The Wonderful World of Natural Cheeses

It's my obsession. I can't pass a gourmet cheese counter without checking the offerings, just like a wine connoisseur who spends hours in a wine shop studying the labels.

It's the natural cheeses that interest me. Knowing that there are 400 different types of cheeses, available in several thousand varieties from all over the world, I have this urge to update my cheese vocabulary and learn more about the many great cheeses available on the market today.

Each time I visit a trendy natural foods superstore, I get the feeling that the cheese counter has expanded. New cheeses, especially imports from Europe, turn up all the time. When buying cheese, I usually strike up a conversation with the cheese clerks. I suggest you get to know the sales clerk or "cheesemonger" (the official title), who will be most eager to share knowledge with you. The cheesemonger will give expert advice and, once you make your tastes and preferences known, can direct you to the cheese varieties you will probably like best. Usually, you'll get to try some new ones, which, to your own surprise, may even become your favourites. I encourage you to adventure out and try a new cheese every so often, not the same variety you always buy.

A Childhood Love

My love for cheese was sparked during my early childhood. I grew up in a village of eight dairy farmers who supplied their milk to the three village cheese factories, where Havarti, Farmers', and Camembert were made. In my early teens, I worked after school or on weekends in one of the cheese factories, constructing wooden cheese boxes. This gave me the opportunity to observe the fascinating yet simple process of making natural cheeses. At the end of the day I was paid with fresh cheese, of course!

I remember an amusing incident that took place years ago at a specialty cheese shop at the Byward Market in Ottawa when I asked the merchant for some fresh French Camembert. The cheesemonger explained that "fresh Camembert" is an oxymoron. "Fresh doesn't apply to a cheese that's soft ripened and sold at certain stages of aging," he said. "Maybe you'd like a young cheese," he corrected, and then showed me several kinds, probing the softness and letting me smell the mildness of a young Camembert and the strong aroma of a fully ripened one. To drive his point home, he let me sample other types of cheese, both young and aged, for comparison. It was a fascinating, mouth-watering, and enriching experience.

During my travels, I visited many "cheeserias" (small village cheese makers) in Switzerland, Austria, and Italy, including the famous Appenzeller and Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano). What differentiates these cheeses from others is that all hard cheeses from these regions are made from raw unpasteurized milk that comes from cows fed only grass in summer and hay in winter never corn silage. This gives these cheeses their particular aromatic flavour. Fortunately, with the European Union's new regulations, the cheese makers of the alpine regions have upheld their right to make cheeses the traditional way from raw milk, without additives of any kind. This is goods news for those that resist the stricter rules of globalization, which often prevent the production of food in the traditional way.

Where Cheese is Made

Cheese statistics vary a lot depending on whether you look at European or American figures and whether they are for hard cheeses only or include soft and processed cheese. The European Union (made of 12 countries) produces 40 percent of the world's cheese, North America produces 30 percent, Australia/New Zealand 4.3 percent, Poland 2.8 percent, and Switzerland 0.9 percent. The low ranking of Switzerland may come as a surprise, as Switzerland and cheese seem to be synonymous. However, in most industrialized countries, cheeses are predominantly mass-produced in large dairies from pasteurized milk. Not so in Switzerland, where, to this day, most cheeses are still produced locally at small village dairies high up in the mountains made famous in Johanna Spyri's story of Heidi. Swiss-produced cheeses like Emmental, Gruyere, Sbrinz, and Appenzeller remain gourmet specialties, along with hand-made cheeses from France and cheeses from family dairies in North America.

Making Cheese

Processed cheese is made from natural cheese, most often cheddar, combined with milk solids, water, and colouring additives. It is then melted with emulsifiers and chemical ingredients that make the texture smoother. Finally, flavouring substances are added to make the taste more uniform, so that kids love it. Most children, brought up with processed cheese, will not venture into trying any other differently tasting natural cheese. Nutritionally, processed cheeses contain the nutrients found in milk and natural cheese but contain more sodium and as many as 16 different additives and preservatives, including guar gum, carrageenan, and other types of cellulose added for smoothness and moisture retention.

What will the future bring? More selection and variety of natural cheeses as consumer awareness in health and nutrition increases? Or will consumers bend to convenience and pay up to three times more for single-sliced processed cheeses or parmesan from a shaker? It's scary seeing this trend, with about one-third of the cheese display at the supermarkets filled with processed cheese.

On the other hand, there is hope, as people's taste buds discover the gourmet experience of cheese specialties, as natural cheese counters expand, and more new specialty cheese shops open up.