NOVEMBER: The Case Against PGI OR How Stichelton Cheese Got its Name.

We’re all for the protection and preservation of traditional cheeses, their terroir, taste and most importantly the people who work day in day out to make them. We’re passionate about variety, authenticity and taste. 
So you think leaning on the side of Protected Geographical Indicators and their cousins AOP, AOC and PDO would be simple. 
Not so. 

Most of the time, as you all know we support protecting tradition but some manufacturers have found a way to create a restricted market for their cheeses by changing the rules on traditional cheesemaking and having not so desirable qualities of a cheese enshrined in law. 

Such is the case with Stichelton. A traditional, raw milk blue cheese, made in an 8kg format, in Nottinghamshire, England. 

One would think that this cheese could be labelled as a stilton given its pedigree. That isn’t the case here. No Stichelton is banned from using the name Stilton because they make their cheese from the original Stilton recipe that calls for raw milk. 

Unfortunately when the PGI for the cheese was created it was in the best interests of larger manufacturers to have the cheese pasteurised, therefore excluding artisan and independent cheesemakers looking to make the best version of the cheese. 

In this and many other cases across Europe a protectionist racket has sprung up, creating conditions under which indipendant and traditional cheese makers find themselves excluded from the marketplace and the traditional names for their cheeses. 

We were lucky enough to taste Stichelton at Slow Cheese in Italy and I will say it is the best British Blue I have ever eaten. Unfortunately as it stands we can’t import it but if anything changes we will be amongst the first to acquire some. 

Another Cheesemaker, Paulo Cipparelli found himself, and his cheese, Bitto, excluded from using the name of a cheese he had been producing for 20 years. Because he refused to feed his animals fodder, grain and silage, required under the recently developed PDO rules, he and 13 other farmers were forced to change the name of their cheese. At first they attempted to use the name Historic Bitto, they were threatened with lawsuits by a consortium of large producers. In the end the name Historic Rebel was chosen.

In summary, PGI and friends are a double edged sword. They, for many years, protected and fostered a cottage industry, to the exclusion of others. As international demands and production scales increased, greed led to these rules, in a few cases, being abused as an exclusionary practice to deter new market entrants as well as discourage independent cheesemaking.

AUGUST & SEPTEMBER: Where are Matt & Gab?

And we're off! Next week we leave for Italy, Greece and the UK to source new cheeses for 2024. We're heading to one of the most important events on the Cheese Calendar, Slow Cheese Bra, Italy. A four day conference and exhibition that takes over the Town of Bra, Hosted by the University of Gastronomy. We're going to be tasting rare cheeses from all over Europe, hand made, raw milk cheeses hand made by passionate producers. 

As a distiller and cheesemonger I'm especially looking forward to Day Two where we explore wild herb liquors and spirits paired with cheeses made from the milk of animals that have grazed on the same wild herbs. 

Slow Food celebrates technique and flavour and independent cheesemaking. The whole town comes alive with stall after stall of the finest cheeses that europe has to offer. We're excited to share the journey with you through our social channels as well as next year when we bring some of these delights to Australia and to Cheese Club. 

Follow our journey via our social media channels xxxx

July: Music And Maturing Cheese

Thanks to the work of Swiss Cheesemaker Beat Wampfler and Bern University Arts, we now have research dedicated to the best music to mature cheese to.

Sorry, what? Well…

Wheels of Emmentaller were placed, isolated into sound proof boxes, with a transducer pumping music on a 24/7 loop directly into the wheels. Songs included Mozart's The Magic Flute, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin and A Tribe Called Quests Jazz (We've Got). A wheel was also left in complete silence, and three other wheels were exposed to high, medium and low drone tones. 

In a double blind taste test, Hip Hop was declared the winner with stronger aroma and flavour compared to the control wheel. 

The discovery of Sonochemistry and the influences of soundwaves on food is still in its infancy, there is so much more to learn. 

And we will be bringing you the latest, because, this is just so fun.

Read the full article here.

June: Bread vs Crackers: The Eternal Debate

Oh, wow, what a prompt for this month. Do you have your cheese with crackers or bread?

Crackers?
Crackers are ace! Especially when they're the quality of our house brand, Zeal from Asterisk Kitchens. Buttery enough to compliment blue cheese, mild enough to not interfere with the cheese, strong enough to not shatter when spread, perfect. 

Bread?
Bread, especially high quality sourdough or fruit loaf or dark rye are equally as good. Crusty, fluffy baguettes are incredible with cheese, almost like they were made for it. Nothing better than spreading some marmalade on a baguette with a couple of slabs of camembert and some rocket and calling that lunch. Pair it with a Sancerre, boom, best lunch ever!

