Know Your Cheese
Cooking Skills: Cheese and Party Snacks 1
Chapter 1 · Know Your Cheese
Skill goal
Choose, store, cut and serve cheese properly, and build a balanced board.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
Cheese is milk that has been set into curds and then drained, salted and often aged. There are hundreds of kinds, but you only need a handful of families to build a good board or choose the right cheese for cooking. This chapter is about choosing, storing, cutting and serving. The rest of the course is what goes with it.
The families
| Family | Examples | Character | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh | Mozzarella, ricotta, cream cheese, cottage cheese, feta, fresh goat's cheese | Soft, mild, milky or tangy | Salads, dips, spreading, melting (mozzarella) |
| Soft, white rind | Brie, camembert | Creamy, mushroomy, earthy | Boards; baked (see chapter 4) |
| Semi-hard | Edam, gouda, Red Leicester, Wensleydale | Mild to nutty, easy to slice | Sandwiches, boards, melting |
| Hard | Mature cheddar, parmesan-style, gruyère, Comté | Sharp, nutty, crumbly | Boards, grating, sauces |
| Blue | Stilton, gorgonzola, Danish blue, roquefort | Strong, salty, sharp | A small piece on a board; in sauces and dressings |
| Washed rind | Taleggio, Munster | Pungent smell, mild-to-meaty taste | Boards; melting |
Buying
- Ask to taste. A cheese counter will let you try, and can advise.
- Buy small amounts, especially of soft cheese, which keeps for days rather than weeks.
- Look for good cheese: no cracks, slime, or dried-out edges. A white rind should look like a soft bloom, not grey or sticky.
- Check the label for pasteurised or unpasteurised ('raw milk') if you cook for anyone pregnant or otherwise at risk, and for vegetarian rennet if needed.
Storing
- In the fridge, in the salad drawer or a covered box. Cold slows the ageing and keeps it safe.
- Wrap in baking paper or wax paper, then loosely in a bag or box. Cheese needs to breathe. Cling film left on for days can make cheese sweaty and ammonia-smelling.
- Keep strong cheeses apart (blue, washed-rind) so they don't flavour the others.
- Hard cheese keeps for weeks; soft cheese, a few days; fresh cheese, until the date on the pack and then a few days after opening (follow the pack).
- Freezing: grated hard cheese and cheese for cooking freeze fine, and go crumbly when thawed. Don't freeze cheese for a board.
Mould
Mould: a little surface mould on a hard cheese can be cut off generously (at least 2 cm around and below it), keeping the knife out of the mould. Throw away soft, crumbly, grated or sliced cheese with mould, and cheese that smells of ammonia or has gone slimy. This is general advice, not a UK rule I have checked. Blue cheese is meant to be blue: its own mould is safe to eat.
Serving
- Take it out 30 to 60 minutes before serving (soft cheese needs about 30 minutes, hard cheese closer to an hour). Cold cheese is dull and firm; room-temperature cheese is full of flavour.
- Keep it covered with an upturned bowl or a damp cloth until you serve it so it doesn't dry out.
- One knife for each cheese, so flavours and mould don't travel.
- Eat from mild to strong.
Building a board
- Three or four cheeses is plenty: a hard, a soft, a blue or washed-rind, and something mild.
- Add contrast: sweet (chutney, honey, fruit), crunchy (crackers, nuts), fresh (grapes, celery, apple) and salty or sharp (pickles).
- Leave space so people can reach and cut.
- Quantities: allow roughly 50 to 100 g of cheese per person on a board with other food, a little more if it is the main part of the meal (a general guide, not a rule).
Cheese is a treat
Cheese is rich in calcium and protein, but it is also high in saturated fat and salt. Enjoy it, in smaller amounts, with plenty of fruit and vegetables, and choose strongly flavoured cheeses, because a little goes further.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
A simple two-cheese board
Two cheeses that contrast (one hard and sharp, one soft and mild), with something sweet and something crunchy. Everything else in the course builds on this.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 60 g a hard cheese (mature cheddar or similar)
- 60 g a soft cheese (a pasteurised goat's cheese, or a mild creamy cheese)
- 1 handful crackers (shop-bought for now)
- 1 handful grapes
- 1 tbsp chutney or honey
- Take the cheeses out of the fridge 30 to 45 minutes before serving, still wrapped, so they warm up and their flavour comes out.
- Put them on a board or plate, apart, with a separate knife for each. Cut a few slices from the hard cheese so people can start.
- Add the crackers, grapes and a spoonful of chutney or honey in a small dish.
