Food and wine pairings made simple
Advice from the experts will help you create an effortless tasting party at home, Laura Brehaut writes.
CHEESE FRICOS
Augment your cheese board with a cheese-centric recipe from Milk Made by Nick Haddow (Hardie Grant/Chronicle Books, 2016). Haddow is founder of Bruny Island Cheese Company in Tasmania, Australia. In Milk Made, he explores the tradition of cheesemaking, and profiles leading cheeses and cheesemakers from around the world. Sommelier Debbie Trenholm’s wine pairing suggestions follow.
Makes: about 25 5 cups (1.25 L) or 18 oz (500 g) finely grated hard cheese (see note) 1 tbsp (15 mL) all-purpose flour
1. In a mixing bowl, combine the cheese and flour, ensuring that the flour completely coats all of the cheese.
2. Heat your heaviest frying pan over a low-medium heat. A nonstick pan works well and a wellseasoned cast-iron pan is even better. If you don’t have either of these, lightly coat your pan with oil spray to stop the cheese from sticking.
3. Take a heaped tablespoon of the cheese mixture and sprinkle it in the pan to form a circle about 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. You can use an egg ring to form the circle, but you will need to remove it before the cheese melts and sticks to it. After a minute or two the cheese will start to melt and bond together like lace. When the edges start to look golden brown, carefully flip the disc with a spatula and cook for a further minute on the other side.
4. Immediately remove the disc with the spatula and drape over a rolling pin or laid-down wine bottle to cool. As soon as it cools, it will keep this shape.
5. Repeat this process with the remaining cheese mixture. Keeping the pan at the right temperature is critical — if it gets too hot, let it cool before you proceed. Store your fricos in an airtight container for up to a week. Serve as a snack or crumble over salads.
Note: The Italians use Montasio, a delicious hard, cooked curd cheese from the north of Italy. Any hard cheese will do, or even better, mix it up.
Wine pairing: Trenholm recommends pairing these fricos with a sparkling wine (“hands down”). Alternatively, try a Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio. Cheese is surely one of life’s great culinary pleasures, complex in flavour and texture.
Lucky for us, there are abundant varieties made by artisans from coast to coast.
Add a selection of local wines, some accompaniments and a few friends, and you’ve got a pairing party of the nearly effortless kind.
With advice from “cheese sommelier” (a.k.a. maître fromager) Vanessa Simmons and accredited sommelier Debbie Trenholm, both of the Ottawa-based Savvy Company, and Jesse Vallins, complex cheese pairings instructor at George Brown College and executive chef at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Tavern, you’ll be prepared to create your own tasting party at home.
FLIGHTS OF CHEESE
Borrow a concept from the wine world and compose a horizontal flight of cheese: cheeses made in the same style, at the same age but from different cheesemakers.
Simmons suggests including various milks and regions, and tasting to identify similarities and differences within a single type.
“The conversations that will happen will just be terrific,” Trenholm says. Have several bottles of different wines open so guests can experiment with their own pairings.
“Buy three different types of cheddars from three different cheesemakers. They will all taste different, they will all have a different flavour profile while still respecting some of the buttery, sharp and fruity characteristics that cheddar will have,” Simmons says.
OR … RUN THE GAMUT
“I think it’s more interesting to go with different styles of cheese in general. So you would have something fresh, maybe a fresh buffalo mozzarella or a fresh burrata. And do a goat cheese, say Grey Owl (Fromagerie Le Detour), and then to something softer or maybe washed rind like Le 1608 (Laiterie Charlevoix) or Upper Canada Cheese Company Comfort Cream,” Vallins says.
“Moving over to the harder cheeses, aged cheddar or Goudastyle, and moving up to a blue. You don’t necessarily have to have six or seven but if you can, get one in a few of those categories and have a nice variety. And then different wines to go with those. It’s a lot of fun.”
Vallins recommends ideally having five different bottles of wine open to pair with this type of board: a sparkling (either white or rosé) such as Nova 7 by Benjamin Bridge; a high-acid white like Charles Baker Riesling; a “richer, deeper white, something with a little bit of oak treatment” such as Le Clos Jordanne Chardonnay; a “rich and round” red with oak treatment and caramel notes such as Leaning Post Wines Merlot; and a dessert wine such as Icewine, late harvest Riesling or Mistelle (a type of fortified wine), such as Lighthall Vineyards Muté.
EMBELLISH YOUR BOARD WITH ACCOMPANIMENTS
“Some people are purists and they don’t like having anything with their cheese. I’m a bit looser — I like having toast or crackers,” Vallins says. “The classic accompaniments are great — nuts, dried fruits, bread and charcuterie.”
If you’re setting out jams or other preserves, be aware that too much sweetness could affect the balance of the pairing, especially if you’re pouring dry wines, he adds.
