The cloth, the cloche and the hanging basket

Draping a damp linen napkin or cheese cloth over cheese will keep it from drying out, but it only works if the cloth is kept constantly damp. The cheese cloche is attractive and does stave off attacks from predators, however it should only be a temporary measure unless the cloche is porous and designed to be soaked in cold water.

Cheeses need a little fresh air to keep them at their peak. An unusual but effective method is to use a series of Chinese steam baskets - the ones that pile on top of each other - and suspend them from the ceiling of a cellar or in a cool, airy spot. The cheeses can also be brought straight to the table like this.

There are some very attractive small wooden cheese larders available from specialist shops. With fine wire gauze netting around the sides and two or three shelves, they protect the cheeses and allow them to breath. They should also be hung in a cool, airy spot.

 

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Text C

Serving

Cutting and handling

Tall rounds. Stiltons and truckles

If you feel flamboyant, serve a whole truckle (a small version of a bigger cheese) of Cheddar, Cheshire or Stilton. They look good and keep better than several wedges. It is essential you handle them with respect to ensure they retain their character and condition until the last morsel.

First use a sharp knife or wire to cut a 'lid¹ off the top. This can be replaced after each serving. Now insert a sharp knife horizontally about 6cm from the top and cut all the way round, creating a thick, flat wheel which you leave in place. You can then make vertical cuts down through the wheel to produce wedges. Reseal the cut surface with clear plastic film and replace the 'lid'.

Wedges

With a large wedge, slice off thinner wedges down the side. A good cheese should taste the same from the centre to the edge.

Logs, round and square

Logs are the perfect shape for cutting and serving. However, they should be rolled over to prevent the underneath from becoming sticky and the top from drying out.

Rounds should be cut in half and then into small wedges, rather than cutting a cheese as you would a cake. This reduces wastage significantly - triangular spaces are impossible to seal satisfactorily. Unsealed surfaces and hollow spaces provide scope for dehydration, mould or even, in severe cases, like Brie, collapse completely.

Cutting small square cheeses in half diagonally, creating two triangles, is more appealing in shape than two oblongs. It is also easy to wrap and seal the cut surfaces.

Cheese and wine

As a general rule, white or pale rinded cheese go with white wines, harder, stronger cheeses prefer richer whites or reds, and blues love rich reds or sweet wines.

If cheese is part of meal, it should be served after the main course with the red wine. Follow this with a sweet pudding wine which goes with the blue cheese and carries through into the dessert course. If, however, you are offering port at the end of the meal, a Stilton or nutty Cheddar after pudding is essential.

 

Skim the text, trying to understand what it is about.

3. Open the brackets putting the necessary preposition

1. Logs are perfect shape … cutting and serving.

2. Cutting small square cheeses … half diagonally creating into two triangles, is more appealing … shape than two oblongs.

3. A good cheese should taste the same … the centre … the edge.

4. If cheese is part … meal, it should be served … the main course.

5. However, three cheeses … different categories should ensure a contrast … flavours.

6. Storing cheese … a cardboard … the fridge can be quite successful.

7. In fridge, instead … ripening, they will die.

8. It is essential you handle them … respect.

9. Now insert a sharp knife horizontally … 6 cm … the top.

10.  Draping a damp linen napkin of cheese cloth … cheese will keep it … drying.

 

4. Match the words with their definitions

1) crossfertilize	a) brightly coloured and decorated
2) mould	b) wooly or furry growth of fungi appearing upon
3) flamboyant	moist surfaces
4) morsel	c) carry pollen from the stamens of one plant to
5) wedge	the pistil of another plant to produce hybrids
6) oblong	d) deprive of water of moisture
7) dehydrate	e) tiny piece of food, mouthful
8) edge	f) ready to be used, matured and ready to be eaten
9) gauze	g) v-shaped piece
	h) figure having four straight sides, longer than it is wide i) line marking the outer limit of boundary of a flat surface j) thin, transparent net – like material of silk, cotton

 

5. Finish the sentences using the text

1. They should also be hung in a cool …

2. They need to be eaten as close to their …

3. If you need flamboyant, serve a whole truckle …

4. The ideal storage location is a cellar …

5. Be careful of cheeses that require careful nurturing to reach …

6. However, three cheeses from different categories should ensure a contrast of …

7. The taste of blue cheeses is distinct and long lasting so serve them …

8. Blues and goat`s milk cheeses should be kept apart from …

9. The contrasts are fascinating, particularly …

10.  As a rule, buy cheeses as near to the time you want to eat them as …

 

6. Study the text more carefully and agree or disagree with the statements

1. First make vertical cuts down through the wheel to produce wedges.

2. Logs are not convenient for cutting and serving.

3. Blues and goat`s milk cheeses should be kept together with the rest.

4. Hard cheeses take 5 or 6 days to ripen.

5. Freezing does cheese favours.

6. Rounds should be cut as you would cut a cake.

7. If cheese is part of meal, it should be served before the main coarse.

 

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Войткевич Людмила Ефимовна