Cheese Lovers Unite!
I have eaten cheese all my life. As a child, it was Kraft American Cheese Slices and Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese, in the iconic green shaker can. Both I learned when I got to college were not real cheese; they were processed cheese. And, I have not eaten either since I went to college.
I learned how to eat real cheese in my 20s, or the types of cheese you would find in Europe that have taste, smell, and will mold. Such as soft cheese, like brie, semi-soft cheese, like Havarti, medium-hard cheese, like Emmental and Gruyere, and hard cheese, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano (the real Parmesan cheese) and Pecorino.
I was curious to see who else in our Local Guides Connect Community enjoys eating eats cheese. Last Saturday, on May 23rd, I hosted the 1st ever VIRTUAL: Cheese Lovers Social meetup using Google Hangouts.
The passionate 7 Cheese-Loving Local Guides who participated came from 5 countries:
- North America – U.S.A. (@kwiksatik)
- South America – Argentina (@FaridMonti)
- Europe – Italy (@Giuseppe75, @ermest, @LuigiZ) & Greece (@Stella2)
- Australia – Sydney (@PennyChristie)
Our meetup lasted over 90 minutes!
As with my last four virtual meetups, Parent Talk, Wine Lovers, Coffee Lovers, Tea Lovers, we easily surpassed the scheduled 1-hour virtual meetup by over 30 minutes.
It turned out we received master classes in:
- Italian cheeses from Ermes, Giuseppe, and Luigi
- Cypriot cheese from Penny
- Greek cheeses from Stella
Our discussion covered:
- Your favorite types of cheeses and their makers?
- How do you serve cheese at home? Beverage choices for your cheese?
- What are your cheese-eating/making/buying tips?
- Best place to buy or eat cheese in your city/town? (provide Local Guides link)
We started our meetup by taking virtual tours of each of our cheese platters.
Sharing our Cheese Stories
I shared that I wanted to host this meetup because of Giuseppe.
During last year’s Connect Live 2019, he brought me a gift of Parmesan from Parma, where he lives. Parma is world-famous for both Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano. My family has slowly been grating Giuseppe’s thoughtful gift on pasta and pizza since last November.
My love for cheese is not as deep as Italians or Greeks. Still, as I mentioned in my introduction to this recap, I do enjoy:
- Soft cheeses, such as double cream French brie (in grilled cheese sandwiches or by itself), fresh mozzarella (pizza), including buffalo mozzarella (Caprese Salad)
- Semi-hard cheese, such as Provolone
- Hard cheeses, such as Parmesan (in pesto sauce), Pecorino, and Spanish Manchego
My family also eats cheese in the form of crackers, snacks, and in bread and on pasta: cheddar cheese crackers, string cheese (a type of mozzarella), crunchy cheese puffs, and store-bought cheese bread.
Because I am lactose-intolerant as an adult, I eat cheese at home, and not every day. I don’t order a cheese platter or a creamy, rich cheese dish at a restaurant because of my lactose-intolerance.
Megan shared she eats some cheese almost every day. It is one of her favorite ways to add a touch of flavor to a dish. The two kinds of cheese she showed us were from Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, an artisan cheese company based in Seattle, Washington. They have a store in Pike’s Place Market where you can watch their cheese production through the window. She also shared another Pacific Northwest favorite cheese company, Tillamook, which is famous for its cheddar cheeses. Her family loves a good cheeseboard. They frequently make cheeseboards in place of a meal. They often add various cured meats, jams, fruits and vegetables, oils and vinegars, herbs, and chocolates.
Megan shared she often makes herself a small cheese board as a form of self-care after her children have gone to bed at night. Her favorite cheese is Romano, and she enjoys drinking either fruit waters or wine while eating her cheese.
Farid shared he eats cheese every day. Eating cheese is an integral part of Argentina’s food culture.
Farid loves Argentinian cheeses, Italian cheeses, blue cheeses (in particular Roquefort), cheesecakes, flavored cream cheese spreads, semi-hard cheeses, such as Gouda. His favorite cheese is Fynbo, a semi-hard Danish cheese.
To read more about Farid’s passion for cheese, check out his recent “In Love with Cheese” Connect post.
What is Halloumi?
Penny shared her love for cheese is based on her cultural heritage: Halloumi cheese from the island of Cyprus. She eats this cheese almost every day. It’s the cheese she would bring as a gift.
Not only is Halloumi delicious, but it is also very versatile. Penny shared you can purchase individual blocks of Halloumi cheese packaged fresh in brine, or buy it in a bucket with approximately ten blocks in brine.
The Halloumi in the buckets is generally saltier and harder than the individual packs.
Penny says she uses these hard, salty blocks for grating onto her macaroni and pasta. She dices it and adds it into Trahana, a traditional Cypriot soup.
Halloumi is served at every Greek and Cypriot restaurant grilled on a plate with a lemon.
Vegetarians use Halloumi as a meat substitute in burgers and skewers. It is one of the only cheeses which will hold its shape when cooked.
The most popular way to eat Halloumi, especially in the hot summer months, is cut into slices with cold pieces of watermelon. Take a bite of each together; it is a real delight.
If Penny could only eat one cheese for the rest of her life, it would, of course, be Halloumi cheese and drink a cold “shandy,” which is a mixture of ice-cold beer and lemonade. In Australia, lemonade is what Aussie calls lemon drinks like Sprite or 7Up.
