image: Jenny Susanto-Lee
Say Cheese
Ah, cheese. It can be the ultimate savoury dessert or, as in some parts of Europe, a course unto itself. Cheese can be light, bitey, runny and, in some cases, just plain smelly. Maître fromagers pay top dollar for a good wedge and debate which cheese variety will be the Next Big Thing. And, of course, what food should accompany it.
“Fresh fruit, especially figs, grapes, pears and muscatels, are really popular with cheese at the moment,” suggests Rosemary Atwell, owner of The Mousetrap Gourmet Cheese Shop at the Fremantle Markets.
“The fruit pastes, such as the Maggie Beer range that come in flavours of quince, fig and cabernet, are also very good.”
As with accompaniments, cheese favourites come and go and, at the moment, it seems goat’s cheese is galloping ahead of the pack.
“Goat’s cheese is very much in fashion right now, especially the local Western Australian varieties,” says Yvette Donald, owner of Deli Divine.
Rosemary agrees.
“These days, a lot of people have an intolerance to cow’s milk, so they have turned to sheep or goat’s milk as an alternative”, she says.
“The goat’s milk also tends to be lower in fat, so I think that those people who are more health-conscious feel happier eating goat’s cheese.”
“We are also finding that many people, particularly our French customers, are requesting unpasteurised cheese such as Roquefort because they feel unpasteurisisation gives the cheese a completely different flavour.”
Meanwhile Bree Colussi, from Margaret River Cheese, believes club cheddars will be the stand-out during 2010.
“Club cheddars typify the way cooking and entertaining at home has evolved and the more adventurous palate of today,” she says.
“It’s a wonderful cheese. The waxed coating prevents the cheddar from drying out and enhances the flavour. Club cheddars are often softer and more crumbly in texture and can be enhanced with added flavours, such as smoked, port and sweet chilli.”
And it seems that with the current penchant for local fare, Western Australian cheeses are enjoying a surge in popularity.
“We’re finding that the local cheese industry is much, much stronger than it used to be,” says Rosemary.
“People are really interested in sampling local cheese. The main ones seem to be made around Margaret River or Denmark, Albany and in the Perth Hills.”
And thanks to the explosion in cooking shows, cheese is being enjoyed at home more as well.
“Because of the recent economic climate, people are entertaining more at home and choosing more specialty cheeses, particularly camembert, brie and flavoured cheddars,” says Bree.
"They are allowing themselves little indulgences by purchasing the higher quality, premium products.
“We’re finding that as a result of the huge success of cooking shows such as MasterChef, people are experimenting a lot more with different cheeses within cooking. For instance, they might bake a brie or camembert in the oven and serve it hot with a range of accompaniments such as honey, cranberry, pears, figs, hazelnuts and walnuts.”
Rosemary agrees.
“People see television cooks and chefs cooking with cheeses they would never have thought of, or even heard of, before. Then they visit a cheese shop to try them out and decide which ones they like.”
So, at the end of a slap-up dinner, what makes for the perfect cheese platter to round off the meal?
“Perhaps a gorgonzola for your nice creamy blue”, suggests Pierre Ichallalene, owner of French restaurant, Chez Pierre.
“And a Roquefort too. A goat cheese, a creamy brie-style cheese such as La Buche d’Affinois is nice and a cheddar style such as Le Caviste de Scey. They would be my picks”.
Top Ten Cheeses:
Manchego d.o – Spanish hard ewe’s milk cheese
Bresse Blue – French blue mould cow’s milk cheese
Tarago River Shadow of Blue – blue mould cow’s milk cheese from Gippsland, Victoria
Roquefort – Roquefort- sur-soulzon, France. Raw ewe’s milk cheese
Shaw River Buffalo mozzarella from – SW Victoria – buffalo milk cheese
Healy’s pyengana cheddar – from NE Tasmania – cow’s milk – 4th generation cheesemakers
Quickes farmhouse cheddar from Devon, England – cow’s milk
Pont L’Eveque AOC, Normandy, France – cow’s milk, washed rind
Lincet Brillat Savarin – Il de France – cow’s milk, triple cream
Ringwould goat’s cheeses, Albany
Link to Fresh article, The West Australian, March 2010
