Did you know that May is American Cheese Month? According to The American Cheese Education Foundation, this “is a grassroots celebration of North America’s delicious and diverse cheeses, and the farmers, cheesemakers, retailers, cheesemongers, and chefs who bring them to your table.” Originally held in October every year, in 2019, American Cheese Month was moved to May to better support the needs of US cheesemakers and retailers.
As a cheeseaholic and a big supporter of local producers and local cheese-related events, I was very happy to learn about American Cheese Month 🙂 I eat cheese daily and I like to showcase it in my dishes very often, and setting aside a month to emphasize its delicious versatility and the creativity of the many hands and minds working in the dairy industry sounded like a great idea!
My love affair with cheese goes back to my childhood, when I would observe my mom make soft cheese, in an effort to use any drop of milk that might have otherwise gone to waste. I loved the silky texture of soft cheese, as well as the milky aroma permeating the cheese cloth, reverberating through our kitchen for days on end.
Sometimes my dad would bring home a piece of feta, its sharp savoriness cutting through the simple polenta, filling our bellies with the promise of a good night sleep.
Very rarely, I would come across cheddar cheese, its faint yellowness and salty rind keeping the excitement alive in our minds for awhile. Those were the days of uttermost simplicity. A slice of cheese, a loaf of bread, with pungent onion completing the triad. The taste of home…
Now that summer is approaching, I tend to use cheese in baked goods less, and more with our breakfast, as snacks, and in grazing boards such as the one pictured below.
I love quick grazing boards made with readily available ingredients from the fridge & pantry. This board contains an assortment of sweet and savory treats, including several award-winning artisan cheeses I found at Aldi recently: Carr Valley Cheese Mobay (layers of sheep and goat cheese with grape vine ash); Fontina de Provence (Fontina cheese hand rubbed with a blend of Herbes de Provence); Cocoa Cardona (goat’s milk cheese with a cocoa powder rind)
For long-term storage, I store most types of cheese in the freezer even though I know that some suffer textural modifications and become grainy (I use cheeses that fall into this category in casseroles, where textural imperfections are less of an issue for our family) But, how do you store cheese in the fridge with no decrease in taste or texture quality, and worst of all, without mold? As I know from experience (oops!), cheese can mold when improperly wrapped due to the non-porous nature of conventional storage materials, which trap all the moisture, allowing water to accumulate, causing mold, and accelerating spoilage. How to prevent this?
According to a recent NYT Cooking article, “cheese paper — that is, opaque paper covered with a thin layer of wax or plastic in varying compositions — is ideal for wrapping everything except fresh cheeses like ricotta, feta and mozzarella (which should stay in their original packaging with their brine). And yes, for cheeses cut in pieces that you buy wrapped in plastic, it’s a good idea to re-wrap if you’d like them to last longer.” Enter Formaticum, who sent me some of their cheese bags to try out recently.
Formaticum was started in 2006 by cheese business pro Mark Goldman, and their cheese paper and bags have received rave reviews ever since. Their Classic Cheese Storage Bags are made in France and are perfect for quick cleanup of leftovers and for gift giving purposes. You can reuse the same bag for the same type of cheese until butterfat stains become visible on the paper, then switch it out for a new one!
Meanwhile, Formaticum’s Reusable Cheese Storage Bags maintain freshness and flavor even longer in a quick, easy-to-use bag. Made of calcium carbonate and polyethylene, this material is 100% recyclable and is also porous enough to let cheese breathe while retaining ample humidity to prevent it from drying out.
I have thoroughly enjoyed using Formaticum bags to extend the life of my recent Carr Valley cheese purchases. The bags are sturdy and beautiful, and they have performed well for their intended purpose. I was also surprised and impressed to learn that these bags can be used in other ways, too! As stated on the Formaticum website,
“Our bags and paper are perfect for storing all kinds of food products to preserve their flavor and extend shelf life. Here are some of our favorite uses for our products:
- We use Cheese Storage Paper for charcuterie and sandwiches.
- We use Cheese Storage Bags for sandwiches, sausages, and snacks.
- Our Reusable Cheese Storage bags and sheets are perfect for storing fruits and vegetables, including lettuce, mushrooms, and fresh herbs. They’re also great for keeping those pesky avocado halves green for the next meal!”
This makes Formaticum products an even better investment than I originally thought. I look forward to using the bags with produce soon 🙂
For additional cheese storage resources, I highly recommend Formaticum’s “Cheese Storage 101” section, which can be accessed here.
You are welcome to check out my blog for recipes/recipe suggestions with cheese posted over the years here. Fresh mozzarella is one of my all-time favorite cheeses, and you can find it highlighted here, here, here and here. And what about one of the most popular uses of mozzarella, in pizza? Check out my Chicago deep dish pizza post here.
Do you have a favorite type of cheese? Let me know in the comments 🙂
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