There is a saying that goes “age doesn’t matter, unless you’re cheese.” .” But besides the humor in it, there is also a certain truth behind the joke. Aging in cheese, also known as ripening, is actually the most crucial part of cheese making.
Cheese are laid to rest in particularly controlled situations where they are allowed to develop the look, the texture, the flavor, as well as the aroma properties that make them unique. With proper ripening, the bloom blossoms on Camembert, the holes magically become into Swiss, and the veins transform into Gorgonzola.
While the cheese ages, microbes and enzymes grow inside, breaking down the proteins and milk far into several complex amino acids. The result, a rich texture and an intense flavor.
Most cheeses are aged between two weeks and up to two or several more years. In principle, the longer the cheese is aged, the firmer, sharper and more distinctive its taste and texture becomes.
Cheeses like the Stravecchio Parmigiano Reggiano for example, are ripened for 24 to 36 months, giving it a nutty-fruity taste and a hard, gritty texture. The mildest cheeses such as ricotta, and cream and cottage, are eaten fresh right away and are not ripened at all.
However, some cheeses are ripened mid-range often termed as semi-aged cheese for about 5 to 10 weeks. And one of the greatest tasting semi aged in the market today is the Bucheron Soignon cheese.
Bucheron cheese is a goat’s milk cheese, a native produce of Loire Valley in France. Widely available and absolutely tasty, the Bucheron makes a perfect ingredient for a salad or sandwich. Its soft, creamy center has almost the same texture of ordinary chevre (goat cheese), but Bucheron is far from ordinary.
What makes Bucheron unique aside from its gooey and creamy taste is that it is made in short logs and aged before it is cut into much smaller rounds. Its creamy center is surrounded by a much harder and tangier cheese that has a sharp and complex taste that, a lot better than your typical chevre.
A very interesting characteristic of the Bucheron cheese is its structure it has a layer of gooey cheese around the large chalky core, and a thin bloomy layer of mold like that or brie cheese. This is because softly ripened cheeses are aged from the outside in, thus the interesting center of the Bucheron.
Thanks to the natural magic of mold, you get two cheeses in one block: a creamy, mushroomy center with a dry and clay-like and mildly tangy fresh goat milk cheese at the crust. It goes perfectly with a Bordeaux’s or any other dry. Try the Bucheron cheese toady and sink slowly into heaven!
Find out more about Bucheron Cheese.
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