Like wine, cheese is a varied and complex culinary field, and while it can seem intimidating, it doesn't have to be.  One of the best ways to get to know different cheeses is to get out there and taste them.  Since they can be quite expensive and very rich on the palate, it can be difficult to eat a large amount of cheese in a relatively small amount of time, but with some cheeses, you might find it hard to keep from eating it all in one go.  Picking one or two interesting cheeses a week is an excellent way to get started (see this similar article on picking a wine of the week), and doing this with a group of your friends is a really smart way to enjoy cheese, probably wine, possibly other foods, and each other's company all at once.

Like with wine, it's important to approach this topic carefully.  Here are some tips that worked for the author when he sought to get to know some cheeses:

• Don't overdo it with cheese; it's rich!  It's very tempting to get a whole bunch of expensive cheeses all at once because so many of them look so interesting.  You can only handle so much cheese at a time, even with food and company, so limit yourself to one or two cheeses at a time.
• Get small pieces of cheese.  Most upscale grocery stores (like Earth Fare and The Fresh Market in Knoxville) and gourmet stores (like Gourmet Market on Kingston Pike) carry a decent, if not good, selection of gourmet and premium cheeses, and the pieces they sell are sold usually by weight.  Since you're seeking to learn about cheeses here, get the smallest pieces you can find or ask one of the employees to cut a piece even smaller for you.  Don't break the bank on learning about cheese, and you definitely don't want to end up dropping $12 on a sizable brick of cheese that you don't like.
• Read about cheese.  A quick web search will turn up quite a bit of information from real "cheese heads" (not the football kind) about many kinds of cheese.  Even Wikipedia has some decent information.  It's quite satisfying, strangely enough, to enjoy your fine cheeses sitting in front of your computer reading about them.  There are also some great books on cheese out there.  Search Amazon for some that look good to you.
• Have your cheese with wine and fruit (and mustard?). Condiments aside (cheddar and colby are great with fine mustards, by the way), serving your cheese alongside wines you're learning about hits two goals at once.  Often, wine and cheese are served with fruits, so while you're at the market, see if anything fresh and nice catches your eyes.  Apples and berries are primarily good!
• Cook with your cheese. Some cheese, like parmigiano reggiano, can't be missed, but without great food to put them on, they're somewhat inaccessible.  If you can't cook, either learn or get with some friends who can!
• Enjoy your cheeses with friends or family.  Sharing is caring, particularly when it comes to food.  Having someone there to chat with about your cheese experiences is particularly helpful, especially when they're not to your liking.  It can also spread out the cost of this somewhat costly ingredient until you get good at picking ones that you're pretty sure you'll like.
• Keep a cheese journal.  Keeping notes on what you thought of various cheeses can really help you make future decisions and remember great ideas you had (like how good some kinds of goat's milk cheeses can be in French onion soup!).  It also makes things more personal.  Don't feel obliged to write down fancy terminology either: just write honest appraisals in your own language.

Buy it locally! For locals to the Knoxville area, be sure to check out the Sweetwater Valley Farms cheeses, one of the only artisanal cheesemakers in Tennessee, located just south of Knoxville in Sweetwater, TN.  They have a shop in Turkey Creek Shopping Center in Farragut (Knoxville) and, among other places, their cheeses are available at the Horn of Plenty Marketplace on West Broadway in Maryville.  As mentioned above, great cheeses are available in Knoxville at both Earth Fare locations, both The Fresh Market locations, and at the Gourmet Market on Kingston Pike.  Furthermore, even the Kroger groceries are starting to branch out into some higher-quality cheeses (manchego curado and drunken goat is frequently available there).

This article is one in a series of New Year's Resolution articles about cooking, food, and drink by the Knoxville Gourmet Food Examiner. Click the link to read a central article containing links to all of the articles in this series.

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