If you love cheese (and who doesn’t?), it’s worth taking the time to learn a little about its history, including the traditions of how to eat and serve it, says chef and cheesemaker Colin Wood.

“Cheese has history, and cheese isn’t just milk,” he writes in his new book There’s Always Room for Cheese.

“Cheese and cheesemaking has evolved over thousands of years, so the least we can do is learn the origins, the stories, the traditions and the history of what we are eating and serving.

“There is a real romance to cheese and the stories are often fascinating and bring purpose to the cheese.”

Here, Wood shares his expertise on how to look after your cheese.

Buying cheese

Just like you would go to a quality butcher, fishmonger, market or fruit and veg purveyor for those items, you really ought to go to a good cheesemonger, cheese shop or farmhouse to get your cheese. Here are a few reasons:

• Good cheesemongers have relationships with their cheesemakers. They know what is happening on the farm, with the milk and with the cheese. Some even hand-pick the cheese for their shop.
• They have intimate knowledge of the cheeses in their cabinet.
• Some may have even milked the animal, then made and aged the cheese before serving it to you.
• Buying cheese from a cheesemonger supports smaller, local artisan cheesemakers and businesses.

• They can tell you what is best to eat at the moment – cheese has seasonality, and a cheesemonger knows when to eat what and when.
• When cooking, a cheesemonger will be able to help you choose which cheese and ripeness is best for what you are using it for.

• Get to know your cheesemonger, and they’ll get to know what you like and also introduce you to new cheeses they think you’ll like.
• Cheese cut to order is the best way to buy cheese.
• Your cheese should be wrapped and stored well.
• Cheesemongers know how to have fun.

Finding a good cheesemonger is a bit like dating – find one that has the qualities you like, tells you romantic stories, has time for you, gives you their best and helps create memories.

Cutting cheese

Cheese ripens from the outside in – from the outer moulds and rinds to the inner cheese paste – as in white mould cheeses. Or, as in the case of cheddar, it can ripen from the inner cheese paste to the outer rinds.

To get the full spectrum of flavour, texture and aroma, you need to cut from the centre out. This is easier with a small to medium wheel of soft cheese – you simply cut small triangular wedges. Square or rectangular soft/washed-rind cheeses can also be cut this way as long as they aren’t too soft. Long cylindrical cheeses such as provolone can be cut into discs, then into triangles, pyramids into quarters or eighths from the top down, and medium-sized aged cheese into wedges, then again into smaller pieces, making sure the range includes the centre out.

There are a few lessons that I’ve learnt over time, but occasionally it’s good to break the rules. I have been told that some cheese people don’t like when a cheese is shaved, but I love it, especially with most alpine-style cheeses. The texture completely changes and almost becomes a salty, creamy, buttery fudge.

Tete de Moine (meaning “monk’s head” in English) is an alpine-style cheese that sits on a special tool called a girolle wheel, which shaves in a circular fashion to resemble the top of a monk’s head, hence the name. The nutty, pudgy and pliable rosettes of cheese that are produced from this are so unique. Queen of Corona, a natural-rind goat’s cheese that came from Crown Finish Caves via Italy, was another cheese that was also able to have its top curled for dramatic effect and taste. This gives a completely different mouthfeel, aroma and flavour than if you just had a wedge.

Even after the cheese is matured, cut and served, it is still very much alive and will dry out, deteriorate and go bad if not looked after.

Cheese for use in salads and cooking can be shaved, grated, Microplaned, chunked, balled, ribboned and cut in many other ways too. It depends on the application and what you are looking to achieve. I love how cutting cheese in different ways alters the flavour, texture and aromas.

Finely grated parmigiano reggiano and a good nugget of it taste completely different, especially when you get a salty, crunchy tyrosine diamond in the nugget. And while we are here, it should be said that parmigiano reggiano is known as the king of cheese for a reason. It is made with cow’s milk, rennet and salt and was created before the invention of refrigeration. It is a beautiful cheese that can be served as it is on a cheese plate at the start or end of the meal. Your new friend, the cheesemonger, will cut it to order for you, and you shouldn’t buy it grated. You do that fresh.