Penny shared some awesome facts and history about Halloumi cheese here and here. And if you are interested in making halloumi cheese at home, It is a long process and usually takes about four hours - click for the recipe.
For the love of Greek cheeses
Stella shared in Greece that there is no table without cheese. It’s like bread. Cheese is served as part of every meal, from breakfast to dinner. She showed and described the types of Greek cheeses.
Greeks eat cheese with spoon-sweets, such as figs, cherries, or tomato jam, fresh and dried fruit, and nuts. Stella enjoys drinking chilled white wine, in particular, Malaguzia while eating cheese.
Stella made fried sesame feta cheese (recipe) for us. She shared it is eaten as a dessert or as an appetizer with either bread or crackers. Stella’s favorite cheese, of course, is Greek feta cheese.
The Italians
Ermes, Giuseppe, and Luigi live in different parts of Italy. They all enjoy eating cheese as part of the meal, or as an ingredient incorporated into the meal. Of course, cheese and wine go together, either red wine (Ermes), Chianti (Luigi), or Lambrusco, a sparkling wine (Giuseppe).
For Italians, a “fast meal,” or an informal family meal that is served during the weekdays, would include two courses: a pasta dish and then a cheese platter with cured meat like salami or prosciutto.
In a more formal dinner, either entertaining at home or dining at a restaurant with friends, a cheese platter would be served at the end of the dinner with fruit, before dessert.
Ermes shared his Connect post: Eat Italy - the Italian way of food, which gives more detail when and where cheese is served during the meal. He likes to eat his cheese with taralii, a dry Italian breadstick, or pretzel instead of bread to reduce his carb intake.
Ermes shared a brief history of Italian cheeses by showing different cheeses to us:
- Pecorino, a sheep’s milk cheese produced in central Italy
- Caprino, a goat’s milk cheese produced in Alto Adige (Alps)
- Montasio, a cow’s milk cheese produced on the slopes of Mount Grappa
- Robiola, a cow’s milk spread cheese produced in the Treviso area
- Buffalo mozzarella, typical of Campania but in this case produced near Treviso
- Smoked Scamorza, a cow’s milk cheese produced in many areas of South of Italy
He loves eating Pecorino but will always bring buffalo (or bufala) mozzarella as a gift because it made in his region of Treviso.
Giuseppe shared that the Italian city he lives in, Parma, is one of the Italian provinces (including also Reggio Emilia, Modena, and parts of Bologna and Mantua) that produces Parmigiano Reggiano, or parmesan cheese. This particular Parmesan is legally-protected by using an official mark (or tattoo) “Parmigiano-Reggiano” (with a Protected Designations of Origin (or PDO)) – under both Italian and European Union law.
Giuseppe showed us how to serve Parmigiano Reggiano with a designated Parmigiano Reggiano knife properly. One stabs the cheese wedge and pick at into “nuggets” fall off it. He likes to drink red wine or a Lambrusco with it.
Besides grating it on pizza or pasta, he enjoys eating Parmigiano Reggiano with honey, fresh fruit, nuts, of course, Prosciutto di Parma, and a glazed balsamic vinegar.
He is happy to give Parmigiano Reggiano as gifts within and outside of Italy.
Luigi shared he lives in central Italy and enjoys eating Pecorino, which also has EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status, like Parmigiano Reggiano, too.
He showed the group three kinds of Pecorino cheeses made with sheep’s milk from small, regional family-owned cheesemakers, not big cheese brand names:
- Aged - with hay encased around the cheese
- Mid-aged inside Chianti wine - smells like Chianti, but does not taste like Chianti
- Young, soft to the touch with some give
What are our favorite cheese brands?****
Cheese – No particular order
- Valsana
- Pittas Cheese
- Beecher’s Homemade Cheese
- Trader Joe’s (reasonably priced cheese from around the world)
- Whole Foods Market (extensive selection of cheese, locally and internationally)
- Costco (reasonably priced cheeses from around the world in bulk)
Where do you go to eat or buy your cheese?
Here is our group’s Google Maps List to our favorite 17 places to buy or eat cheese:
Do you love eating cheese? Share your country’s cheese-eating or cheese buying customs below.
Cheers,
Karen
Next Virtual: Cheese Lovers Social Meetup
If you are interested in attending, please comment below. I am happy to host again up to 9 Local Guides who want to share and talk about their love for cheese.
My Next Virtual Meetup is this Saturday, May 30th.
The topic will be about ice cream (or frozen desserts): “Show & Tell” Ice Cream Lovers Social. There is a growing Waitlist. I am happy to host a future virtual meetup. Please comment and tag me in the Ice Cream Lovers Social link.
What are “Show & Tell” Virtual Meetups?
My meetups are small in size because I use the free version of Google Hangouts, which has a maximum of up to 10 participants, including me, as the host. The purpose of my Saturday 1-hour virtual meetups is for the Local Guide, who wants to fully interact, “Show & Tell” their favorite things, with up to 9 other Local Guides.
. The recap is fabulous, pictures are wonderful and all those cheeses make me hungry again LOL 
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or 45 minutes before gym 
. I didn’t know how to show that in camera and I came with that LOL.