By Marty Meitus
Scripps Howard News Service
Laura Werlin, whose professional life started as assignment editor for a television station, knew she needed a change. For one thing, she hated having to be at work at 6 a.m. For another, she wasn't writing, which she loved.
She found her destiny on a trip to Europe. "I would travel and say, 'Wow, there's the Eiffel Tower,' and then I'd write page after page on the food."
Combining food and travel, she came up with her passion — cheese. Werlin has written two books on the subject: The New American Cheese and her latest, The All American Cheese and Wine Book (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $37.50).
The foods she remembers from childhood are all about cheese. "I ate a toasted cheese sandwich for breakfast every day. It was fast food — I could eat it on the way to school. The other thing I'd make is garlic bread with Parmesan cheese on top. My friend and I did that every day."
Most of us, she says, have little experience with cheese, other than sprinkling it on a pizza. "I think I didn't know cheese had a rind until college, and I think most Americans are exposed to rind because it's sitting on the plate after the brie has been dug out."
As people travel and visit farmers markets where they can taste the cheese, "There's a slowly rising sophistication in what they want to eat," she says.
She profiles some wineries and cheesemakers, but the beauty of the book is the practical detail. Werlin calls herself a "wine aficionado, not an expert," and she has tried to take the guesswork out of the pairing of wine and cheese.
"They're daunting, so I try to give profiles of cheese and profiles of wine so they can try to match them," she says.
Among her tips: If you choose to serve red wine and cheese, make sure it's a subtle red and a cheese that's not "too sharp or salty, such as a mild Cheddar or a Gruyere."
Here are some of Werlin's other tips, from her book tour and from the book:
- Ask how a cheese counter is arranged to help you navigate it. Usually it's by region, texture or type of milk used in the cheese.
- Find a good cheese shop where the cheesemonger is willing to let you sample. If you can't sample, she says in the book, learn what you like by looking at texture. "If a cheese is hard, it will be fairly salty; if it's fresh, it will likely taste like the fresh milk from which it has been made."
- As a rule of thumb, note the seven styles of cheese, because you might have a preference for one or more: fresh or soft cheeses (goat cheese, mozzarella, mascarpone); semi-soft cheeses (Gouda, Provolone, some Monterey Jack and Colbys); soft-ripened cheeses (Brie and Camembert); washed-rind cheeses (European Munster, not to be confused with American Muenster); semi-hard cheeses (Gruyere, some Colbys); hard cheeses (Parmesan) and blue cheeses. Washed-rind cheeses are often referred to as the "stinky" cheeses (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Set up a cheese bar as an "entertaining option." The book offers three sample menus, each more elaborate than a cheese platter, with corresponding wines. Cheese Bar Menu No. 1, for instance, suggests four styles of Cheddar cheese; four styles of blue cheese; apple-pear butter, port-roasted grapes, plum-mango chutney, honey; roasted almonds, candied walnuts; thin-sliced apples, grapes, fresh figs; dried dates, dried plums; sparkling wine, Chardonnay, Riesling, Dolcetto, port, sherry; and toasted walnut bread slices and fresh baguette slices.
The book is interspersed with recipes. A few choices are under the link above, along with Werlin's suggestions for pairing the recipes with wine.
(Contact Marty Meitus of the Rocky Mountain News at www.rockymountainnews.com.)
