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—A Guide to Cheese Etiquette–
Serve the Correct Number of Cheeses
it’s important to choose a variety of cheeses.
Make Sure You Go in the Right Order
“You always start with the mildest, and then you go to the more powerful,”
Cut the Cheese Properly
This might be the strong rule on the whole list, but it’s one of the most important: in the land of equality, cutting cheese properly is the key to ensuring that everyone’s cheese-eating experience is equally delicious.
That said, be it round, oval, square, triangular, pyramidal, cylindrical or anything else, there’s only one rule to respect: the repartition between the cheese and the crust must be equal.
You shouldn’t waste a lot of cheese, so try not to take a lot more than you think you can eat. No problem with going back for seconds.
Don’t expect (or ask for) crackers. In France cheese is eaten with bread the vast majority of the time. Tear your chunk into smaller pieces to enjoy with the cheese.
So, you’ll usually start with the cheese that is very light colored and has little smell such as a comté or a goat cheese, and then work your way up to the blue cheese. Blue cheese is always last.
Try not to be the first person to cut into a cheese. It is much easier to follow a lead than to start off a cheese.
Don’t try to cut tiny little slivers. It never really works and ruins the shape. A better strategy is to cut a bigger piece and then cut that in half and share with your neighbor or leave for the next person.
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Here are a few easy to remember general guidelines:
Hard cheeses: don’t eat the rinds.
If the cheese is very soft, gooey, or in a wooden box: eat the rind.
Goat cheese: eat the rind.
Blue cheese: eat the rind.
If the cheese has a wrinkly, brain-like textured rind: eat it.
If the cheese has a spices, herbs or other flavoring on the outside: eat it.
If the rind is very moldy, especially thick, crusty, or is grey or dark colored: use your discretion. Some people love the flavor of these rinds, some don’t.
If you trim the rind off every single cheese, it isn’t a huge faux-pas, but it is considered a bit childish. Like cutting the crusts off your sandwiches.