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Weekly Trivia |
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Question: Why does some cheese have holes in it? Where do the holes come from?
Find out in the next Artisanal e-newsletter!
- The Artisanal Staff
Last Time We Asked: Why are some cheeses wrapped in leaves? Does it effect the cheese?
Answer: Before there was paper available to wrap young fresh cheeses, leaves made a great semi-permeable wrapping for those cheeses. The leaves, like paper would allow the cheeses to breathe (cheeses being the ''living'' foods that they are require some air exchange in order to develop to their fullest potentials, and to prevent ''suffocation'' which can leave cheeses a little stale) and so, certain leaves were selected for cheese wrapping because they not only allowed the cheeses to breathe, but they would also in many cases give pleasant flavor profiles to the cheeses contained therein.
One might argue that the cheese flavor should not be altered with a leaf wrap that would leave its own distinct imprint. Yet in many cases that leaf choice might not only be the ideal wrapper for the cheese but the flavor contributed might be an attractive one. In some instances, not only would the leaf itself give a nice flavor note to the cheese but the leaf might be macerated in a liqueur or some other spirit that would add an extra depth of flavor, as in the gorgeous Rogue River Blue.
The choice of leaf can certainly alter the flavor of a cheese, so for the ''purists'' this may seem to be an undesirable alternative to paper. However we should keep in mind that leaves have been around a lot longer than paper, particularly in the west from which most of the world's best cheeses hail.
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