We’ve all heard wine experts waxing lyrical about wines, the bouquet, the aroma, whether a particular wine has legs. If you aren’t au fait with the expressions then it can all sound like someone is speaking another language entirely! When it comes to wine tasting we’ve come to expect discussion and debate about wine but what about cheese?
Cheese tasting is taking off in the UK in a big way. We are a nation of cheese lovers and it would seem many of us have decided it is time to try a wider variety of cheeses and to learn more about them. All across the country clubs and groups are holding cheese tastings sessions, cheese schools are opening up and courses and cheese tasting events are becoming increasingly popular.
Tasting cheese is becoming a pastime and just like with wine tasting enjoyment of cheese can be enhanced by greater understanding of how to taste cheese and knowledge about cheeses, how they are made, the history of particular types of cheeses etc.
By understanding more about cheese it can help to create the perfect cheeseboard for different occasions and pairing the right foods and drinks to particular cheeses can all add to the experience.
If you fancy yourself as a cheese connoisseur then you’ll want to understand the language and terms that go hand in hand with cheese tasting.
Cheese can be complex so as you might expect there are lots of different characteristics to consider when tasting cheese. Here is a quick overview of the language you will hear amongst cheese tasters.
Cheese flavour
Grassy, nutty, floral, piquant, barny (as in like a barnyard!), butter, lactic, brothy, smoky. Grassy and barny might not sound great when it comes to describing something you are going to eat but depending on the cheese the above can all be attributes. However soapy, ammoniated or acrid are terms you might hear which are definitely not good!
Cheese textures
Soft, firm, crumbly, silky, chalky, buttery, close (smooth with no cracks or holes), hard or semi-hard.
Cheese aroma
Barnyardy, smoky, citrusy, lemony or earthy.
Other terms you might hear include:
• à point – French for on point this means that a cheese is at its peak and it is the perfect time to eat it.
• eyes – the word used to describe the holes commonly found in Swiss type cheeses
• raw – when a cheese is made from unpasteurised milk
• artisan – cheese which has been produced in small batched usually by a traditional methods.
Of course tasting anything is subjective and we all smell, taste and describe things differently so when it comes to discussing cheese don’t feel confined to cheese terminology! However some of the terms above might come in handy next time you find yourself choosing cheese in a specialist cheese shop or if you want to impress at a cheese and wine tasting!