Serving cheese

Table cheese should be served at the correct temperature. You are really doing the cheese and cheesemaker a disservice by serving a beautiful cheese stone-cold. Like wine, it needs time to open up and reveal its flavours, textures and aromas.

This is easier in a home setting. Pull a soft cheese out an hour or two before serving, and a harder style cheese out a few hours prior, depending on the ambient temperature. Unwrap it and let it breathe as if you were decanting a wine.

Grilled grapes

Dried, shrivelled grapes are not my jam at all. In my opinion, if you’re going to serve grapes with cheese, use them fresh or, even better, gently blister them on a grill and toss with a muscatel vinegar, olive oil, sea salt flakes and pepper to eat with a home-made fresh soft cheese. But if you do like muscatels, try making your own or sourcing a quality one.

Grilled stone fruit, macerated in a little champagne or prosecco, is also very good with fresher styles of cheese. Serve with fresh white cheese, ricotta, mascarpone or similar cheeses.

Crackers v bread v toast

The way I see it is, it’s all about the cheese. You want to highlight and complement it, not mask it, and a meal that has multiple servings of bread can be a bit much. That said, a warm, torn baguette with a wheel of soft cheese or wedge of sharp cheddar is a very good lunch. But choose your starch wisely.

Thinking about what cheese you have, where it is served in the meal and the condiments you are serving it with, can help you decide what else to serve it with.

The thickness of a cracker should be considered – a thin cracker with a thick hunk of cheese may be a bit finicky and shatter at the first bite. Choose something that is going to do the job.

A fresher style of curd could go with crackers, fresh bread or toast; a delicate and rich white mould suits a cracker or fresh bread; and something a bit bolder could handle the char of toast. Mind you, an overripe white mould cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich isn’t the worst idea either.

Storing cheese

Even after the cheese is matured, cut and served, it is still very much alive and will dry out, deteriorate and go bad if not looked after. Cheese loves, wants and needs moisture – in moderation. After cutting, keep your cheese wrapped in cheese paper, beeswax wraps or aluminium foil if you must. Plastic wrap doesn’t allow the cheese to breathe.

Storing cheese in a lidded container can build up too much moisture and restart mould growth, as you may notice when you are ageing them, as can keeping too many cheeses together in a container. Keep the lid off if you must, and also keep a rack in the bottom so the cheese isn’t sitting in any moisture. Water and cheese don’t mix well.

Cheese that has unwanted mould on it can be trimmed or scraped to use the cheese straight away.

Most household refrigerators have a salad and lettuce crisper drawer in the bottom. These are much better places to keep your cheese than the top shelf, which is usually designated for cheese. The crisper keeps the moisture in better, and is better for storing cheese – wrapped, of course.

Fresh cheeses and curds that you make are best kept in sterilised jars and containers in the fridge. By sterilising them you give them the best shelf life possible. As the dairy you’ve made doesn’t contain stabilisers, thickeners and additives, they may not last as long as store-bought products. They should absolutely taste better and be better for you, though. Keep them clean, use clean utensils and try not to double-dip to help them last longer. Alternatively, eat them fast and make more.

This is an edited extract from There’s Always Room for Cheese by Colin Wood published by Hardie Grant Books. Photography: Rob Palmer. Buy now

Colin Wood’s Goldstreet Dairy cheeses are available to buy at Carriageworks Farmers Market on Saturdays; The Pines Pantry in Kiama; Penny’s Cheese Shop in Potts Point; and Epicure Camden. Goldstreet Dairy cheeses can also be found in the cheese fridge at Wildflower in Marrickville and on the menus at A.P Bakery, Love, Tilly Devine and Wildflower.