Valentine’s Cheese Advice

With the economy in the toilette, it’s an awfully good year to be a loving spendthrift. Instead of bedazzling a sweater and going out on the town, I suggest you bedazzle some goat cheese and stay in with some Steely Dan.

It’s as easy as picking up these chevre hearts—available at the Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal—or making your own. Come on, you can find some fresh goat cheese and figure out how to press it between sheets of waxed paper for some easy molding. Pete Demchur of Shellbark Hollow rolls his cuties in fresh lavender buds and pink peppercorns, but you could roll yours in some paprika, craisins, or za'atar. That a grrrl, Martha.

Below, I've listed all the scrumptious sides you could ever want for a lover’s cheese board. Pick up some goat cheese, a weepy Brie, and a sweet hunk of Valdeon, then lock the door. Turn off all the lights, scramble for a candle, and feed your naughty cherub these tender morsels:

• Cherry preserves
• Spiced pecans
• Dark chocolate
• Honey
• Dates
• Baguette
• Champagne

Don’t forget to relax the cheese! What I mean is: while you’re taking a warm bath, leave the cheeses on the counter. You'll want to serve them at room temperature. Otherwise this whole exercise is pointless.

Cheese & Champagne Class: Bone up on the finer points of serving bubbly and Brie at a Cheese & Champagne Class at Di Bruno Bros., 1730 Chestnut St., on Friday, Feb. 10, at 6:30 p.m. The swarthy Richard-Luis Morillo will demo and discuss. Tickets: $20. For more info, call 215-665-1659 and ask for "Catering."

Twelve Days of Cheesemas

Around the holidays, putting out a cheese or two in the evenings is a festive way to unwind. For my Di Bruno Bros. column this week, I put together twelve pairings for the season. Here is a selection. To read all 12, please visit the Di Bruno Blog.

Day 1: Pears and Stilton instead of a partidge in a pear tree.

Day 2: Chutney and Tarentaise instead of turtle doves.

Day 3: Nut brittle and French Comté Gruyere instead of French hens.

Full disclosure: This is part of a freelance series I write for Di Bruno Bros. Twice a month, I select a cheese and develop a post for their blog. This is how I cover the cost of my dairy habit.

Beer and Cheese Pairings

In the last year, I've popped a lot of bottle tops at cheese tastings. One thing I've noticed: beer is forgiving. It's hard to find one that doesn't like at least one style of cheese, and many brews go with multiple cheese styles. Take stouts, for example. They're such good matches for salty blues, and they're willing to double-bunk with triple cremes. That's great for someone like me who loves blues but hangs out with a lot of Brie heads.

Interestingly, most cheese books don't offer pairings for beer, only wine. Bummer. I like Sauv Blanc with soft goat cheeses, too, but sometimes that age-old classic feels like a rewind. Ever had Humboldt Fog with a wheat beer? Mesmerizing.

Lots of tastings that I follow around the country -- remotely, mostly, I'm not like a Phish Fan who follows cheeses across country, although I do like the thought -- are highlighting craft beer and artisanal cheese. Maybe it's the economy. Popping a cap rather than pulling a cork tends to be easier on the debit card.

On Sunday, I'm co-hosting an autumn cheese class with beer and preserves, so I've spent a lot of time nosing around the internet for interesting suggestions. If you, like me, like monkeying around with dairy and hops, here are a few highlights and little ol' rules of thumb.

Beer Pairing Tips & E-Sources

-Heavy beer draws out meaty flavors in cheese, while lighter beers highlight creamy textures. Many thanks to Slashfood's Belgian Ale 101 for that one.

-Alpine cheeses with bocks and Oktoberfest? That makes sense -- why wouldn't Germans reach for native cheeses to pair with their malty creations? Beer Advocate called that one.

-I lean on my home cheese counter, Di Bruno Bros., for most of my beer pairings. I've never forgotten Hunter Fike's recommendation for Marcel Petit Comte and Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.

-At the Artisanal website, there's a list of cheeses that pair well with a variety of beers, from saisons to lambics. I'm curious to put a meaty Epoisses against an IPA.

-Ever tried Rodenbach Red Ale? It's wildly complex -- sour, oaky, with a big fruity pop to the eye. I've been mulling over an appropriate cheese. Thanks to Brewtopia, I'm off to try some French Munster.

-For pairing basics and a beer glossary, check out The Nibble. They offer a useful chart with some interesting combos, like Provolone and pale ale.

-Back in spring, I pulled a local beer blogger into my kitchen and asked him to advise on beers for a plate of fabulous cheese. His research notes at In Search of Beer are pretty great.

-If you want a fun tasting prop, print out the beer-and-cheese pairing placemat from Cypress Grove. These guys make gorgeous goat cheese, and they've got the marketing down.

Other useful pairing tips? Shout me.

New Pairings for Parmigiano

My post for Di Bruno Bros. this week is all about pairing Parmigiano. Until I was introduced to the authentic stuff -- the kind with tiny crystals and a gargantuan flavor spectrum -- I never found Parm that interesting. Click over to the Di Bruno blog to check out the 12 Parm pairings I put together. You'll never think of Parm as a "grating cheese" once you try some of these. 

Also, if you're curious about what's happening in the world of raw-milk legislation, listen to the program that Peter Crimmins put together for NewsWorks on WHYY in Philadelphia. Peter interviewed Al Renzi of Yellow Springs Farm, Emilio Mignucci of Di Bruno Bros., and yours truly. 

