Cheese and Chocolate or Coffee and Wine

One change I strongly found in my lifestyle after moving to Switzerland is that the inclusion of cheese in my diet. If you want to experience real Cheese, then no place is better than in Europe.

Cheese captures a fairly good section of any grocery store and farmers market. There is such a huge variety of cheese in Europe that I was amazed to see. Following is the categories of cheese based on the moisture content:

1. Hard or semi-hard cheese: Cheddar(UK), Gruyere
2. Medium-hard cheese
3. Soft or cream cheese: Brie
4. Semi-soft cheese
5. Fresh cheese: Cottage
6. Processed cheese
7. Brined cheese: Feta, Halloumi
8. String cheese: Proteins are lined up in this.

There is another division of cheese based on the source of milk like cow, sheep, goat, moose etc.
It could further be classified based on the bread of the sheep. E.g., Manchego is a cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep of the Manchega breed. Official manchego cheese is to be aged for between 60 days and 2 years. Manchego has a firm and compact consistency and a buttery texture, and often contains small, unevenly distributed air pockets.
If you get the opportunity do visit a Cheese grotto (cave). 

There are yet another three categories of cheese in which the presence of mold is an essential feature:

1. soft-ripened cheese: Brie, Camembert: The white rind outside the cheese is actually the white mold to protect the cheese from potentially harmful microorganisms. And, eating this white rind is a matter of preference. 
2. smear-ripened cheese: Tilster
3. washed rind: 
4. Blue cheese

Category of cheese based on aging:

1. Fresh cheese: Cottage
2. whey cheese: Ricotta
3. stretched cheese: Mozzarella/pizza cheese

Originally, I do not belong to a cheese eating country. So, I did not know how to properly eat cheese. The common mistake what I was doing, was that I was not eating the cheese at the room temperature. I would take out the cheese directly from the fridge and serve it immediately. I come from a tropical country, which hits one of the hottest summers. So, I have this strongly in my unconscious mind that any milk product kept outside of the fridge will ruin sooner, so better eat and finish it quickly.

I often found myself challenging whether I should cut or peel off the rind of hard cheese. Yes, the rind of hard cheese is usually hard and wax. And, it should not be eaten. 

Feta cheese is a crumbly, grain textured cheese made up of sheep or goat milk or a mixture of both. No summer is complete without a plate of watermelon and feta cheese. 

When I was in Canada, I did not notice such a large variety of cheese. I mostly used cheddar and mozzarella. Every cheese has an interesting origin and associated story. 

1. Cheddar cheese was originated in the English village of Cheddar, UK.
2. Brigante pecorino It is a sheep milk cheese from the Italian island of Sardinia. Manufactured by Fratelli Pinna, a cheese-making company located in the north of the Island, this pecorino cheese is semi-soft in texture with a pale, ivory color. Matured for about three weeks, it has a mild and creamy flavor with citrus undertones.  Its texture is smooth, moist, and fairly elastic. This is a delicious table cheese that is manufactured in wheels that are approximately three pounds. 
3. Burrata

Swiss cheese:

1. Appenzeller(secret herbal brine)
2. Emmentaler(has holes in it i.e. perforated)
3. DER SCHARFE MAXX
4. KALTBACH GRUYÈRE
5. MAXX EXTRA
6. ALTER SCHWEIZER
7. FUURTUFEL(i.e. fire devil, real spicy)
8.  TÊTE DE MOINE(i.e. monk's head; uses cheese curler for making cheese flowers)

Chocolate is like the national identity of Switzerland. I never thought I would start buying chocolate by looking at the cocoa percentage in it. 

1. White Chocolate: It should have at least 20% cocoa butter in it.
2. Dark Chocolate
3. Milk Chocolate: it has dairy in it.
4. Cocoa Powder: Cocoa beans are roasted and grounded to make the unsweetened chocolate. When unsweetened chocolate is pressed into a hydraulic press, then it separates the cocoa powder from the cocoa butter.

Ferrero Rocher: Michele Ferrero is an Italian Chocolatier and Rocher means in French rock or boulder.

And, you can easily locate the big shops of chocolates in Switzerland. There are different levels of chocolates like retailers chocolates and handcrafted chocolates.

And, blue cheese and chocolate is a classic combination. And recently I discovered that both of these items share the many common molecules and the reason behind their successful combination, isn't it amazing?

Another thing that you find quite common in European lifestyle is Coffee. European are so fond of coffee. Common coffee drinks are:

1. Expresso
2. Macchiato stained or spotted with milk usually foam milk.
3. Latte
4. Cappuccino

Beer and wine: In Europe, the evening is not considered complete without having a glass of chilled beer or a glass of wine. I was amazed to know that they used to get the daily quota of their beer in ration during military training.

It is a common presumption that girls drink beer. And also European people are very sport enthusiastic and every soccer match is accompanied by rounds of cigarette and beer in sports bars.

 I see a common trend these days in India as well that drinking alcohol is no more a taboo. Indian society has also become very progressive and liberal in this regard. 

Cheese and wine are a perfect combination for any party. 

Cheese is a good source of protein and calcium. Cheese, butter, bread, honey, coffee, and eggs make a staple breakfast.