JUN. JUL. 2013
XII
Thus, the fashion’s spotlight are lit
now on a range of restaurants and bars
where you can taste cheese or learn to
distinguish dairy products, understand
how to accompany them, or simply
choose a cheese as a main dish, as
it is a very complete food from the
nutritional point of view.
“The way customers eat outside their
home has changed - says Fiorenzo
Santini, owner of Speca Alimentari
from Baveno – Once banished big
binge, cheese has become a viable
alternative either as a starter or as a
main course. It’s an obvious reality
when it comes to Italian customers.
Very different if we are talking about
foreigners - Dutch and German in the
first place, who are used to go to Lake
Maggiore - they do not recognize in
the cheese an alternative to other food
and, above all, they are eager to taste
other typical specialty of our country.”
small-medium size,
the “Cheese Bars”
are restaurants are with forty seats, the
most widespread in the north-central
cities, with a target client ranges from
25 to 40 years.
In America, the formula works well
since long time. The cheese bars are
sprouting everywhere and theme
nights are organized in the most
fashionable restaurants. In Chicago,
the Bin 36
) offers
a choice of 50 types of cheese from
cow’s milk, goat and sheep that cost
from 2 to 4 dollars per portion, served
in a long list of wines from around the
world. In France, a country of worship
for cheese and good wine, the formula
it’s been appreciated since long time.
Also in Italy, something is moving
and the trend bodes well. It would
work well if you er experts of cheese
and can have a wide range of variety.
“It’s good to know that young people
prefer softer flavors, so fresh or
young cheese - says Vincenzo Murgia,
the Gruppo Alimentare Sardo -. It is
different when the age is raised. The
adult target, in fact, prefers cheese and
taste quite decided. Dairy products
have always been in Sardinia. Over
there, those are very popular dishes in
the restaurants.
Today, these new types of venues,
such as bars à fromage, work very well
and if we can see always more and
more opening.”
The winning formula of ‘cheese bar’ is
substantially in the approach between
two worlds - cheese and wine - a
marriage that enhances the pleasure of
gourmets. “We are facing a consumer
who likes to learn more about the
products that are part of the culture
of our country - explains Gianni
Faieta, owner of the” Imperial Taberna
“, the first Cheese Bar opened near
Pescara (now also in Milan, Parma and
Rome) - the boom of this phenomenon
came out few years ago with the
wine resulting in “overbooking” of
sommelier courses. Today the trend is
to deepen the knowledge of cheese,
a product that once (and still today
in southern Italy) was considered
complementary to the main courses,
but now it conquered its own space
turning into a main dish.
We can just consider also its high
nutritional properties. In the tasting
room, ‘cheese & wine’ lovers can
indulge themselves in various
combinations, each consisting of six
different specialties. In short, a place
for connoisseurs, but also for those
in “first taste”: in fact, every cheese
correspond to a card on which are
explained the right combinations with
jams, honey and wine.
In addiction, if you want to become
real experts, in that room they also
organizes lectures and theme nights.”
a DIsh foR tastIng
What about a vertical pecorino, a tour
among the soft cheeses? To enrich the
experience of tasting and to go beyond
the traditional cutting board that has a
little ‘tired, even the presentation plays
a crucial role.
“I am convinced that in all the fields
in which a man works, and therefore
also the one related to food, good
food, casual atmosphere, it is possible
to introduce progress and innovation
elements.”
This is how chef Davide Oldani (one
Michelin star with the D’O Cornaredo)
expresses himself in an interview with
Giuseppe Meroni.
Innovation, according to Oldani, is
also carried out on the table.
This is how, in collaboration
with Schonhber Franchi (ww.
schoenhuberfranchi.com) some
collection of plates, cutlery and glasses
born.
Among the latest dishes created by
the chef, we have Taste Peak (in the
two images in these pages), specially
designed for the cheese tasting (as
well as dessert or for a composition of
starters).
The dish, which is part of the series
Assiette d’Or is in fine bone china and
measures 31x13, 5 cm.
tIps
hoW to stoRe cheese
For all those restaurateurs who wish
to undertake the “business of cheese”
they should just know that for proper
storage is necessary to block the matu-
ration, safeguarding the organoleptic
characteristics, and also protect it from
external microorganisms that would
lead to a deterioration of hygiene pro-
perties.
For storage of the cheese the best
solution would be a room without
light, slightly damp with a temperature
maintained between 6 and 7 °.
Few, however, are lucky enough to
have a cave or cellar suitable. We
actually recourse to cold storage,
where they settle the cheeses,
perhaps in the warmest zone, closed
individually in glass containers, bags,
plastic film or aluminum, so that they
do not mix flavors and aromas. Some
cheeses like mozzarella are best kept
if submerged in a container with
water and salt. With these measures
the degree of conservation of cheeses
greatly exceeds that of meat and even
many vegetables.
paIRIngs
Jams, chutneys anD honey,
peRfect unIons
Among the most popular, currently,
there are goats and alpine tome, soft
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