For the story, Peter actually came over to my house to sample two kinds of cheddar with me -- one pasteurized, the other unpasteurized. I chose two local cheddars (PA Noble and LeRaysville XXXX Sharp) that were aged approximately the same amount of time. Fascinating. You can hear his response here.

    

Fall Cheese Pairings: A Class at Wedge & Fig

Dreaming of fall? Join me for an evening of autumn flavors at Wedge+Fig, where Marisa McClellan (foodinjars.com) and I will teach you the pleasures of pairing cheese with homemade jam, pickles, and chutney, along with local brews.

This is a great Cheese 101 for anyone interested in developing a palate, and if you’re a home canner you’ll leave with recipes you can use for parties and gift giving. Make a night of mixing and matching with six styles of cheese and plenty of accompaniments. We look forward to seeing you!

Autumn Pairings Class: Cheese, Beer & Homemade Preserves

Instructors: Marisa McClellan of Foodinjars.com &

Tenaya Darlington, a.k.a Madame Fromage  

Sunday, September 18

4-6 p.m., Wedge+Fig

160 N. 3rd St., Old City, Philadelphia

$65, limit 15 participants

For tickets, please visit Eventbrite.

The staff at Wedge+Fig

Manchego with Figs and Honey

Last week, I rekindled my interest in Manchego, thanks to some grilled figs and a jar of honey. 

A friend served this combination at a party, using fresh figs from her backyard tree. 

Manchego, a subtle Spanish sheep’s milk cheese, was just the right accent, draped over each fig half to form a tiny, briny duvet cover. 

Manchego is a salty lover. Think of seaside air, perspiring brows. This salinity makes Manchego a fine foil for traditional Spanish sides, like quince paste (also known as membrillo) and Marcona almonds, or cracked green olives plugged with lemon peel.

Grilled Figs with Manchego, photo by Amanda Riesman

To continue reading, please visit the Di Bruno Blog.

Full disclosure: This is part of a series I write for Di Bruno Bros. in Philadelphia. The deal is, I choose a cheese and write a post for their blog. This is how I cover the cost of my dairy habit.

Max McCalman: Highlights From A Tasting

If Max McCalman were a cheese, he would be Mimolette – dry, vaguely sour, with a touch of sweetness. He never smiles. He rarely raises a brow or changes his tone of voice, but if you listen carefully you will detect the passionate connoisseur living below the dense crust.

On Monday night, I met Max McCalman, author of Mastering Cheese – a book so fascinating and brilliantly written, I keep it on my nightstand. No other cheese book that I’ve read imparts as much expertise so beautifully. Although it’s designed like a textbook, it reads like a thriller – well, sort of. You have to be the kind of reader who shivers pleasurably at the thought of Pencillium Roqueforti.

Monday’s meeting was a French wine and cheese tasting with McCalman, who is rumored to maintain hundreds of spreadsheets on just such pairings. Since 1997, he has catalogued and ranked every wine-and-cheese combination he’s eaten, uploading favorites to his phone for quick consultation at Picholine. Now he is the figurehead at Artisanal.

All this to say, I trembled within as I rode the train from Philadelphia to New York.

The tasting was held at the French Institute (FIAF). Think berets, women in good shoes. Seven cheeses were arranged in fans at each place setting, along with three wines. Then came score sheets, baguette rounds, and lipsticked smiles.

Here is what we sipped:

Haut-Marin, Sauvignon Colombard, 2009

Oberbergen, Pinot Noir Réserve, 2008

Domaine Bellegarde, Cuvée Thibault, 2004

Here are the cheeses, supplied by Lactalis:

1. Président Saint Maure

2. Le Châtelain Brie

3. Istara Ossau-Iraty

4. Boule d’Or Mimolette

5. Pont de la Pierre Cantal

6. Pochat & Fils Beaufort

7. Société Roquefort

The wines – two white, one red – all shared a fruity quality, verging on too sweet for my taste. And yet, they worked with every cheese! Some combinations were better than others, but it was curious to note how each wine bent and shifted, drawing out different flavors from the seven cheeses.

For example: Beaufort, a complex Alpine cheese similar to Comté, tasted flat with the Sauvignon, flowery against the Pinot Noir, and cheddary astride the Jurancon Cuvée Thibault.

Another surprise: Brie Châtelain + Pinot Noir Réserve = cherry cobbler. I didn’t care for this wine (I kept smelling soy sauce and spare ribs), but the Brie brought out the loveliest cherry notes.

Here are a few other gems from the evening:

• White wines are easier to pair with cheese than reds.
• Scrimp on the wine but splurge on the cheese – it will make the wine taste better.
• Sauvignon Blanc and goat’s milk cheeses “are pals.”
• Eating the caramelized crust of your baguette makes cheese harder to digest.
• If you don’t like the look of blue cheese, think of the mold as “little blue-green flowers.”
• The appetite for cheese in the U.S. has tripled since 1997.

The tasting gave me a new appreciation for wine and cheese pairings – while it’s fun to play around at home, the wisdom of a maitre fromager certainly makes a difference. And now I know a little more about my cheese idol, including what he has for breakfast.

No, not cheese. Espresso with honey. Later, he eats cheese throughout the day -- 2 pounds a week. His cholesterol is perfect.

For more of McCalman's expertise on wine and cheese pairings, check out Artisanal, where he offers information, classes, and more.