A YEAR IN CHEESE
A. & L. Guarnieri, recipes by Alessandro Grano
Fruit, veggies and meat are not the only seasonal produce – you better add cheese to the list. French brothers and Androuet’s owners Alex and Léo Guarnieri, along with their Italian head chef Alessandro Grano, just released an outstanding cookbook that shows in many ways how diverse, unique and versatile this cherished dairy product can be. “A year in cheese” goes through the four seasons. Spring is all about freshness, with goats’ curd, Brillat-Savarin and soft cheeses, whilst summer is the highlight of the year, because the flavour of the milk is at its best – definitely the right time to appreciate ricotta and mozzarella. Autumn cheeses are usually semi-hard, more mature products made with spring milk; as the weather gets chillier affecting the quality of the grass, the flavours get warmer, “with hints of mushrooms and flowers”. Lastly, winter means bold cheeses with big, strong flavours; the coldest season features specialties such as Reblochon, Comté, blue Stilton and medium-hard Swiss cheeses like Aarewasser and Vacherin Fribourgeois.
The book also contains tips on how to serve the perfect cheeseboard and which are the best wine pairings with each type of cheese.