- Eat in order from the mildest to the strongest, tasting each cheese on its own first.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy and cheese: the NHS advice, as I found it, is that pregnant women can eat hard cheeses (cheddar, parmesan, gruyère, even unpasteurised, and hard blue-veined cheese such as stilton) and pasteurised soft cheeses such as mozzarella, feta, ricotta, cottage cheese, cream cheese, halloumi and paneer. They should avoid mould-ripened soft cheeses with a white rind (brie, camembert, chèvre), soft blue cheeses (Danish blue, gorgonzola, roquefort) and any unpasteurised soft cheese, unless these have been cooked until steaming hot all the way through. The worry is listeria, which can harm an unborn baby. Pâté (including vegetable pâté) and some cold meats carry their own advice. The NHS pages are updated from time to time, so check the current list at nhs.uk if it matters to you.
Level 1 · Practice
Fruit-and-cheese plate
The healthiest way to do cheese: a small amount of cheese with plenty of fresh fruit and crunchy vegetables. Cheese is rich and salty, so a little goes a long way.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 1 apple
- 1 pear
- 1 celery stick
- 80 g cheddar or other hard cheese
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 handful walnuts or almonds (optional)
- Core the apple and pear and cut each into thin wedges. A squeeze of lemon stops them browning (see Cooking Skills: Vegetables 2, chapter 8).
- Cut the celery into short sticks and the cheese into thin slices or small chunks.
- Arrange on a plate with the honey and nuts.
A lighter board
Fruit, celery, carrot sticks and cucumber on a board mean smaller portions of cheese and crackers, and more of your five a day.
Level 2 · Taste
A tasting flight
A tasting teaches you more about cheese than any description. Taste from mild to strong, and take notes in the tasting-notes table.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 4 × 30 g cheeses of different types, about 30 g each (for example mozzarella or feta, a hard cheese, a semi-hard cheese, and a mild blue or washed-rind cheese)
- 1 plain cracker or bread, to cleanse the palate
- 1 glass of water
- Take the cheeses out of the fridge 30 to 45 minutes ahead. Arrange them mild to strong on a board, labelled.
- For each cheese, look (colour, rind, holes), smell, feel the texture with your fingers, then taste a small piece and let it melt.
- Between cheeses, have a sip of water and a bite of plain cracker.
- Write down what you noticed: salty, sweet, nutty, tangy, creamy, crumbly, sharp.
Check who is eating
Pregnancy and cheese: the NHS advice, as I found it, is that pregnant women can eat hard cheeses (cheddar, parmesan, gruyère, even unpasteurised, and hard blue-veined cheese such as stilton) and pasteurised soft cheeses such as mozzarella, feta, ricotta, cottage cheese, cream cheese, halloumi and paneer. They should avoid mould-ripened soft cheeses with a white rind (brie, camembert, chèvre), soft blue cheeses (Danish blue, gorgonzola, roquefort) and any unpasteurised soft cheese, unless these have been cooked until steaming hot all the way through. The worry is listeria, which can harm an unborn baby. Pâté (including vegetable pâté) and some cold meats carry their own advice. The NHS pages are updated from time to time, so check the current list at nhs.uk if it matters to you.Other people at higher risk: listeria is also more dangerous for older people, babies and anyone with a weakened immune system. If you are cooking for them, the same cautions about unpasteurised and soft ripened cheese are sensible. I haven't checked the current Food Standards Agency wording for each group, so look there if you need the detail.
Level 3 · Build
A board for six
Four cheeses, five accompaniments, and a layout that works. As a rough guide, allow 50 to 100 g of cheese per person on a board with other food, and more if it is the main event.
Ingredients (6 portions)
- 1 piece, about 40 g mild cheese
- 1 piece, about 40 g medium cheese
- 1 piece, about 40 g strong cheese or a hard blue
- 1 piece, about 40 g soft cheese, pasteurised
- 1 pear or apple
- 1 handful grapes
- 1 handful crackers
- 1 tbsp chutney or jam
- 1 handful nuts (check allergies)
- Take the cheeses out of the fridge 30 to 45 minutes ahead. Cut a few pieces from the hard cheese and leave the others whole with their own knives.
- Place the cheeses on the board first, well spaced, mild to strong in a clockwise order (see the diagram).
- Fill the gaps with the fruit, nuts and a bowl of chutney, then fan the crackers in two or three groups.
- Label the cheeses with small cards, including a note of which are pasteurised or hard, so guests who need to avoid some can choose.
