Food tips – cheese

Food tips – cheese

0

This Week’s Food Tips

Cheese

This month, the Crier will be featuring weekly “Food Tips” from Foodland Ontario.   We hope you enjoy these interesting facts and tips about buying, storing and using fresh Ontario products.

Buying and Storing

Fresh cheese (eg. cream cheese, ricotta, cottage cheese) lasts two weeks or more and has the shortest shelf life of all the categories of cheese. Check the best-before date on the label. It does not freeze well.
Wrap soft cheese (eg. brie, camembert, feta), in foil or plastic wrap and store about 2 weeks, away from foods with strong odours.
Semi-soft (eg. mozzarella, bocconcini, monterey jack) cheeses range from mild to sharp. Store in original packaging in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator for up to a month.
If mould starts to form, remove affected area, wrap cheese in a paper towel and re-package.
Firm Ontario cheeses (eg. cheddar, Swiss, emmental, etc.) should keep well for several months in the refrigerator and continue to develop flavour as they ripen.
Wrap hard cheese (eg. parmesan, asiago) well in foil and keep in a plastic container. The refrigerator’s vegetable drawer is ideal for storage.
To freeze hard cheese, whole or grated for gratins, wrap well and cool in refrigerator before freezing. Let thaw slowly in fridge before serving.

   Bites

Canadian cheesemaking began in early 1600 when Samuel de Champlain brought cattle to Quebec.
French settlers brought recipes for ripened cheeses while the United Empire Loyalists brought recipes for British-style Cheddar.
By Confederation, in 1867, Ontario had 200 cheese factories.

When preparing a cheese tray or board beforehand, cover with plastic wrap or a moist tea towel to prevent the cheese from drying out or absorbing other aromas.
To experience the full flavour of Ontario cheese, remove from refrigerator 45 minutes before serving.
Goat cheese is also known as chèvre – the French word for goat.
Ontario goat cheese, with its creamy texture, is lower in calories and fat than many other types of cheese. A 1 oz (28 g) serving has about 70 calories and 6 grams of fat.
Some people who have trouble digesting cheese made from cow’s milk are able to enjoy products made from goat milk.
Spread soft cheeses on crusty bread and serve with a glass of red wine or add to sandwiches and hot soup.
Firm cheeses keep well and can be used in many recipes, from pasta and omelets to sandwiches and salads.
Hard cheeses are long-aged with a sharp, complex flavour and dry, hard texture that’s good for eating and grating over vegetables, gratins, quiche and pizza.

  • Printed with permission from Foodland Ontario and the Dairy Farmers of Ontario

SIMILAR ARTICLES