Coffee pairs well with cheese, but the taste of both should complement each other rather than compete. — Photos: CHRISTIN KLOSE/dpa
Cheese and wine sounds like a perfect match. Yet red wines and wines matured in oak barrels don’t go at all well with cheese.
“The tannins don’t harmonise with the cheese,” says Alexandre Centeleghe, a Swiss wine expert.
“You always pair the same aromas. And there are no tannins in cheese. Thus, white wine is the better companion.”
Choose cheese and wine ideally from the same region, says Regina Benecke, a cheese sommelier with Switzerland Cheese Marketing. “Then the ‘minerality’ will match perfectly. Mild cheeses are best served with mild fruity or sparkling wines.
“The more intense the cheese, the sweeter or more alcoholic the wine should be.”
Small skewers on the rim of a white wine glass are a great way to pair up some grapes and cheese.
“Cheese goes perfectly with coffee and as an alternative to a dessert,” says Andrea Borrelli, a barista from Losone in Switzerland. However, the taste of the coffee and cheese should complement each other rather than compete.
As a rule of thumb: “Strong coffee harmonises with a strong cheese, a mild coffee with a fine cheese,” says Borrelli.
A matured goat’s cheese with white mould combined with honey, thyme flakes and walnuts makes a nice starter or dessert.
Try a not-so-strong espresso with beans from Colombia or Guatemala with a goat’s cream cheese. “It’s a bit like a latte macchiato or cappuccino,” enthuses Borrelli.
When choosing the right beans, focus less on blends. Coffees of a single origin are preferable for pairings, she advises.
A 100% Arabica from Peru, medium roast with a chocolate aroma and a full-bodied feeling on the palate, goes well with a Gruyère or blue cheese.
Le Gruyere, fresh goat's cheese and blue cheese all work suprisingly well with an espresso or coffee.
Both cheese and wine need to breathe, even if they don’t go well together.
“Take the cheese platter out of the fridge half an hour before eating to allow the cheese to develop its flavours,” says Martin Spahr, chief marketing officer of Cheese From Switzerland.
When it comes to the famous “Tete de Moine”, however, it should be shaved into rosettes with a rotating slicer.
There is a special slicing device for Tete de Moine, also known as monk's cheese, called the Girolle.
“That is best done when the cheese comes straight out of the fridge,” says Spahr.
Tête de Moine, which translates to “monk’s head”, is always marked Appellation d’Origine Protegee (AOP) or protected designation of origin. Thus, the Tête de Moine can only come from Switzerland.
Incidentally, the tradition of shaving this cheese into a rosette dates back to around 1192, when the cheese was first mentioned in Bellelay.
“Monks allegedly got up in the middle of the night and scraped the surface of the cheese with a knife to hide the fact they had been eating it. They realised that the cheese tasted best this way,” says Oliver Isler, former head of the Association of Tête de Moine Manufacturers.
Crackers, walnuts and pear wedges go well with blue cheese.
A cheese slicer or girolle is ideal for making the rosettes. “A precision mechanic invented it in the 1980s,” says Isler.
Menno Amstutz, owner of one of nine Swiss cheese dairies authorised to produce Tete de Moine, points out: “Don’t apply too much pressure when turning.
Otherwise, the surface will become uneven, and the flower will tear.
Blueberries go well with most soft cheeses.
The 2024 Swiss Cheese Award winner has five more tips: Turn as many times as necessary to make a big flower. Never leave the cheese uncovered in the fridge for too long. Otherwise, it will dry out quickly.
Buy the Tete de Moine whole, then cut it in half and start slicing down the middle. Wrap the slices in aluminium foil. Sprinkle the cheese with basil, pepper or caraway seeds before slicing and turning.
If the cheese has a more pronounced flavour, it should be served with honey.
Cheese is best stored in a cheese bell jar in the fridge. World-famous cheeses such as the tangy Appenzeller, the original Swiss Emmentaler (AOP) or the fruity, strong Le Gruyère (AOP) feel like they are in a Swiss cheese cellar when stored with an apple for moisture.
A cheese cover is the ideal storage solution, but not all of us have this much space in the fridge.
If you do not have a cheese bell jar, store the cheese in the vegetable drawer of the fridge.
Wrap it in special cheese paper or cling film pricked with a fork to prevent it from drying out and letting it breathe at the same time.
Also, “Swiss cheese has such a pronounced flavour that we recommend doing without chutneys, which usually has too many flavours and ingredients,” says Martin. – By CLAUDIA WITTKE-GAIDA/dpa
