Cheese is having a moment — a big moment. From the flood of books and Instagram accounts guiding you to the perfect cheese board to the question of hard cheese versus soft, it can be a bit overwhelming. Hannah Morrow, senior cheesemonger at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, joined host Henry Santoro on Morning Edition to cut through the cheese, if you will, and discuss how to build a beautiful and delicious holiday spread. This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Henry Santoro: You work at a tremendous store. And Ihsan and Valerie Gurdal, who own Formaggio Kitchen, have been way ahead of the game for years when it comes to cheese. Tell us, just sort of walk us through the store. What's in there?
Hannah Morrow: Once you come into the store, it's definitely European-centric with a lot of products from France, Italy and Spain. But as well as a lot of domestic products, as well as Canada, and products that have been made for made with local ingredients that you really can't find anywhere else.
Santoro: What are some basic rules when it comes to sort of the number of cheeses to feature, depending on how many people you have? And what is the formula when it comes to hard cheese versus soft?
Morrow: We like to put three cheeses — a cow, a goat and a sheep — on a cheese plate, along with some accompaniments that aren't overwhelming. And of course, if you want to go a little bit more interesting, for example, caramel corn or pistachio cream, as opposed to the typical fruit or honey or nuts.
Santoro: Or, of course, some cured meats as well.
Morrow: Definitely add some cured meats onto your plate.
Santoro: Are you a fan of stinky cheese?
Morrow: I love stinky cheese. Many people go for taleggio, but we have a lot more options. I don't know if anyone follows Formaggio Kitchen on Instagram, but recently we featured manigodine, which is sort of like a reblochon — you just can't get reblochon in the U.S. because it's a raw milk cheese that is aged less than 60 days. So manigodine is a good sort of replacement. It's a little bit funky, a little bit grassy, definitely creamy and gooey, and that's probably my favorite right now.
Santoro: My knowledge of Formaggio Kitchen is that Ihsan is a real purist when it when it comes to cheese. Do you guys even regard vegan cheese as cheese?
Morrow: A lot of people come in and they ask for vegan cheese. That's not something that we really represent. We are focusing on the thousands of cheeses that are out there that are made with the standard ingredients: rennet, milk and salt.
Santoro: How about your favorite cheese right now? What would you put on your holiday table?
Morrow: So we have a lot of really, really interesting cheeses from Switzerland in now, including vacherin mont d'or, which is another washed rind cheese that looks great on a cheese plate. Washed rind cheese meaning that it's a little bit softer and funky. So I would definitely put that on my cheese plate. We have seven vintages of comté from France at the moment. Two of them, we don't usually have the grand cru and the extra grand cru — a little bit more nutty, intense, with those tyrosine crunchy crystals you find in aged gouda and aged cheddars. That would be on my plate as well. And then one of our really special Italian robiola, a mixed milk — usually goat and sheep or goat and cows milk — cheese from northern Italy.
Santoro: And let's talk about getting that cheese in your mouth. Do you put it on bread? Do you put it on crackers? Do you put it with a piece of cured meat? What's the best way to go about it?
Morrow: It changes depending on the cheese quite a bit. I like to suggest my favorite crackers, usually letting that cheese shine. Or if it's a softer cheese, maybe a nice piece of baguette. If it's a funkier cheese, maybe some type of meat to accentuate the funkiness in the cheese. Or sometimes it's a standalone cheese that you just want to eat by itself, like parmigiano.
Santoro: A nice hard cheese like a parmigiano. Or you might want to put a drop of aged balsamic on there too. Hannah Morrow, thank you so much for this cheese course.
