One of my favorite things about my job is nailing a cheese recommendation. A customer will sally up to the counter and ask for advice, saying they want this, that, or the other thing for a party or lunchtime nosh. As a seasoned monger, I begin my mental detective work, trying to match adjectives with the myriad of cheese flavors in the case. I scrutinize, pass over, pick and choose until I think I've got the right one. Then I'll slice off a wedge and pass it over the counter to see if it passes gustatory muster with the taste buds on the other side. The most satisfying moment of mongerdom is watching that slow, unyielding grin spread across the customer's face if I do in fact nail it, and share in their little cheese 'Eureka!' moment.
Those smiles speak volumes. I mean, how many foods are able to evoke that kind of reaction in us? I'm the first one to profess my love of brussels sprouts, but I would doubt very highly that I break out into a veg-eating grin upon popping one in my mouth. We always knew that cheese is good for you, but this week, we're ready to dig in and tell you why. For anyone who's been looking for a reason to induldge and eat a slice of rich, savory cheese, read on!
Cheese has sustained people across the globe for millennia in a dizzying array of climates, geographies, and cultural food traditions. In talking to Max McCalman, author of Mastering Cheese: Lessons for Connoisseurship from a Maître Fromager yesterday on Cutting the Curd he got into the nitty gritty of why cheese, one of our most primordial foods, is a friend and not a foe on the nutritional (and even the psychological!) front.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Saxelby Almanac