Simmons suggests incorporating textural elements like honeycomb or seed crackers, and thinking local with products like hot pepper jelly or honey.
BREAK OUT THE BUBBLY
Because of the level of fat in cheese, Vallins says the “cutting factor” of your accompanying beverage is an important consideration.
A wine has to be able to penetrate the richness of the cheese and refresh your palate — something that sparkling wine does particularly well.
“Sparkling wine and cheese is fantastic because it’s got that high acid. It’s got carbonation. On top of that, it’s got nice complementary flavours with cheese, like with the fruit flavours.”
One of Vallins’ favourite Canadian sparkling wines is the aforementioned Nova 7, which is made by Benjamin Bridge in Nova Scotia’s Gaspereau Valley. It’s an offdry, Moscato d’Asti-style wine that he says would make an excellent choice as an “across-the-board wine that could be just as comfortable pairing with a fresh burrata as a blue cheese.”
Trenholm also likes to pair sparkling wine with cheeses, saying: “My favourite combination is something salty with sparkling wine. The salt crystals (in the cheese) explode in your mouth when touched with the bubbles of sparkling wine — it’s kind of like fireworks in your mouth.”
Master the art of cheese pairings with guidance from “cheese sommelier” Vanessa Simmons, accredited sommelier Debbie Trenholm, and Jesse Vallins, certified sommelier and executive chef at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Tavern.
1 What to look for. “With any kind of pairing, you’re looking for balance. You’re looking for harmony in your mouth … You’re looking to make one or both sides of the pairing better,” Vallins says. “You can follow the rules and what experts say, (but) at the end of the day, listen to your own mouth.” 2
Consider intensity. Vallins offers the example of Le Riopelle de l’Isle — “a big, rich, buttery, triple cream cheese” — made by Fromagerie Îleaux-Grues in Quebec. If you were to pair it with a light-bodied wine, the nuances in the beverage would be lost. Likewise, pairing buffalo mozzarella or ricotta with a bold red would “totally obliterate the flavour” of the fresh cheese. 3
How much cheese should you buy? For a tasting of five or more cheeses, buy 30-60 grams (1-2 oz) of each cheese per person. Round up if your guests are cheese lovers or if you’re serving fewer cheeses. Round down if you’re serving other dishes or presenting more cheeses. 4
What temperature should it be? Serve cheese at room temperature. Simmons recommends taking the cheese out of the fridge at least 45 minutes before guests arrive. As you’re taking the cheese out, put your white and sparkling wines in the fridge to chill, Trenholm says. While most reds will be stored and served at room temperature, she prefers to chill her Pinot Noir and Gamay Noir in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before serving. 5
Start with a tasting pour: (3060 mL/1-2 oz). “A variety of wine goes a long way. Not every bit of cheese has to have a swig of wine. They should be enjoyed on their own separately and then played together to discover that taste,” Trenholm says. 6
“Red wine and cheese is a bit of a fallacy,” Vallins says. “It doesn’t actually work that well and it really shocks a lot of people.” As a rule of thumb, he suggests experimenting with dessert, fortified, sparkling, and off-dry white wines instead. “It’s a lot easier to make a great pairing than it is with reds. To me, the whole phrase ‘wine and cheese’ comes from sweet, sparkling and fortified wine.” 7
Use a separate knife for each cheese — this will prevent the muddying of flavours. Additionally, make sure that each knife can stand up to actually cutting the cheeses it’s partnered with, especially with firmer varieties, Simmons says. 8
What order do you go in? Basic principles of progression apply, whether composing vertical or horizontal flights, or a spectrum of styles: young to old; mild to strong; and blues are always last. 9
It’s a cheese faux pas to cut the “nose.” The very tip of a wedge of cheese represents the heart of the wheel. It has a very different character than the rest of the cheese and is definitely worth sharing. If you’re cutting from a wedge, slice off the side and be sure to take the accompanying bit of rind, too. If it’s a wheel, cut a slice from centre to rind as you would a piece of cake (if it’s a soft cheese, don’t scoop out the centre). 10
When do you eat the rind? If the rind is made of wax, don’t eat it, Simmons says. Otherwise the choice is entirely up to the eater. 11
How should you wrap leftovers? Simmons recommends only buying what you need: “What’s good this week may not be great next week. It’s more like a ‘just in time’ type of experience.” If you do have leftovers, use cheese, parchment or wax paper, or a reusable product like Abeego. Avoid plastic wrap. You can also put wrapped cheese in a plastic bag or resealable container for a few days. Or better yet, make fromage fort — a French spread made by blending leftover cheeses, wine, garlic and seasonings (see Jacques Pépin’s recipe on food52.com).