Got Lots Of People Coming Over?
For events we love to grab the fluffiest bread we can get our hands on. Our secret weapon for neutral texture, good flavour and availability is the Panne di Casa from Baker’s Delight. Don’t knock it before you try! It can't be beaten for availability either.

On A Platter?
Options, options, options!!! Crackers, bread and anything else you want to add is always the way! Remember, you are catering for others, not just what you prefer, so alongside the hard, soft and blue cheeses on any cheese platter, pop in some cracker, bread, even sliced fruit!

But NO Bread Or Crackers Is The “Right” Way?

Yes and no. If you are a professional cheesemonger then no bread because you are assessing a product…but that’s just a work thing. We recommend no bread or crackers to fully experience the texture of hard cheese - so forgo the cracker, forgo the bread and just eat a piece of cheese. 

Final Thought….

Essentially, like anything, there is no “correct way”, as long as you are eating cheese, that’s the main thing!!

May: All About Gruyere!

This month we’re taking a deep dive into an icon of cheese making, Gruyere, an alpine, hard cooked, raw milk, cows cheese from Fribourg in Switzerland. More than a Swiss Cheese, this is the Swiss Cheese, often imitated, although never bettered. 

Master Cheesemakers in Switzerland begin their apprenticeship after completing their high school education. To become a Master Cheesemaker takes 13 years of study, craft, labour and learning, the longest apprenticeship in cheesemaking. Every step of the process is studied, picked apart, learned, relearned and practised. Master cheesemakers know their product intimately and graduate with the foundations of how to successfully operate a cheesemaking facility.

Needless to say, the Swiss take the making of this 900 year old artform very seriously. 

According to the appellation control AOP rules around Gruyere production there are nine key steps involved in the cheese making process. 

• The highest quality raw milk, sourced from cows grazed on lush, green pastures in the Summer and fresh hay, specially dried to maintain its nutrition profile.

• Copper wats receive the milk directly from the farmer, the lactic fermentation process and rennet are added to the raw milk, coagulation begins. Not heating the milk of pasteurising at this stage allows all of the character of the milk to remain suspended.

• Curds are cut, the whey is drained away and the heating of the curds in a gentle process begins. 

• Curds are packed into hoops, a disc containing the name of the dairy and the date of manufacture is pressed into the rind, cheese is then pressed for up to 20 hours. 

• A brine bath awaits the cheese at this point, the 36 - 37 kg wheels bob around in a briney soup of natural bacteria giving the cheese its distinct flavours

• Cheeses start their maturation journey at the cheesemaker’s facility. During the first three months of maturation the cheeses must be turned and washed almost daily to create the rind that both protects the cheese and creates the flavour. 

• At five months, the association of Gruyere cheesemakers tests the wheel, ensuring that it meets the standards of the AOP designation. From here on in the cheese can legally be recognised as Gruyere. 

• Wheels are then sold to Affineurs, the masters of ageing cheese, they buy the cheeses for all intents and purposes en premier, speculating that through further careful ageing the cheeses will improve and increase in value. 

• Younger cheeses, at nine, to ten, months of age are often cut, wrapped and sold to supermarkets for mass market consumption where the cheese is valued for its mild character. 

• Wheels that will tolerate further maturation, up to 24 months in some cases, are cellared, washed, turned and stored in perfect conditions in order to enhance their flavour. The more mature wheels are what cheesemongers really want. 

• At 18 to 24 months, most wheels of Gruyere head to various distribution houses for sale. Our wheels are consolidated at Rungis Market in Paris before being surface freighted to Australia in a specialist refrigerated container. The journey takes approximately 35 days after which the cheese clears biosecurity and is ready for sale in our domestic market. 

Taste By Age

Young Gruyere (nine months, fresh from the wheel) is excellent cheese, it retains an elasticity, mild creamy flavours and a lingering character. The perfect cheese for a toastie or French Onion Soup.

12 Month Gruyere is where the cheese can really take its place on a cheese plate, the character of the cheese improves considerably in the ensuing three months since we last tasted it, the savoury notes are deepening, hints of the lush green grass and clean milk flavours yield and become more floral, nutty with free fatty acids giving the cheese a buttery mouthfeel. 

Eighteen month Gruyere, in this Cheesemonger's opinion, is the sweet spot for Gruyere. The flavours have intensified, the cheese is now ready for a bold, ‘later-in-the-evening’ cheese plate. Ready to stand toe to toe with red wines you would typically drink with gamey meats, Pinot Noir and Shiraz are now in play. The concentration of flavours, proteins and fats now exhibits tyrosine crystals, or those delightful little pop rocks for grown ups. Burnt butter and sage flavours become more pronounced, the cheese is now a five mile cheese, you will be tasting this one for a while. 

