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Cheese Paper from Formaticum
Wine and cheese. I’ve been enjoying them for decades, and it’s difficult to say whether the cheese compliments the wine, or vice versa. Of course, some combinations are horrible, but these can be avoided simply by matching weight and acidity. Besides, the risk is part of the fun, the inevitable flip side to finding a perfect pairing.
It isn’t the matching that’s been my problem. It’s the waste! I can’t tell you how many fortunes I’ve turned into compost because my left-over cheese went bad, sometimes in just a couple of days.
Placing left-over cheese inside plastic wrap or a baggie left the cheese damp and sweaty within a day, and after a few days, a bit moldy and ammoniated, good for nothing but feeding worms.
So it was with great interest that I recently stumbled onto the secret to well- preserved cheese – a product called “Cheese Paper”. First, I read about it online and asked my wife “Cheese paper!? Ever hear of it?” And she hadn’t. The very next day it was mentioned in passing on a PBS food show, and I decided to keep an eye out for it.
Within a week I found it at our neighborhood cheese shop, making me wonder how long it had been waiting right under my nose (about two years, apparently!). Turns out the French were the primary source of cheese paper, and not much made it to this side of the pond, at least, not for home use. Then a couple years ago, an Oregon company began marketing it in small quantities intended for home use.
Of course I had to buy some. And that night, tests were begun. I don’t know why it took me so long to hear about this product! At close to $9 suggested retail (we paid $6, so shop around), it IS ridiculously expensive relative to other (less effective) wrappings. But its cost should be considered relative to the price of what it’s preserving – two bits worth of paper seems a frugal expenditure if it preserves $7 worth of left-over cheese.
And it does preserve the cheese! We tested it by wrapping various cheeses (Blue, parmesan, manchego, gouda, and cheddar) and monitoring their progress over two weeks. While the cheese’s quality was definitely compromised towards the end of our 2-week trial, it was far more enjoyable than cheese preserved using any other wrapping. I was a believer, so now I had to know why it works.
Turns out cheese needs high humidity AND a slow exchange of oxygen in order to stay fresh. Which means it should be stored in a semi-permeable container, and plastic, as any kid knows who’s ever played with a dry cleaner bag, doesn’t breathe (I know, I hear my mother’s cautionary admonition in the back of my head too).
Finding Cheese Paper Online
If your local cheese shop doesn’t carry this useful product, look for it through the following online sources.
- Formaticum - this is the product pictured above, and the one I found at my local cheese monger. I received a message indicating their security certificate had exprired, so you may want to check that before ordering direct [UPDATE - the day after this originally posted, I was contacted via email by Formaticum and informed that this problem has been fixed, so feel free to order away. ~Dave] They seem to be the leading domestic source for cheese paper, and provide a video useful for those new to cheese wrapping.
How To Wrap Cheese from Formaticum on Vimeo. - Of course, Zabars in NYC sells cheese paper online. But again, it’s the Formaticum paper, also at ~$6. Does anyone else make this stuff? Let me see what Google turns up…
- YES! The New England Cheese Making Supply Company offers two types, one for white rind and one for red rind cheeses. Their pricing is roughly the same, with the smallest size running $5 for 25 sheets, their largest running $10 for 25.
- But that’s about the extent of sources for cheese paper. At least, if your online search budget is limited to about 20 minutes, as is mine. I should note that a cheese dome is also an excellent way to preserve cheese. It lasts a lifetime, is rarely found wallowing in landfills, and nicely preserves a small amount of cheese. But plan to spend a bit – up to $100 after tax and shipping.
I’ve decided cheese paper is a useful product to have on hand. Then if your next wine and cheese party has left-overs, you’re covered. And so’s your cheese.
Planning A Wine & Cheese Party?
We freature some great wines for cheese pairing.
- Goat Cheese/Chevre – the high acidity in these cheeses require the same in your wine. And their grassy flavor bridges nicely to such flavors in the white wines of Sauvignon Blanc, such as those found here.
- Pungent White Cheeses – as a rule of thumb, the more pungent the cheese, the less dry the wine will need to be. But dryness is fungible, as some wines with zero residual sugar have a ripe fruit profile that still suggests sweetness. I recommend wines from warmer regions (Rhone Whites, or big Chardonnays) as well as sweeter white table wines (an off-dry version of Riesling comes to mind, as do Gruner Veltliner and Gewurztraminer)
- Hard Cheeses – Red wines are the classic pairing with these milder flavored cheeses. And don’t forget pinot!
- Blues – These can fight a tannic wine, unless it has sufficient sweetness of fruit to balance the tang of the cheese. I like the classic pairing with port or other sweet wines, though a California Zin or other big red wine often work well.
Hard work, but somebody’s gotta do it
Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
Dave@SidewaysWineClub.com
866-746-7293
Quote of the Day:
“Dude, you going to eat your cheese paper?”
~ From the Urban Dictionary which defines cheese paper slightly differently than I have… “the wax paper cheeseburgers come in. Called so from the cheese remnants stuck to the paper. Often a delicacy.”
