheese out an hour before you plan to eat it. Half an hour is better than nothing, and two hours won’t do any harm, except for extremely ripe soft cheeses like Gorgonzola which could end up running off the plate. Ideally you should unwrap the cheese and set it on a board or plate with a clean cloth over it. After an hour or so at room temperature it will be at flavoursome perfection. This rule applies to every cheese, from the cheapest supermarket Cheddar to the finest small-production artisan cheese, like Mayfield from East Sussex, a current favourite.
Having said all that, we’re very happy to let customers have a sliver of cheese to try before they buy. ‘Don’t just eat it!’ we cry. ‘Let your fingers start to warm it a little so you get a hint of its aroma. And when you put it in your mouth, don’t immediately chew and swallow: let it melt on your tongue.’ That’s why we give a thin slice of cheese for folk to try: it melts more quickly than a wedge, so there’s more chance of the flavour being communicated to your taste buds.
So, here we go! My Mayfield has been sitting in the kitchen for an hour and is smelling beautiful. My glass of Domaine de Mortiès white is cold but not too cold. Cheese and wine nirvana is within reach.
As soon as I’ve defrosted this darn fridge.
This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 23rd March. A new one appears weekly. I post them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions.