Enjoying Your Cheese Matters Most
How you cut up cheese is important, but whats more important, Polowsky says, is preserving its quality. The only wrong way would be cutting it up way ahead of time, he says.
Light and oxygen are cheeses biggest enemies. Oxygen, catalyzed by light, reacts with fat molecules and other compounds, like beta-carotene, in cheese, and can cause it to discolor and take on a plastic or cardboard-like flavor. Once cut, the countdown starts and the cheese will lose its quality with each passing minute.
Cheese is easier to cut when its cold, because thats when its less sticky, but you should never serve it straight from the refrigerator because cold temperature can mask the flavor. Instead, and as a general rule, Polowsky recommends leaving it out at room temperature for an hour or so before serving.
How long cheese maintains its optimal flavor after cutting depends on its type. Firmer cheeses, like cheddar, will last up to a week in the fridge, while softer cheeses, like brie, may only last a day or two.
And, unless youre breaking down massive wheels of cheese, Polowsky says you dont need a special set of tools to cut up and serve cheesejust a sharp knife, or even unflavored dental floss in place of a cheese wire to slice softer cheese.
Cutting guidelines help you get the most out of your favorite cheeses, but even if youre not sure, you shouldnt take things too seriouslyeating cheese is all about enjoyment.
How To Arrange A Cheese Board
Arrange the crackers and breads around the cheese. Youre free to use whatever type of cracker or bread you enjoy. To accomodate guests with dietary restrictions or food allergies, you might want to include some gluten-free and/or low-carb crackers. You can also make your own. This recipe for Low-Carb Almond Flour Crackers is easy to make and the crackers are delicious!
Selecting The Serving Platter
There are plenty of options on what to use as your cheese board serving tray. Think outside of the ordinary. As long as the item is food-grade safe, it is useable! Ideas include:
- Large wooden cutting board
- Wooden serving trays
- Lazy Susan
And if youre already thinking about the holidays then a beautiful serving platter is a great gift! Check out my Gift Guide for the Home Cooks or Holiday Gift Guide for Foodies Under $15 for more ideas. Or any of these fun tools!
Also Check: How To Use Ricotta Cheese
What Do You Use For A Charcuterie Board
You can make a delicious cheese board, but a true charcuterie board includes cured or smoked meats. Also, a variety of dips and jelly or preserves are on a charcuterie board. Add some of these:
- Samale
- Mustard
- Jalapeno pepper jelly
I fold charcuterie meats a few different ways. Here are some ideas, but let your creativity shine! Fold and arrange the items on your cheese board however you prefer.
For larger and thin slices of meat, I fold them in half, and then in half again. As a result, they are in a triangle shape. Or, you can fold them in half, and then roll them up to form a small cone.
For hard meats such as salami, I simply slice them into thin rounds.
Just as with the cheese, space permitting, have your meats appear more than once on the board.
How Do You Pronounce Gouda
And if youre trying to be a real cheese connoisseur, youre going to have to pronounce it right. While in America we pronounce it g-OOO-dah, its actually pronounced h-OW-da. We dont have anything like the sound of the Dutch G in English, but its almost like youre clearing the back of your throat or are gargling. Cute right?
Recommended Reading: Where To Find Dairy Free Cheese
How To Cut Out Slices Of Gouda Cheese
- /
- How To Cut Out Slices Of Gouda Cheese
Gouda cheese is a variety which hails from the Netherlands, specifically in a city there called Gouda. It is typified by a creamy mild flavor, which comes from a hormone that is rich in Vitamin K2. It is said that ingesting this hormone in Gouda cheese can deter the growth of cancer in a human body, and also keep the arteries in the heart from going hard. This is a flexible type of cheese, which you can serve and eat in many different ways. We will see here about how to lay this out in pieces using a sharp knife and a cheese cutting board.
The age of the cheese decides how easy it will be to cut. A block of this cheese is usually aged from several weeks to several years before they sell it. If it is fresh then it will be proportionately soft, and you can cut that with a wire slicer. If you have one of the more mature verities, a sharp knife and cheese cutting board must be used. A yellow cheese, Gouda is made out of cows milk in and outside the Netherlands, which as mentioned, is where it originated. The mild flavor works out pretty good for sandwiches, or on tasting platters.
So get a cheese cutting board, slicer, knife, and cutting glove. Then follow the instruction given below to set out your Gouda cheese in slices.
