I went to San Francisco for a visit home last weekend to find that my parents never seem to learn.
Despite years of my proselytizing ranting about the joys of real cheese (and the inferiority of industrial wannabes), I slid open their dairy drawer and there it sat, the ever-present cryovacked package of Jarlsberg Lite presliced swiss.
It's always there, the without-fail standby in my very own childhood home, as if to mock my cheesesnobbery sensibilities, each time and time again I open that refrigerator door. My parents swear by its convenience, consistency, and character, and every time I go home I try it again, just to be sure that it's as plasticky as I remember. Needless to say it never fails to deliver.
I've always preached that as far as cheese is concerned, fat equals flavor. The most telling application of this theory you can see for yourself. Notice the sheen that appears on the surface of certain aged cheeses if you leave them out for too long. (Manchego is a prime example.) These small droplets are milk fat globules expanding as they warm to room temperature and leach out butterfat. Taste the cheese now and see if it's not a shadow of its former self, with less flavor compounds and a loss of textural complexity now that much of its fat has exited.
Vital to note about fat and cheese: harder, more aged cheeses, despite what you may think intuitively, have a higher fat content than creamy, oozingly rich cheeses. Fat in cheese is measured in parts per dry matter, which means that if you compare one ounce of an aged pecorino to an ounce of an oozing triple creme, more fat will be packed into the former, since soft cheeses like bries are made mainly of water. Imagine leaving two same-sized hunks of these cheeses in the sun for the afternoon. The triple creme would melt away, not leaving much solid matter behind, while the aged pecorino would remain a solid mass of dry matter (with a pretty thick layer of shiny butterfat, I'm sure).
A study by the Department of Food Technology at Iowa State University, inspired by market demand for low fat cheeses, recently compared cheddars made with full-fat milk and low-fat milk. They found that the low fat cheddars had "reasonably pleasant flavors," but concluded that these low fat versions resulted in "cheese with flavors significantly lower in Cheddar-like flavor" than cheddar made with whole milk.
As someone who has never had a particular affinity (or aptitude) for science, I'm grateful that it's finally coming in handy.
(Image credit: Cheese Supply)
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
I can't imagine that anyone would disagree with the statement that full fat cheeses are tastier, but I think this is missing the point of reduced fat sliced cheese.
In a sandwich--especially a casual sandwich (ie., not a parma ham on artisinal bread, etc affair--the cheese plays a lesser, complimentary role, and as part of a balanced diet, or efforts towards reducing fat consumption, there is no need to defend skim or low-fat options. Assuming, of course, that it's still being made with milk and not some creepy assortment of gums and waxes and whatever.
Also, this doesn't really address *why* fat means flavor.
view renata's profile
I grew up on Kraft cheese slices! I think cheese appreciation comes with age.
view spossberg's profile
I'd rather leave cheese out entirely than eat low-fat cheese. Same with ice cream.
view Joan A.'s profile
Do low-fat cheeses have different melting properties?
view chrisAT's profile
I second Joan A. I'd rather have a little bit of the good stuff or nothing at all.
view jazspin's profile
Joan A., I totally agree! There are certain foods that I absolutely cannot do low-fat on: cheese, sour cream, and mayo. I can compromise with ice cream because some creameries make some really decent low fat versions...but that doesn't stop me from having a pint of Haagen Daz in the fridge. However, I've never tasted a low fat cheddar that was worth the compromise.
view verily's profile