How is eating cheese similar to eating a roast? I am going to argue that they have more in common than you think.
Whenever I eat cheese with people, no matter how excited they are to tuck into some delicious cheese, they are also worried they are somehow going to eat it wrong. I think that with a lot of food that is considered fancy, people develop concerns about etiquette and somehow not being knowledgeable enough.
‘How to’ guides can be great, but can also make people think that they have to do homework to eat good food. I think that this can lead to people enjoying something less, as they somehow feel like some kind of foodie imposter.
For example, not eating the nose of a cheese, is often a core belief among many cheese fans. For many, eating the nose (the sharp end of a wedge of cheese) is seen as tantamount to criminal damage. This can be a massive point of contention on Christmas day if someone reaches over with a blunt knife and unceremoniously takes the ‘best bit’ of a cheddar or stilton.
You might ask why this would cause outrage. The simple answer is that the paste of the cheese changes in flavour from rind to the centre of truckle. Many see the nose as the sweetest and most delicious part of a piece of cheese.
This is one belief that I think is somewhat true. Getting a taste of the paste from centre to rind means that you get a full idea of the range of flavours that one cheese can demonstrate. However, like when you eat a roast, someone always gets the most crunchy roasty or one of the oysters in the chicken, there is a joy in taking a bit of something that is completely itself. We should all cut the nose off and try it once, or even multiple times.
For example, there is always a massive cheese buffet when we have been to the Specialist Cheese Making Association Events. This event is attended by cheese makers, cheesemongers and industry professionals. The cheese gets absolutely butchered: the nose is often first to go (snooze you lose).
My last piece of cheese eating related lore is around when to eat the cheese. Should it be before the main meal, after the main meal or after the desert? Again, I think life is too short for etiquette. People eat roasts at all times of day (and at any point in the week). With roasts, some people eat all the best bits first, or all the veggie, or all their least favourite ones. You can see for what works for you and consider it a scientific experiment.
Do you want to eat a stinky washed rind cheese first? Go for it! A soft goat cheese with a blue cheese just because? Why not!
For me, one of the best ways to eat cheese is regularly, enthusiastically and of course, from our shop.
