So many of us who claim to be cheese lovers know very little about the condiment. With numerous varieties available in the market, all some care about is that it goes well with almost anything you eat. To break down the big world of cheese for you, CE speaks with culinary experts in the city who help us with names, kinds and various dishes cheese is used in.
Chef Kailash, executive chef at Novotel Hyderabad, says that certain kinds of cheese depend on the country of origin. “Right now, the cheese we use comes from France and Italy. Most of the cheese that we use are cheddar, Emmental, Brie, Edam and the blue cheese. Apart from these, there are dishes such as cheese fondue and Roquefort cheese, which are put under the heat lamp. When they melt, you pour it onto vegetables such as potatoes or a meat dish. They can also be used in sauces for pasta. The parmesan cheese we use is from Italy, so its flavour and salt content give the dish the aroma it needs. Six varieties of cheese are commonly used and parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella top the list. Their combination gives a dish the salty flavour.”
Maseera Fatima, a food blogger, explains about cheese that she has been experimenting with. “There are 7 different varieties and I use mozzarella, which is the most common of all. This one can change the taste of the dish completely. Add a little of this cheese and it will go a long way. It goes well with everything.” Gangoni Ganesh Kumar, sous chef at Mercur Hotel, shares about the common types of cheese used in Hyderabad. “At the hotel, we use processed cheese for kababs, mozzarella in pizzas, and parmesan in pastas. Bocconcini cheese, which is also called baby mozzarella popularly, is used in the palette. On the other hand, cream cheese is used in desserts such as cheese cakes which are a popular favourite. Mascarpone is used in tiramisu, which is an Italian cheese. Altogether, we use seven varieties of cheese here,” he says.
An acquired taste
“Blue cheese, which has live bacteria, goes well with breakfast. You can literally see the worms in it; this cheese has a peculiar smell which makes it rare and expensive. It is commonly used in pastas and homemade-stuffed pastas. It is sour and bitter to taste,” he explains. On the other hand, Raclette needs to be melted and is best paired with grilled meats such as pork and beef. All these cheese, there are over 100 in the world, get their names based on their texture, Ganesh explains.