Seema Sachdeva
IT’s dinner time. And at a late evening event in Canada, a table is laid with 10 to 12 varieties of cheese, crackers, fruits, breads and some cold cuts. An invitee from Chandigarh takes a bite or two and starts searching for the dinner table. After a few minutes of pacing across the hall, realisation dawns. That table was ‘The Dinner’ — starters, main course, everything included. This was her first introduction to cheese as a meal, and the many varieties. That was a decade back in a different land.
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Today, the dairy product has firmly placed itself on our menu list, not just as an accompaniment with tikkas and kebabs, but even as a standalone food item. Gouda, Camembert, parmesan, mozzarella, brie, feta, goat cheese, burrata, emmental, smoked or blue cheese are available in many department stores in the region.
Emmental (Switzerland)
The ubiquitous presence of cheese is hard to miss, be it a housewarming party, a wedding event, a friendly dinner, or simply a major meal. It’s everywhere: salads, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, finger foods like cheese pops, dumplings, desserts like cheesecakes and fondue, or even as a platter, with classic and artisanal varieties adorning the table. The versatile repast, as food expert Pushpesh Pant puts it, is the new aloo.
Parmesan (Italy)
“A cheese platter is a must-have at all my parties. None of my friends like to have fried stuff. Table cheese goes well with everything, be it wines or fruits. Besides, one doesn’t even require it to be served. You can simply put a cheese platter at a prominent place, along with accompaniments like olives, grapes, crackers, etc. Besides adding to the style, a whole range of flavours available offer healthy snacking and is not time-consuming,” says 40-year-old Chandigarh-based Payal Gupta.
Cheddar (England)
Naresh Mahant started his artisan cheese unit Himalayan Dairy in Jagatsukh, 5 km from Manali, in…
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