Say “Cheese”

Cheese, cheese, glorious cheese! A magnificent food that adds that extra special creaminess, flavor, and rich mouthfeel to any recipe. It’s what makes a meal memorable whether it be the oozing out between two slices of grilled bread, the glorious stretch on pizza, or the extra flavor and texture on a charcuterie board. During the pandemic, cheese sales soared as families prepared more meals in their homes.

Chefs are taking advantage of global cheese varieties by putting twists on everything from that comforting grilled cheese sandwich, to the reconfiguration of cheese plates, to the creation and enhancement of desserts. Switching a traditional cheese on a menu item to a global cheese is a great way to create and introduce trend forward menu ingredients. Comfort can be expand its ‘customer reach with global cheeses on deconstructed comfort foods. Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery in Pasadena, California, offers their Loaded Baked Potato Dumplings with crispy pancetta, broccoli salsa, Prairie Breeze cheddar, chives, and crème fraiche. With the ingenuity of today’s chefs, craveable cheeses will continue to shine in the future.

During the pandemic social media expanded the consumers excitement for food with the sharing of recipes, cooking demonstrations and photographs, food and wine pairings, and meals available through carryout and third-party delivery. One menu item infused with new life is the cheese and charcuterie board. Chefs prepared over the top arrangements and placed pictures on social media as patrons ordered them by the dozens! Gillian Rozynek’s “Kured” in Boston, allows cheese-loving customers to pick their own cheeses, cured meats, and extras like honey, jams, and cracker varieties. The foods are then packed in custom cones and boxes, bringing the quick-service industry into the charcuterie landscape.

Specialty cheese is of high quality and limited in quantity. Some have exotic origins, distinct hand processing methods, or specialty packaging. Many specialty cheeses have ingredients like fruits, nuts, herbs, and spices giving them a unique flavor profile. To be considered a specialty cheese, production cannot be over 40 million lbs. per year. With continued interest in health and wellness, nutrition is most important. Cheese contains the nutrients protein and calcium. The quality protein in cheese provides the body with essential building blocks for strong muscles and organs. It is an important source of calcium, a mineral that is lacking in the American diet. With a concern for fat, low-fat cheeses and dairy products are great choices.

Safe for the Planet

Consumers today want to learn more about cheeses how they are made, their differences, organic products, grass-fed, and biodynamic options. Biodynamic farms manage their herd holistically. Food is viewed as sustenance for mind, body, and spirit, not just a stomach filler. The quality of an animal's life dictates the quality of the food it can offer. These farms adhere to the highest standards for animal welfare, feed, and management. Cows who are naturally born with horns, keep their horns. Herds spend the maximum amount of time grazing certified fields and farms uphold organic operation standards. Support local producers who use sustainable, organic, and humane production methods. Wellmanaged, grass-fed methods generate less environmental impacts and are a more ethical way of raising animals. Sustainable dairy operations use less fertilizer and pesticides, reduces water pollution, provides a healthier soil, and a better want want make make habitat for other animals living in that area.

Today consumers want to know the environmental impact of the products they purchase. Much of the energy we use is connected to greenhouse gas production. Therefore, using less energy reduces cost and potential climate change. Protein sources can be ranked as to their effect on greenhouse gas emissions. Lamb is number one, beef second, and cheese third which is worse than pork and chicken for greenhouse effects. This is due to the amount of milk it takes to make a pound of cheese.

Restaurants Taking Advantage of Cheese Popularity

Grilled, fried, spicy, and melted cheese have become even more popular on menus as chefs take advantage of its versatility. Much of the product’s appeal lies in its texture, especially the melt and stretch. Chains have taken maximum advantage of its meltiness. For example, Sarpino’s Pizzeria Cheese Bonanza Pizza loads up the traditional pan pizza with Parmesan, cheddar, ricotta, feta and a signature gourmet cheese blend. For the “big cheese” lovers, nothing beats Domino’s Wisconsin 6 Cheese Pizza topped with feta, provolone, cheddar, Parmesan, Asiago and mozzarella. I

n 2020 Fazoli’s offered a trio of mac & cheese specials including Lobster Mac & Cheese with white cheddar sauce, and Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese with Asiago sauce. Panera Bread, taking advantage of the popularity of its broccoli cheddar soup and macaroni and cheese items, offered a new mashup, Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese.

Of course, grilled cheese and tomato soup is a classic comfort combo . Tom and Chee in Cincinnati offers Bacon Mac & Chee sandwich with creamy tomato soup with garlic and basil. As for dessert, one must try its’ famous “Grilled Chee Donut”, a grilled glazed doughnut made with mild cheddar cheese. Nation’s Restaurant News, January 5, 2021

FACTS: Here is what you need to know

Gillian Rozynek believes consumers today enjoy cheese and charcuterie boards so much, they are ready to move into the QSR segment. She founded Kured in Boston where customers can build their own. Flavor p. 56, September/October 2021 Mexican cheeses are among the fastest growing cheese varieties today. In the last four years cotija is up 48% on menus, queso blanco 45%, and queso fresco31%. Flavor p. 58, September/October Datassential 2021 There are a handful of ingredients and descriptors that can be added to a dish that will reliably increase their scores in menu concept tests. These are bacon, crispy, and cheese. Datassential p. 54, Flavor & The Menu, September/October 2021

There is the regular artisan cheese and farmstead artisan cheese. The difference between the two is the source of milk used. Most of the artisan cheese products are made from milk sourced from different dairies. Regular artisan cheese makers make sure that the milk used is of best quality. Cheeses come in eight varieties including blue, hard, pasta filata (technique for making Italian cheese), processed, semi-hard, semi-soft, soft and fresh, and soft-ripened. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Services reports that per capita consumption of cheese jumped 19% over the past decade. In 2019 Wisconsin, the country’s largest cheese producer, produced more than three billion pounds of cheese. Nation’s Restaurant News, Jan. 5, 2021

THE PROS: What they are saying

“Guests are loving the idea of grabbing a cheese plate and a glass of wine and take some of these home if they really enjoy it.” Vanessa Tilaka Kalab, Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery, Pasadena, CA p. 54, Flavor & The Menu, September/October 2021

“You’re producing from a dairy cow that is emitting large quantities of methane, which has a globalwarming impact 25 times higher than carbon. And then you have the methane and nitrous oxide that are also generated from the cow’s manure. And then the grains that go into feeding the cows, which range from corn to alfalfa and other forage, and there’s a footprint associated with that.” Karl Hamerschlag, senior analyst, EWG, (Environmental Working Group)

He recommends up to two servings of dairy daily for most adults. "But I wouldn't choose full-fat milk or eat a lot of cheese," Dr. Hu, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

IN CONCLUSION

The importance of comfort food during the pandemic led home cooks to purchase more cheese varieties for snacks, sandwiches, and meals. With concern for good, healthy ingredients, consumers are shying away from over-processed foods, including processed cheeses. The United States is now mainstream in our acceptance of ethnic cuisine. Some of these cuisines such as Latin and Italian, use substantially more cheese in their cooking than others. The love of these two cuisines today is at an all time high and climbing as chefs dive further into the deeply rooted regional foods of their native countries. As cheese lovers say, “Everything is better with cheese”!