Cutting soft Gouda
Cutting Aged Gouda
Types Of Cheese Knives
According to dining etiquette, a cheese knife should not be used on more than one cheese type on your cheese board. Each cheese knife performs a purpose and was built to preform it well. Here is a list of common cheese knives organized from soft cheese knives to hard cheese knives. We also go through how they are used and some cheeses you can pair them with.
Recommended Reading: What Is The Lowest Calorie Cheese
How To Cut Cheese Like A Pro
No gathering is complete without the right cheeseboard to spice up the party. But, how do you cut cheese so it looks like this?
Were here to tell you how. And, its really quite easy!
First, go to your local grocer or cheese shop with an idea of how much cheese youll need. A good rule of thumb is to account for 3 to 4 ounces of cheese per guest if it is not being served as the main course. Each wedge of cheese will vary in size, but most are 4 to 8 ounces. Choose a variety of types and flavors. Ok, now lets get started making that cheeseboard
Larger Bloomies Or Washed Rinds
For larger format bloomy or washed rind cheeses with soft or semi-soft textures, simply cutting even slices from the side of the wedge will result in ideal pieces that can remain intact or be cut down to smaller bits.
A soft wedge with a washed or bloomy rind just needs to be sliced from the side.
Portion the slice into smaller pieces with an equal rind-to- paste ratio.
You May Like: Can Dogs Eat Cheese Sticks
Cheese Faqs Ep : How To Cut And Serve A Wedge Of Gouda
It seems like something that should be obvious. It seems like it shouldnt even be a questionso much so that were often too embarrassed to ask it at all.
Heres the thing, though: you get home with a few pieces of cheese to share, but the beautiful wedge of aged gouda you bought suddenly looks clunky, unwieldy. Its delicious, but you cant really cut it into cubes or cracker slices like you did with the cheddar or the pepper jack. The brie and blue can be presented as-isyour guests can handle those with a knife or even a spreader if the cheese is soft enoughbut this gouda is too hard to expect guests to cut it for themselves. What do you do with this thing?
You ask your friendly neighborhood cheesemonger for advice, of course! Here are three simple approaches you can handle at home without any special equipment beyond a kitchen knife and a cutting board.
1. When life gives you wedges, make more wedges!
Just cut that beauty in long, thin triangles running the length of the original wedge. You can remove the rind on top and bottom, if youd like, but leave the rind on the back edge. This works particularly well with a wedge thats thick enough to offer long isosceles triangles with a decent-sized base of rind. If the wedge is too thin to begin with, your triangles will also come out looking a bit spindlymore cheese stick than triangle.
2. Radial cuts radiate joy!
3. Crumblers gonna crumble.
Final Thoughts
How To Cut Cheese The Right Way
Posted by Cheesyplace Blogger on
Not trying to sound too dramatic, but nothing hurts more than seeing one of your guests hack away at a beautiful piece of delicious cheese.
‘Yeah, go head, take the front piece for yourself and stick the rest of us with the rind’
Cheese Etiquette 101 clearly states that “if there’s rind on a cheese, it MUST be shared among all cheese eaters”.
Since it’s most likely going to be one of your best friends doing it, you probably don’t want to ban them from all of your future cheese parties.
So I’ve got another solution for you cut up part of the wedge or all of it in advance! If you’re not certain it will all get eaten, cut up about 1/3 of it and leave the rest as a piece. If you need more, then your guests will see how you’ve done it and hopefully cut it the same way.
Recommended Reading: What Cheese Can I Eat On Keto
What Does Gouda Cheese Taste Like
The younger Gouda cheeses will have a more mild, soft, and almost sweet taste and texture. Theyre best on sandwiches or crackers. The older Gouda cheeses become harder, stronger, and darker, taking on a buttery and nutty flavor. The deep flavor of the older Gouda makes it great for cooking , with crusty bread, or with wine.
How To Style A Charcuterie Board
Also Check: How Much Is Mcdonald’s Quarter Pounder With Cheese
The Proper Cut: What Not To Do When Serving Cheese
I spent about four hours last Saturday hunkered down at one of the bars in Manhattan to transition from day to night over some good wine. The wine really was something, actually.
But the cheese? For such a special place that takes such pride in wine service and quality, they made the most unfortunate cheese error. And it could have been remedied so easily! Im hoping that by sharing their mistake, you wont make the same one.
I try not to be a wrist-slapper when it comes to cheese, and food in general, actually. People make mistakes, errors are made, food is served subpar. It happens. But when a solution is so simple, I cant help but be a pointer-outer.
A couple of things went wrong with those cheese plates , and Ill touch on that, too. But most significantly, the establishment served every hard cheese sliced into these thin, flimsy slices, nearly paper-like. Each bite was nearly imperceptible, the cheese was so weakly present.
