Hi readers!
Welcome to Tuesday Cheese Tips — and today’s tip is an important one.
You should always “face” your cheese before you serve it — unless it is freshly cut or has been wrapped in special cheese paper.
I’m not talking about turning to your cheese and dealing with problems.
I mean using a knife to remove a thin outer layer from your cheese to optimize freshness and taste — especially if it has been wrapped in plastic wrap.
Why should you do this?
Think of a wheel of cheese like a piece of fruit — it begins to lose freshness the moment you cut into it, and the more surface area is exposed, the more quickly it dries out.
That’s why “facing” the cheese can keep it fresher and tastier, longer.
Basically, you’re cutting off the dried out part and exposing the virgin cheese underneath.
Then the cheese won’t be dry or taste like plastic wrap.
Facing is also useful for removing any mold that might grow on the paste of the cheese.
Yep, you can scrape it right off. The back of a knife works well for firm cheeses.
I “clean cheese” all the time at the shop. Maybe a video is in order.
Speaking of faces, yesterday we lost the legendary Roberta Flack.
May her memory be a blessing, and her amazing music be her immortality.
Until next time, cheese lovers!
Curd Culture is a reader supported publication. Thank you for supporting my dream of using my cheese experience to make a difference on two issues I care about: sustainable family farming and animal welfare.
Yay, I’m not the only one who eats cheese from which I’ve removed the mold. 😁✌🏻
Is it because I buy mass-produced cheese in the grocery store? I've never noticed any difference between the outer surface of the cheese and its insides. Is it because the whole brick is hopeless?