How to look after cheese

Artisan cheeses aren’t cheap, especially at the moment, with many cheesemongers saying they’re working in a world where their key products have gone up in price, at the same time as hikes in staffing and energy costs.

Looking after stock, then, is absolutely crucial. The modern cheese shop simply cannot afford to take their eye off the ball. So, what are the pinch points they need to think about throughout the buying and selling process?

Buying cheese

Most experienced cheesemongers will tell you not to overstock. “We don’t want to over order, but we also want to have a full fridge that keeps customers coming back,” says Victoria Dunthorne of Victoria’s Cheese.

“We are very lucky, and have a great network of suppliers and dairies that we work closely with. This means we have several deliveries a week, so it staggers our intake of stock.” Every parcel is temperature checked on arrival, and all cheeses date checked. “If any best before dates fall below 10 to 14 days from receipt, we do reject them,” Victoria says, “unless obviously fresh cheeses like Burrata for example, that would be in and out very quickly.”

Like Victoria, Svetlana Kukharchuk of The Cheese Lady performs checks on all her stock as it comes in, and insists on at least two weeks shelf life on soft cheeses too. “That’s the main thing, especially with those ones that come with their own dates on that are individually packaged. Two weeks doesn’t sound a lot, but they are best when they are closest to that date. We have to explain this to customers. A lot of them get nervous, but we say, ‘this is when it is most delicious – you’re in for a treat’.”

Building up a list of reputable suppliers you know you can trust, building relationships so they know exactly what you expect, is one of the best ways to ensure you receive quality every single time. Jessica Summer of Mouse & Grape says this is something she learnt early on in her cheesemongering career. “I ordered Taleggio from one place and wasn’t happy with it, and another wasn’t artisan enough. You need to be clear about the style of your business. There are different levels of artisan, and you have to define what your shop is, and what you need,” she says.

If what lands at the shop isn’t up to your standards, she advises taking a picture and letting them know it wasn’t what you expected, asking for a replacement. “You’re paying for it at the end of the day, and if you’re not happy to put the brand forward, you shouldn’t be selling it.” It’s not often, Jessica says, that she has to reject an order, but she admits standards in the industry can slip towards Christmas as demand increases. This is a time of year to be extra cautious.

How to store cheese

You should always keep soft, blue and washed rind cheeses separate, and separate these further from hard cheeses, say Svetlana and Jessica.

Svetlana and her team start each day with a check of the counter to see what needs to be restocked, while inspecting for mould and looking at dates to see if anything should be rotated. “If there’s any light blooming that can be gently scraped off,” she says. “We don’t want it to get out of hand, and if it proliferates on very rare occasion, we will cut 1/2cm to 1cm off the front of the cheese and discard of that.”

Blue and white moulds on cheese are fine, she adds, saying it’s the pinky-red and brown ones you should be cautious of. If you notice either of these, refer up to a more senior member of the team, or go back to your supplier to find out if it’s a usual part of the cheese’s ageing process.

To prevent both mould and drying out, keeping cheeses stored in the correct condition is essential, says Mel Wythe of Secretts of Milford, which has a whopping 300 cheeses on display. “We have a large refrigerated display counter which is set to just the right temperature, and all our open cheeses are wrapped to ensure they stay fresh, whilst the customer can still see what they are purchasing.” 

Cheeses are rewrapped as often as required to keep them in shape, Mel adds. “With so many cheeses on display, this can be a lengthy process, but it enables us to keep on top of quality, ensuring everything is fresh and beautiful for the counter.”

Take care with wrapping, Jessica says on this topic. She’s been experimenting with recyclable alternatives to clingfilm for glass wrapping, but admits nothing she’s tried so far has met her standards. “It is so bad – it doesn’t cling at all to the cheeses, so I had to stop using it. It just looked so messy!”

Like Mel, Victoria keeps a keen eye on temperature, checking the counter twice a day. “We keep two blocks of lard in our counter too, which may seem strange, but we probe them (rather than the cheeses) which gives us a clear guide to the temperature of the cheeses, rather than the air temperature.”

All Victoria’s cheeses are kept in strict date order, with the ripest varieties at the front, and younger examples of the same cheeses in the undercounter fridge. “This might seem obvious, but it takes a lot of time constantly checking and noting dates. We are very fortunate that we are a busy shop, especially at weekends and so our stock turns very quickly.”

Cheeses are wrapped overnight and unwrapped with their first cut, Victoria continues. “We try and keep them unwrapped on busy days when they are constantly being cut, but on slower days we rewrap regularly to prevent drying out.” The shop keeps everything dated on the reverse of description cards, with every cheese redated after a new example is opened. “We rarely have anything that goes up to its ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date, but if we do, it goes home with us, never home with a customer!”

All that effort is paying off, she adds. “Following our food hygiene inspecting in January we were invited to take part in the UK Health Security Agency’s yearlong study of unpasteurised and pasteurised cheeses, which for us was a no-brainer to give us reassurance that all our products were of high quality. We received clear results across the board, which was another tick that we are handling and keeping our cheeses well.”

Cutting and serving cheese

Ensure you’ve got plenty of boards and knives to hand for serving, with separate equipment for handling blue, soft and washed rind varieties which can contaminate other types.

Good hygiene is so important, each of the ladies say, for the integrity of the cheeses. 

A further issue that needs to be thought about is the physical cutting of the cheese. Staff should be well trained in cutting correctly to minimise waste while keeping an eye on safety – don’t set a junior team member off with a sharp knife and a wheel of Parmesan if they’re not confident in how to crack it open.

When it comes to service, the devil is in the detail. “When you bring it home it has to look like a little gift,” Svetlana says of the cheese wrapping process. “People do pay much more for this type of cheese than they would int he supermarket, therefore it has to look the part. We spend a lot of time on this, and we have guidelines for different shapes and types of cheeses.”

Jessica is also very particular about the presentation of her cheeses to customers. “We double wrap in wax and then in branded paper,” she says. “I had my training at La Fromagerie, and they’re quite precise in their style of wrapping. That’s something I’ve passed down to the team. Each has a label that comes with it with the ingredients on, and we write little tasting notes and wine pairings on there too.” This finishing touch is greatly appreciated by customers. “If you want to charge a premium price, you have to work in a premium way,” she explains in agreement with Svetlana. “It comes back to your brand. You’ve got to be consistent.”

Svetlana likes to sell cheese in double-layered paper including a layer of plastic, recommending that customers store it in the salad drawer at home, rewrapping with foil if they need to once opened.

A final area where care needs to be thought of in the serving of cheese is tastings – which are Jessica’s forte. Some elements are common sense. Take the cheese out well before tastings to let the flavour develop, keeping an eye on the temperature of your shop.

Once laid out, “if something is discolouring or losing its shape, it’s not going to look attractive”. So keep an eye on how busy the shop is and assess how much you want to put out. And make it attractive. “Think about how you want to present the cheese,” Jessica explains. “A nice thing to do is to displaying cheese on a cracker with a chutney, like a little canapé. That’s easy for people to pick up, and showcases more of your products.”