Allergens and vegetarians
Vegetarian cheese: many traditional hard cheeses (including parmesan and some cheddars) are made with animal rennet. If you are cooking for a vegetarian, look for a label that says vegetarian or uses microbial or vegetable rennet.Allergens: milk, gluten (crackers) and nuts are the usual ones on a board. Ask guests, and use a separate dish for nuts.
Experiments
Experiment
Fridge or room temperature
The same cheese, two temperatures.
- Cut two pieces from the same cheese. Taste one straight from the fridge. Leave the other for 45 minutes at room temperature, then taste it.
Look for: The warm piece is creamier and has much more flavour. This is why cheese is taken out of the fridge before serving.
Experiment
Wrapped two ways
Cling film or paper.
- Cut a block of cheddar in two. Wrap one half in cling film and the other in baking paper, loosely in a bag, and keep both in the fridge for a week.
Look for: The cling-film one may be sweaty or taste slightly stale; the paper-wrapped one stays fresher. See which you prefer.
Experiment
Slice thickness
Thin or thick.
- Cut thin slices (2 mm) and thick slices (5 mm) of the same hard cheese and taste them with a cracker.
Look for: Thin slices melt on the tongue and let the flavour through; thick slices are chewier. Notice how cut changes the experience.
Experiment
Pairing
Which partner suits which cheese?
- Taste a mild cheese and a strong cheese with each of: plain cracker, honey, chutney, apple, grapes.
Look for: Sweet partners soften strong cheese; fresh fruit lifts rich cheese. Write down your best matches.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two-cheese board | ||||
| Fruit-and-cheese plate | ||||
| Tasting flight: cheese 1 | ||||
| Tasting flight: cheese 2 | ||||
| Tasting flight: cheese 3 | ||||
| Tasting flight: cheese 4 | ||||
| Board for six | ||||
| Fridge vs room temperature | ||||
| Cling film vs paper | ||||
| Pairings |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Cheese tastes dull | Served too cold | Take it out 30 to 60 minutes before serving |
| Cheese is sweaty or ammonia-smelling | Wrapped too tightly for too long | Rewrap in paper; cut off the outer layer if the smell is strong; if it is very bad, throw it away |
| Dry, cracked edges | Left uncovered | Cut off the dry edge; wrap properly |
| Board looks messy | Everything crowded | Space it out; cut a few pieces to start |
| Strong flavours mixed up | One knife for all | Use one knife per cheese |
| Cheese left out too long | Forgotten on the table | Put it back in the fridge after about 2 hours; throw it away if it has been out all day |
Cheese safety
Pregnancy and cheese: the NHS advice, as I found it, is that pregnant women can eat hard cheeses (cheddar, parmesan, gruyère, even unpasteurised, and hard blue-veined cheese such as stilton) and pasteurised soft cheeses such as mozzarella, feta, ricotta, cottage cheese, cream cheese, halloumi and paneer. They should avoid mould-ripened soft cheeses with a white rind (brie, camembert, chèvre), soft blue cheeses (Danish blue, gorgonzola, roquefort) and any unpasteurised soft cheese, unless these have been cooked until steaming hot all the way through. The worry is listeria, which can harm an unborn baby. Pâté (including vegetable pâté) and some cold meats carry their own advice. The NHS pages are updated from time to time, so check the current list at nhs.uk if it matters to you.Other people at higher risk: listeria is also more dangerous for older people, babies and anyone with a weakened immune system. If you are cooking for them, the same cautions about unpasteurised and soft ripened cheese are sensible. I haven't checked the current Food Standards Agency wording for each group, so look there if you need the detail.
How long can it stand out? Cheese tastes best near room temperature, but don't leave a board out all day. A cautious rule of thumb is to put it back in the fridge after about 2 hours (less in a warm room). That figure is a common food-safety habit, not a rule I have confirmed for UK guidance.
Knife safety: cut on a stable board (a damp cloth underneath), tuck your guiding fingertips back (the claw), and cut round or slippery vegetables on a flat face so they can't roll. A sharp knife is safer than a blunt one. Never catch a falling knife. Cooking Skills: Knife Skills 1 covers all of this.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I know the main cheese families and what each is good for.
- I can store cheese properly and know what to do about mould.
- I take cheese out of the fridge in time and serve it with separate knives.
- I can build a balanced board.
- I know the pregnancy and higher-risk cautions for soft and unpasteurised cheese.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Cheese and Party Snacks 1, chapter 2 is Crackers and Crispbreads: rolling, baking and flavouring crackers.