Find right cheese to please your guests

parchment paper, farmhouse, cheesecloth

by Martha Stewart

How often have you gone to a party and been confronted with large trays piled high with small squares of medium-hard yellow and white cheeses and undistinguished crackers and crudites? Personally, I have lost count of such occasions, and I usually pass up the offerings and instead think about how easy it would be to improve upon such a cheese plate or platter, and what I would choose to put out for guests at that particular time of year.

Indeed, the cheese selections available have become ever more plentiful and varied, a mix of fine imported varieties and well- crafted, surprisingly complex domestic artisanal cheeses that are delicious and beautiful and utterly competitive in quality, texture and interest with those many tasty cheeses that come from abroad. Whenever I am planning a party or dinner, I like to include cheese - - it is as intriguing to find a cheese that is unusual and complementary to a meal as it is to find a perfect wine to serve with the dinner.

I first became enamored of cheese when I visited Paris as a young woman. Every day I ate another type, keeping a list of my favorite varieties. I devoured an entire wedge of Mimolette (a hard, orange cheddarlike cheese) while reading my travel guide in the shadow of Saint Sulpice on the Left Bank, and I went back for seconds of a very wonderful semisoft cheese called Vacherin that I scooped from the wooden box with slices of Comice pear.

When I returned to New York City I discovered that I could, in fact, find good French cheeses at a store called Zabar's, and then even more unusual choices at E.A.T. Eli Zabar was a pioneer in introducing Americans to the joys of fresh, wonderful, handmade French cheese. I am happy to report that many neighborhoods now have great cheese shops -- there's Artisanal Fromagerie and Murray's Cheese in Manhattan and Darien Cheese and Fine Foods in Connecticut, not to mention farmers' markets everywhere from Mount Kisco, N.Y., to San Francisco, where local cheeses crafted by adventuresome cheesemakers are well worth sampling.

I enjoy the discussions I have with the fromageres (cheese experts) when selecting from the array of cheeses in a beautiful display case. Always discuss what you are purchasing to make sure that the cheese is "ready," or ripe, for when you are going to serve it, that the amount is correct for the number of guests and that you are going to have the right bread or cracker or fresh or dried fruit for that particular cheese.

Tell the cheese seller what you're planning -- an hors d'oeuvres platter or after-dinner tasting, for example -- and he can suggest cheeses with complementary flavors and textures. And he'll often give you tastes of various cheeses; sampling is the very best way to figure out exactly what you like.

It is not important to have a lot of cheeses, but it is very important that each cheese offered is ready to eat, just like the fruit you might serve along with it. A blue cheese with a ripe and juicy Bartlett pear is superb. A homemade cracker is a nice accompaniment to a sliver of English farmhouse cheddar. And crisp bread sticks, flavored with rosemary and olive oil, are great with freshly "chunked" Parmigiano-Reggiano.

The temperature at which you serve cheese is also very important. Make sure to check this with the cheese seller. An ice-cold Brie is much less appealing than one that is room temperature, creamy and slightly runny.

Keep cheeses in the crisper of the refrigerator, wrapped in cheesecloth, parchment paper or the wrapping used by the cheese store. Completely enclosing the cheese in plastic wrap or foil does not let it breathe. If these are the only materials you have on hand, leave the rind exposed so air can reach the cheese. Most cheeses should be removed from the refrigerator 45 minutes to an hour before being served.

A cheese course following the dinner is a lovely gesture. Keep it small, however, and be sure the cheese is extra special. Cheese courses have long been very popular in restaurants in France, followed by rich desserts.

These days, with so many people watching their weight, we often choose either cheese or dessert. But if, perchance, you come across a cheese that is utterly fabulous, offer it with abandon -- and hope that some remains to enjoy while you're washing the dishes.

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