Cheese: Chef's Choice for Culinary Creations

Cheese: what a wonderfully diverse, delicious, and delightful culinary staple. You can melt it, toast it, bake it, blend it, grill it, deep fat fry it, or eat it right out of the wrapper. In fact, annual cheese consumption in the U.S. is expected to top 34 pounds per person by 2015.

Cheese: The ABCs

Cheese has been around for a long time; its origins can be traced back to prehistoric times. Cheese is differentiated by type of milk -- raw, skimmed, or pasteurized -- and by which animal it comes from: cows, sheep, goats, buffalo, reindeer, camels, or even yaks. Although there are hundreds of different varieties of cheese (Cheese.com lists a whopping 656), they can be grouped into the following categories:

Soft: brie, cream cheese, mascarpone
Semi-hard: blue cheese and monterey jack
Hard: cheddar and colby
Very hard: parmesan and romano

Cheese: Culinary Mainstay

Chefs use cheese in the kitchen every day in an amazing variety of different culinary delights from appetizers straight through to desserts.

Appetizers, from cool cheese balls to hot fondue
Salads paired with different fruit combinations
Soups with cheese included (broccoli-cheese) or sprinkled on the top (minestrone)
Sauces, Alfredo or white cheddar or quattro formaggi (four cheeses)
Sandwiches simple grilled cheese (American) to fancy (white cheddar, pear, and bacon)
Vegetables au gratin (with cheese), for spinach and potatoes
Entrees including lasagna, quiche, frittatas, enchiladas, macaroni & cheese, or chicken cordon bleu
Desserts like cheese cake, cannoli, tiramisu, or a simple cheese board
The culinary uses of cheese seem to be limited only by the imagination of the individual chef.

Cheese: Chefs' Choice

When Food and Wine recently polled 70 chefs across the nation, they found that the two cheeses that topped their favorites list were parmesan (particularly parmigiano reggiano) and blue cheese. Parmigiano reggiano is prized for its rich sharp flavor, and blue cheese, from locations as diverse as California or Iowa or New Zealand, for its peppery taste and creamy texture.

Cheese: A Culinary Appreciation

As more and more chefs promote fresh ingredients and sustainable local produce, artisan cheeses from small local producers are increasing in popularity. Various organizations affiliated with the cheese industry have begun offering cheese appreciation courses that provide a wealth of information about cheese for chefs and restaurant owners, culinary students, food writers, and sommeliers. Cheese is obviously becoming serious business.

About the Author

Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.

Source(s)

Artisan Cheese Marketing
Cheese.com
Food & Wine
Wisconsin Cheese

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