Doug The Food Guy: Celebrating National Cheese Month

Celebrating National cheese month

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Cheese is such an ancient food. The origins aren’t exactly known. Cheesemaking began by the pressing and salting of milk in an effort to preserve it. The earliest cheeses were likely quite sour and salty, similar in texture to cottage or feta cheese. Innovative farmers experimented by adding different ingredients to their milk from cows, goats, buffalo, or sheep, truly whatever was available to them at the time. This is why today there are over a thousand types of cheese produced all around the world. The different styles, textures, and flavors depend on the origin of the milk, how long they have been aged, and any addition of herbs, spices, fruits and mold growth. All of these play a part in the cheese that we love today. Cheese over time has been a major food source due to its high content of fat, protein, and longer shelf life than the fresh milk that it was created from. Although how long a cheese will stay wholesome depends on the type of cheese. Hard cheese such as cheddar or parmesan last longer and would be easy to store and transport on long journeys. Soft cheeses such as brie or goat cheese are very flavorful and have a shorter shelf life than the hard cheese, but still much longer than the fresh milk. Basically cheese was created to extend the short life of fresh milk from just a few days to weeks or months . This allowed families to have a rich food source full of nutrients that could be easily stored without any type of refrigeration. Cheese produced in areas of Europe where climates are cooler, required less salt. Using less salt created an unintended side effect in the cheese. It would now grow mold. I know that sounds bad but the mold, or in some cases multiple types of mold, gave the aged cheese lots of great flavor. Just think, without the mold, we would not have sharp cheddar or blue cheese. That would be a travesty for us foodies. With all these cheese types and flavors it didn’t take long for someone to invent the cheeseboard. A cheeseboard typically has two or three contrasting cheeses with complimenting sides like crackers, grapes, nuts, or chutney. The British tradition is to have cheese after dessert accompanied by sweet wines like port. In France cheese is enjoyed before dessert with a glass of red wine. In March of 2018, Wisconsin Cheesemakers created the world's longest cheeseboard at 70 feet long with over 2,000 pounds of cheese. According to the press release, it consisted of “caved-aged cheddars to fresh, squeaky curds, handrubbed wheels, blue-veined cheddars, and stinky Limburger. Like any good cheese board, the world's longest cheeseboard also featured a variety of crackers, fruits, meats, and nuts.” Cheese goes well with celebrations like National Cheese Month (May), Cinco de Mayo (May 5th), National Nurses Day (May 6th), Mother's Day (May 8th), and National Wine Day (May 25th). Oh, and it’s good on burgers!

DOUG'S CHEESEBOARD TRICKS :

• A cheeseboard (also sometimes called a charcuterie board) is typically comprised of a few kinds of cheeses, a few kinds of meats, and some crackers along with a few other sides. Think: olives, crackers, fruits, meats, nuts, pickles, jams, and spreads. • When it comes to cheese boards, there is only one rule I follow - variety and randomness are paramount. I like to cut all of the cheeses in different shapes and arrange my meats in different shapes as well. I pile everything onto a large cutting board or serving platter. I never plan where I'm going to put anything. I just let it happen. • Don't worry about making your cheeseboard look like a Food & Wine magazine photoshoot! Just make sure you use delicious, highquality ingredients and it will turn out beautifully every time!