April: Appellation Control, Explained

Appellation and trademarking is very topical at the moment, you might have read about the current debate around Prosecco and whether it should be recognised and controlled similar to the Champagne region in France. Well, I though I would explain what appellation in the cheese industry is all about.

AOC, DOP, PGI - What does it all mean?

One of the most common questions I’m asked here at the cheese shop is what do all these terms around cheese actually mean? Things like AOC, PGI and DOP and more importantly when describing a cheese, why do we use them and as a cheesemonger where to use them in a description. 

AOC is a French certification that guarantees that a product was produced, processed, and prepared in a specific geographical area using traditional methods. The AOC label is reserved for food products and beverages that have a strong connection to their geographical origin, such as Roquefort cheese, Cognac, and Champagne. To be granted AOC status, a product must comply with strict production requirements and pass independent inspections.

AOC

For example when I write about Comte Cheese you will often see me write AOC Comte Charles Arnaut or AOC Comte Marcel Petit - Petit Bleu. 

Let’s quickly pull this apart. 

The most important thing is the AOC, which tells me that the cheese is made to an established standard. Secondly Comte, the name of the cheese, is protected under French law. So AOC Comte tells me the cheese was made in the Jura Mountains, using milk from the region and spent at least part of its life being aged there. 

Comte can come from various manufacturers or even affinage houses, hence the Charles Arnaut, who in this case buys the cheese from cheese makers and ages it to their standard. 

Before the cheese can be called Comte, inspectors audit the cheese ensuring that at every stage of production and ageing standards have been maintained. After a final taste test, the cheese is granted the name Comte and a white band can be applied with green writing saying Comte will be attached. 

DOP

DOC is an Italian certification that indicates a wine or food comes from a particular region and is made according to traditional methods. The DOP designation guarantees that the product has been produced in an approved way and that it meets specific quality standards. To be granted DOP status, the product  must pass rigorous inspections by independent organisations.

For example, DOP Mozzarella di Buffala must be made in the Campania region of Italy from locally grazed herds of buffalo. 

PGI

PGI, on the other hand, is a European Union certification that indicates a food or beverage has a specific quality, reputation, or other characteristic linked to a particular region. Unlike AOC, PGI products may be produced anywhere, but they must have a clear link to their place of origin. PGI products must also meet strict production standards and undergo independent inspections to ensure quality and authenticity.

For example; many cheesemongers, even after Brexit, continue to use the nomenclature PGI Wensleydale to describe cheese from Wensleydale Creamery in the Yorkshire Dales. The standard, disappointingly to at least one cheese club subscriber, does not apply to Wensleydale with Cranberries.

These terms are a stamp of provenance, manufacture and quality, a shortcut to selecting the best product with the most authentic taste. 

These standards can prove problematic for some manufacturers, when it comes to innovation, regulation can be stifling. 

Our hero cheese for April is case in point. Oro Nero came from retail demand for a smaller format Parmigiano Reggiano, a 10 kg wheel, to ensure freshness. DOP indicated the cheese must weigh 38kg when finished, there are no exceptions. 

So Cassefecio Generi created their own brand, from scratch, a range of cheeses at 10 kg wheel weight, using strong branding to create their own range of cheeses to meet consumer demand. The wheels are made to a Parmigiano recipe but made smaller, also with additions, like black truffle.

Establishing a new cheese can be risky, you have no history of product, you’re really out there with no guidebook, no consumer awareness built over hundreds of years, investing in new cheese making machinery. Making skimmed milk hard cheeses is hard work, requiring significant inputs of labour, inputs like milk, time to mature the cheese and skill in a new style of affinage. 

At Cornelius Cheesemongers we avoid selling products that use the names of PGI, DOP and AOC cheeses without having an intrinsic link to the traditions. You won’t see a Gruyere from Tasmania or a Parmesan made in Melbourne sold here. We do make an exception for a couple of cheeses such as Buffalo Mozzarella that should be as fresh and as local as possible or Cheddar, which is a cheesemaking technique used the world over. 

While we respect and honour old cheese making techniques we also honour and respect cheesemakers who forge their own brand. 

March: What Is Taste?

What is taste?

Firstly, taste is subjective, our goal in Cheesemongering is to convey an experience in a way that is discernible, relatable, consistent and objective. With access to 200+ manufacturers and 2000+ cheeses it becomes important to succinctly describe a cheese, its origins and convey the flavour to the client. 