It made me realize: Its vital to keep in mind the textural structure of a cheese before you cut it whether youre serving it to guests precut, or youre serving yourself from a bigger wedge. In the case of an intensely-flavored, hard-textured cheese, you should be able to really sink your teeth into a thickness that feels substantial a thin slice just cant match the heft of a cheese of that character. And itd have been so easy for them to slice it thicker, or even serve a small wedge and let us hack into it ourselves.
The Shape And Texture
Hard, blockcheeses such as cheddar can be sliced, grated or shaved. Grated cheese is usually reserved for cooking, while shaved cheese is the perfect salad or pasta topping. Sliced hard cheese is the best option for cheese platters. Make sure to use a sharp knife and slice the cheese horizontally to make bite-size portions. Be careful not to make the slices too thin otherwise the cheese will dry out.
Round, soft cheeses such as camembert or brie is best sliced like a cake. Cut the round of cheese in half, straight down the center and then continue to slice into even size wedges.
Semi-hard wedge cheeses such as parmesan and gouda are best served by slicing the wedge cross-wise, then cut vertically along the rind.
Recommended Reading: What To Put In Cottage Cheese
So What Exactly Is A Charcuterie Board
A charcuterie board, which is pronounced shaar-KOO-tuh-ree, originated in France. It translates to pork-butcher shop, and was mostly a board of pork products. But nowadays, these boards are made up of a variety of cured meats and other ingredients like fruit, cheese, and flavor enhancers. They are meant to complement each other and create delicious pairings based on taste and texture. Everyone loves a good grazing board because there is usually something for everyone. The combinations that can be put together optimize flavor to create a really enjoyable and exciting assortment of foods.
What Are Good Garnishes For A Cheese Board
After everything is on the platter, you will have small spaces to fill in. I like to fill in all the gaps with a combination of these little nibbles:
- Fresh and dried fruits Grapes, figs, dates, and dried fruits are good options
- Assortment of nuts Walnuts, pecans, almonds, or any other type of nut you prefer.
- Olives
- Fresh herbs like rosemary, for garnish
Now that you know how to make a cheese board or charcuterie board, tell me what foods you would add to yours!
Read Also: Can You Eat Feta Cheese On Keto
The Ultimate Guide To Cheese Knives
You may have a cheese knife set in your home but may not exactly know what task each one of those knives was made to perform. Just as a chef will use various types of knives in a day to increase their efficiency, each cheese knife type has a purpose to improve the user experience. We prepared a guide and a to help you use the proper knife for the cheeses you are planning to serve.
How Do You Cut A Gouda Wheel
Cut the gouda into wedges using a sharp knife. Make a straight cut from the center to the outside edge of the cheese wheel. Then, place the tip of the knife back in the center and move the blade so its at about a 45-degree angle from the first cut you made. Slice down into the cheese wheel and make another cut.
Also Check: How Much Calcium In A Slice Of Cheese
Cheese Knife Guide: Soft Cheese
Examples : Brie, Burrata, Chèvre, Camembert, Coupole, Époisses, Feta, Gorgonzola, Labneh, Mozzarella, Roquefort, Ricotta, Taleggio, etc.
The first part of the cheese knife guide is about the knives for Soft Cheese.
Soft cheeses are creamy & buttery. They tend to stick onto the knives. This nature does make them easy to cut through. But at the same time, they make it a bit troublesome to pull the blade out after slicing. So, to cut and maintain the shape of soft cheese, youll need specific kind of cheese knives :
-
Soft Cheese Knife
If you want a knife for slicing soft cheeses, then a Soft Cheese knife is one of the solutions for you.
This knife comes with a flat head. The blade of the knife has holes so that the cheese it chops does not stick onto it.
As a result, this knife can chop without damaging the shape of the soft cheese. The holes over its blade also help you to wipe the juicy cheese from the knife easily.
Best for : Roquefort, Brie, Camembert, Mozzarella, Taleggio.
-
Pronged Knife
The pronged knife has a tip like a fork. The rest resembles closely to a soft cheese knife. The benefit a Pronged knife offers is, you can chop a soft cheese or semi-soft / semi-hard cheese. Also, you can pick up the slices using the forks head as well.
Best For : Brie, Camembert, Feta, Gorgonzola, Raclette, Halloumi, Époisses, Taleggio
-
Slim Blade Knife
As the name suggests, a Slim Blade Knife comes up with a narrow surface and sharp edge. So it can easily get through sticky cheese.
