An expert has revealed how you can get cheese to last longer with one food item. Patricia Michelson, of La Fromagerie cheesemongers in London, told cheese lovers to “put two bog-standard sugar cubes in with the cheese, then seal and refrigerate”.
The sugar, she told the Guardian, performs “magic” to help regulate the atmosphere inside the box, keeping the cheese fresher. Over time, it will start to melt, “though hopefully you’ll have used the cheese before that happens. If not, clean the box, replace the damp cloth and put the cheese back in with two new sugar cubes.”
Michelson said people will run into problems if they don’t follow a few basics. She said you should “always double-wrap your cheese – in waxed paper or baking parchment, ideally – and put it in a plastic container lined with dampened kitchen towel”.
Then put on the lid and put it at the top of the fridge – where the temperature is usually the most constant – and it’ll keep for as long as it takes to eat it all.
But restaurateur Bruce Poole isn’t so sure about wax paper. “It’s bloody useless on soft, creamy cheeses,” he says, “so we use clingfilm. Who has wax paper around the house, anyway?”
Poole keeps his cheese chilled in plastic boxes – one each for hard, soft and blue – though the restaurant uses those big ones normal people use to hide domestic clutter; they prevent any cheesy pong from tainting other fresh produce in the cold store, too.
“We take it out and unwrap it about an hour before service, to let it breathe, then cut to order.” Afterwards, the restaurant’s leftovers are given a trim to neaten them up, before being wrapped up again in fresh clingfilm and sent back into cold storage.
Poole said issues may stem from poor fridge management. “Domestic fridges should be around the 5C-6C mark, but we cram so much in that they’re often way warmer.”
Once you’ve cleared some space, check the fridge temperature again. “If it’s still higher than 7C-8C,” Poole says, “it’s time for a new fridge.” And that’s very possibly the last thing Simon wants to hear.
