{"id":37676,"date":"2019-12-06T13:28:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T18:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=37676"},"modified":"2023-01-18T15:17:06","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T20:17:06","slug":"cheese-plate-renaissance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-plate-renaissance\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheese Plate Renaissance"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>hough American palates may sometimes struggle with French dishes, the cheese course\u2014a longstanding French custom\u2014is one tradition that translates beautifully.<\/p>\n

“All over France, it\u2019s uncommon to see a menu without a cheese course,\u201d says Emma Young, wholesale manager at French affineur and exporter Mons Cheesemongers. French tradition prescribes that cheese plates are enjoyed either between the main course and dessert, or simply in place of dessert. The selections of fromage\u2014often chosen by the chef for their \u201cseasonality, availability, and current quality,\u201d Young adds\u2014are the perfect meal\u2019s final punctuation.<\/p>\n

Stateside, the concept of a cheese course was once sequestered in the realm of fine French dining. With the industrialization of dairy that began in the 19th century, cheese produced in America was increasingly limited to cheddars and large-format blocks: calorie-rich commodities manufactured for mass nutrition. If a cheese was served for gastronomic pleasure and not purely for sustenance, it was probably imported from Europe.<\/p>\n

But in the 1980s, American pioneers began producing artisan cheeses worthy of restaurant menus. As small farms in every region started to dabble in\u2014and then master\u2014small-batch cheesemaking, their products slowly displaced imported wheels. Cheese plates percolated out of haute cuisine and into less formal settings, becoming more digestible for a wider American audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve come a long way from the days when restaurant cheese plates were first and foremost French, and when only French restaurants served them,\u201d says Janet Fletcher, author of The Cheese Course (Chronicle Books, 2000) and the blog \u201cPlanet Cheese.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s important for any cheese enthusiast to know the \u2018Gold Standard\u2019 [European] classics like Comt\u00e9 and Brie de Meaux,\u201d she adds\u2014but in many ways, the rise of the cheese plate has its origins in a distinctly American local food movement. From her vantage point in the San Francisco Bay area, she\u2019s witnessed the shift. At San Francisco\u2019s Zuni Caf\u00e9, which she calls  \u201ca pioneer in showcasing the cheese course,\u201d most of the cheeses are now local.<\/p>\n

Across the country in Concord, New Hampshire, Revival Kitchen & Bar\u2019s all-New-England cheese menu features five selections from within the state.<\/p>\n

“Ten years ago, we couldn\u2019t have had a cheese list with more than half from New Hampshire,\u201d says chef-owner Corey Fletcher. \u201cIt would have been Vermont, California, and Europe.\u201d He credits the new options to revitalized local farms that are adopting secondary ventures like cheesemaking, and notes that the cheese menu is more popular on weekends. \u201cIt\u2019s more of a social thing,\u201d he says, \u201cCheese is good for conversation.”<\/p>\n

In addition to fostering dialogue among diners, \u201ccheese is a relationship starter between the server and the guest,\u201d says Peter Macone, manager at Campo Enoteca in Manchester, New Hampshire. The farm-to-table restaurant features four local cheeses; often, a server will begin by explaining the list to patrons. Macone confirms that cheeses are ordered \u201calmost always as a starter,\u201d and that Americans very rarely request them after a main course. He mentions that cheese is occasionally ordered alongside the main course, however, because it has a \u201cfajita effect\u201d as it is carried through the restaurant\u2014those who may have overlooked the cheese menu change their minds when they glimpse a composed board.<\/p>\n

The restaurant setting is ideal for tasting new cheeses, whether you\u2019re a novice or simply don\u2019t want to commit to a full wedge. It\u2019s a great way to try the artisan American products that debut seasonally, or learn about traditional European wheels whose rich histories have informed stateside cheesemaking. For many, a cheese course is a trial of unfamiliar flavors, and we like to have others at the table to taste with us. As we\u2019ve trended away from traditional French selections and toward locally-focused and shareable cheese plates, it\u2019s become clear that the cheese course is finding its own place in American dining.<\/p>\n

\n

HOW TO CRAFT A KILLER CHEESE COURSE<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Buy the correct amount of cheese.<\/strong> If you\u2019re serving the cheese plate as part of a meal, that\u2019s about 1\/8 pound per person.<\/p>\n

Put a label on it.<\/strong> Noting each cheese\u2019s name and style is helpful for tasters, especially when pairing.<\/p>\n

Diversify textures<\/strong>. All block cheddars? Boring! Aim for a mix of soft, semi-soft, firm, and hard cheeses. Click here<\/a> for more on cheese textures.<\/p>\n

Warm it up.<\/strong> Assemble the plate at least a half-hour before serving. Room-temperature cheeses\u2014and accoutrements\u2014just taste better.<\/p>\n

Mix up milks.<\/strong> Too much moo means you\u2019re missing out. Include goat\u2019s and sheep\u2019s milk curds to keep things lively.<\/p>\n

Set out (appropriate) silverware.<\/strong> Using the same knife to cut all the cheeses will mix up flavors, sometimes unpleasantly. Designate one serving utensil for each cheese, and make sure it\u2019s the right one for the job (click here<\/a> for a tutorial).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This French tradition is making its way to the US, and we’re definitely all for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[21703,1233,1243,2319,21699,1042,21695,1188,21710,2106,21700,21704,21708,6536,1006,21696,20993,21697,21036,21706,1131,14596,21705,15357,21709,1763,18420,21698,1132,21701,724,21707,21711,1068,21702],"coauthors":[21694],"class_list":["post-37676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cheese-iq","tag-american-cheese-course","tag-brie","tag-brie-de-meaux","tag-california","tag-camp-enoteca","tag-cheddar","tag-cheese-course","tag-cheese-knives","tag-cheese-textures","tag-comte","tag-corey-fletcher","tag-diy-cheese-board","tag-emma-young","tag-entertaining","tag-europe","tag-european-cheese-course","tag-farm-to-table","tag-french-cheese-course","tag-holiday-entertaining","tag-how-to-make-a-cheese-board","tag-janet-fletcher","tag-local-cheese","tag-making-a-cheese-board","tag-manchester","tag-mons-cheesemongers","tag-new-england","tag-new-hampshire","tag-peter-macone","tag-planet-cheese","tag-revival-kitchen-bar","tag-san-francisco","tag-small-farms","tag-the-cheese-course","tag-vermont","tag-zuni-cafe"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCheese 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