Taste can be broken down into 5 main categories and then further by our sense of smell. Our taste buds handle: 

Taste

Examples

Savoury (Umami)

Vegemite, Soy, Sauce, Dry Aged Meats

Sweet

Sugar, Honey, Lactose, Caramel

Sour

Lemons, Vinegar, Sour Cream

Bitter

Radicchio, Caffeine, Cocoa

Salty

Salt

Often when running our sensory evaluation workshops we come across conflict and having come from a coffee background as a barista myself people can confuse tastes easily. Is it bitter or is it sour? Is it salty or is it Umami? In both cases the answer can be difficult to separate. This is the point of food, it’s not often that we isolate a flavour unless in competition or in food science. Foods are generally a harmonious balance of the five main tastes. 

Sensory evaluation workshops for groups of up to 6 available. 

Our individual Taste memory is based on experience and it develops, waxes and wanes as we go through life. As a child we had extra bitter receptors making things like broccoli taste terrible. 

Recent research indicated we may have receptors for fat, alkaline (the opposite of sour), watery and metallic tastes. This would go a long way to explaining why taste is both subjective and complex and varies wildly from person to person. 

We’re going to use triple cream brie as an example across our chapter on taste. 

Applying the above principles to triple cream brie would generally taste sweet, savoury, salty, and a little fatty. 

We have covered the essence of taste, now let’s quickly cover the other senses at play. 

Sensation

Have you ever tasted a menthol lozenge? The coolness that envelops your mouth is a sensation, rather than a flavour. The same goes for the astringency from tannic wines or cinnamon. Or perhaps heat, spiciness, which triggers your pain receptors. Triple cream brie could give the sensation of calcium and heartiness. 

Texture

Texture and taste are another conundrum, they are inextricably linked and yet offer such different experiences, something can both taste creamy, as in taste like cream, and be creamy, as in have a creamy texture. Triple cream brie could be described with texture terms such as: sticky, creamy.

Aroma

Aroma is what your nose, or more specifically your olfactory bulb. We perceive aroma both from our nose and as we chew and swallow food. This is where more complex and nuanced flavours come into play. For example a triple cream brie would have the aroma of straw, raw mushroom, milk and a little lactic ferment. 

And the rest

The three other categories that make up what we taste are

• Intensity, how much of a flavour we perceive, quantified on a scale from 1-10

• Deliciousness, how satisfying a taste, quantified on a scale of one 1-10 but also subject to personal preference. For example, one person may be absolutely obsessed with texture and think a triple cream brie is the most delicious thing they have ever tasted. . 

• Complexity; what is happening in a cheese, does every bite, chew and swallow reveal something new? For example, a triple cream brie, on a scale from 1-10 may only score a 2, whereas a raw milk, clothbound cheddar may score an 8. 

February: What is Affinage?

This month we discuss a term we use frequently, but rarely explain. The Affineur is integral to the cheese making and selling process, often an affineur will buy young cheeses directly from small cheesemakers, speculating on their future potential and paying cash for them, up front. This creates a method for local farmers to maintain a positive cashflow. 

When we say "Maker" verses “Affinage" that means that the cheese has been purchased from several farmhouse cheesemakers making their cheese to a standard and then aged to perfection and sold under one label. 

So, what is affinage?

Affinage is the process of aging and ripening cheese under controlled conditions to develop its flavour, texture, and aroma. This process can take anywhere from a few weeks to several years, depending on the type of cheese and the desired end result.

During the affinage process, cheese is carefully stored and monitored to create the ideal environment for the cheese to mature. Factors such as temperature, humidity, and ventilation are all carefully controlled to ensure that the cheese develops its full range of flavours and textures.

Affineurs may also apply various techniques during the affinage process to enhance the cheese's character. These techniques may include washing the cheese with brine or alcohol, rubbing it with oils or spices, or wrapping it in various materials to alter the rind.

Affinage is a skilled craft that requires experience, knowledge, and a keen sense of taste and smell. Experienced affineurs are able to assess the quality and progress of the cheese as it matures, adjusting the environmental conditions and techniques as needed to achieve the desired flavour profile.

The end result of the affinage process is a cheese with a rich and complex flavour profile, with notes that range from nutty and buttery, to sharp and tangy. Proper affinage is essential to creating high-quality artisanal cheeses, and it is an art form that has been practiced for centuries.

January: Building a Taste Library or Memory

We all have smells that take us to a place and time. Is it the scent of something your grandmother cooked? The smell of a ripe Valencia orange being squeezed for your breakfast on a trip to Spain? The smell of a pub when the doors first open? It can take years but your lexicon will be unique and based on your sensory experiences.

Tasting Experiences Beverage Pairing Guide

For every matching there are rules and there are exceptions, don’t so much see these as hard and fast pairings, more a guide to the right direction. 

Australian Pinot Noir can taste bright, plummy, fruit forward, unless it’s Tasmanian in which case you can expect more earth tones, subtle mushroom and truffle. Then Red Burgundy can taste far more complex, structured and light. 

There’s no one wine, one cheese solution but we can have fun trying to find just the right combination!