How To Get the Most From Your French Cheese
Enjoying cheese (fromage) at its optimum flavour starts even before you purchase your cheese. Make sure the store or market stall you intend to buy your cheese from is clean, the assistant or stall holder appears tidy and the cheese looks fresh.
Buying cheese from a specialty store or cheesemonger means you will be buying from someone who has a greater knowledge of their products compared to a supermarket.
Asking questions is a great way to learn more about cheese and a cheesemonger (fromager) is usually very happy to make suggestions of what cheese would best suit your tastes or any planned menu. A French cheese store is called a fromagerie.
Only buying the quantity that you can eat over the next couple of days is another way of making sure you eat your cheese at its best. Once a wedge has been cut from a cheese wheel it is exposed to more air and should now be well stored.
Cheese Storing Tips
1. Wrap cheese in the waxed paper it came in or wrap it in grease proof paper. Do not use plastic wrap as the organisms in cheese need to breathe.
2. Put wrapped cheese in the salad drawer of your fridge or in a cardboard box and then in the fridge. This creates a more controlled temperature for the cheese.
3. Cheese absorbs smells so do not store your cheese with other strong smelling foods in the fridge.
Cheese Serving Tips
1. Cheese tastes better at room temperature so take cheese out of fridge 1-2 hours before serving, unless you live in a hot or humid climate, in which case you should reduce this time.
2. Gently scrape off any oily residue and trim off any new mould before serving. Mould on cheese is normal but excess mould is best to be removed prior to serving.
To find out more on cheese, these articles on Artisan French Cheese and 
