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Writer's pictureformaggeria BARBIERI

How to pair cheeses: jams, preserves and mustards.

Let yourself go to pairings without prejudices ,experimenting, looking for your own combinations according to your own sensibility.Try them from before in total purity "naked and raw" to understand and analyze them in totality to find the uniqueness. In recent times we bring to the table for us and for our guests, the cheese plate, to which we like to combine jams, preserves and mostarde.A sweet and salty mix, which is enhanced, with a wide choice of wines to accompany our tastings.

Ideally, to find the best pairing we start from the knowledge of the cheese, they should be tasted in purity, to best perceive the aromas, smell the scent and taste the different characteristics.

First you have to consider the type of milk we are going to choose, between cow, goat, sheep and buffalo. After that we move on to observe the texture of the paste, which can be soft (with a predominantly sweet and slightly sour flavor given by the aroma of the milk, such as stracchino, caciotta and robiole) or semi-hard, which have a greater texture and a more acetic flavor, persistent and slightly piquant with maturations up to 6 months (pecorini and tome)and finally the hard ones that are the most matured ones where their maturation (more than 6 months) confers intense aromas, high savoriness and persistence of flavors (pecorini, parmigiani, aged latteria, grana padano). Perceptions ,gathered during a tasting, are nothing but the sum of physiological phenomena, perceived by receptors in our tongue, palate, larynx, pharynx, upper esophagus, which make us perceive the five known flavors sweet, bitter, sour, salty, umami. The physical part must be added to the experiences related to the psychological part, the environment around us because each taste is unique and extremely difficult to standardize them. In general, for pairing, the more delicate and soft the cheese is, it will go well with jams or marmalades tending to sour; conversely, the harder the cheese is, the more seasoned and strong in taste, it will go better with jams or compotes tending to sweet.

Matching a sauce for us is a stimulus, in addition to that of taste, which also wants to activate that of sight with colors, touch with textures, smell with fragrance, giving new stimuli to reworking through even imagination that leads to the ecstasy of the most demanding palates by working all our receptors, unleashing an unrepeatable explosion each time.

We wanted to transcribe to you pairings that in our opinion are successful, where they were played to accompany them or where you will experience strong contrasts.

We have selected those with fruit, pure choice without added preservatives, where the craftsmanship and raw material should make the cheeses stand out ,while for mustards there are different processes where it is much more arduous to match them but they are the ones that are most compelling.

Now some successful pairings

1)pumpkin and ginger syrup.

  • Fresh cheeses-goat's milk, flowered rind (brunett),toma, taleggio-

2)red onion compote

  • flavorful and aged cheeses- puzzone di Moena, fontina d'alpeggio, pecorino romagnolo scoparolo, pecorino di fossa-

3)black cherry compote with balsamic vinegar

  • Very fresh cheese- goat ricotta, squaquerone, robiola, buffalo ricotta, stracchino-

4)white watermelon mustard

  • Aged cheeses-Castelmagno, Parmesan, grana padano, blue sheep's milk cheese, pecorino di fossa, pecorino romano, quartirolo lombardo-

5)fig mustard

  • Aged cheese- spicy gorgonzola, Stilton, Roquefort, pecorino di fossa

6)mostarda mantovana of green tomatoes

  • Firm cheeses- herbed, blucheese (both sheep's milk, goat's milk, cow's milk), aged pecorino, roquefort, fontina, castelmagno-

7)Campanina apple mustard.

  • Hard aged cheeses-parmesan reggiano, pecorino d'amatrice, caciocavallo ragusano, pecorino sardo dop-

8)mostarda mantovana di pere

  • Hard and aged cheeses-parmigiano reggiano, pecorino di fossa, pecorini toscani, pecorini sardo, taleggio-

10)plum jam

  • Medium-aged soft cheese -toma d'alpeggio, pecorino-

11)apricot jam

  • Soft cheeses-creamy goat cheese, fresh pecorino, quartirolo-

13)caramelized fig cremino

  • Squaquerone, pecorino, creamy goat cheese, aged dairy, fresh ricotta, Brie-

List of cheeses in alphabetical order with relevant pairing

Asiago

- Green tomato jam

- Fig jam

- Strawberry and berry jam

- Radicchio sauce

Seasoned Asiago

- Radicchio jam

- Green tomato jam

- Bitto celery jam

- Bra blueberry jam tender

- Bra cherry jam hard

- Blueberry jam Brie

- Cherry jam

- Fig jam

- Apricot jam

- Apple jam

- Pear jam

Burrata

- Lemon marmalade

- Black cherry jam Caciotta

- Banana jam

- Cherry jam

- Strawberry jam

- Blackberry jam

- Watermelon jam

Caciocavallo cheese

- Green tomato jam

- Red tomato jam

- Red onion jam

- Red onion mustard

- Camembert peach jam

- Orange marmalade

- Ramasin plum jam

- Plum and plum jam

- Blueberry jam

- Raspberry jam

- Apricot jam

- Fig jam

- Apple jam

- Lemon jam

Crescenza and quartirolo

- Apricot jam

- Cherry jam

Caprino (meaning made with goat's milk)

- Fig jam

- Apricot jam

- Apple and quince jam

- Raspberry jam

- Radicchio sauce

- Red onion sauce

- Blueberry jam

- Tangerine jam

- Orange marmalade

- Blackberry jam

- Radicchio jam

- Arbutusberry jam

- Cherry jam

- Pomegranate jam

- Kiwi jam

Castelmagno cheese

- Onion chutney

Watercress

- Pear jam

- Fig jam

- Banana jam

Sardinian flower

- Quince and ginger jam

Fontina cheese

- Green tomato jam

- Plum and plum jam

- Ramasin plum jam

- Pumpkin jam

- Radicchio jam

Fossa cheese

- Peach jam

- Apricot jam

- Pumpkin jam

- Fig jam

- Rose hipberry jam

- Pears jam

Gorgonzola cheese

- Citrus fruit jam (all)

- Fennel jam

- Celery jam

- Zucchini jam

- Olive jam

- Bell bell pepper jam

- Green chilli jam

- Red chili pepper jam

- Fig jam

- Apricot jam

- Apple jam

- Red onion jam

- Pear jam

- Peach jam

Aged gorgonzola cheese

- Peach jam

Guericon

- Citrus fruit jam

Grana padano cheese (see Parmesan)

- Pear jam

Tuscan marzolino

- Green tomato mustard

Mascarpone

- Orange marmalade

- Lemon marmalade Mozzarella

- Red tomato jam

- Orange marmalade

Murazzano

- Strawberry jam

Seasoned strawberry

- Orange marmalade

- Blueberry jam Parmesan

- Green tomato jam

- Peach jam

- Fig jam

- Quince jam

- Pear jam

Aged parmesan cheese

- Radicchio sauce

- Fig jam

- Pumpkin jam

- Grape jam

- Orange marmalade

- Red onion jam

Pecorino cheese

- Pear jam

- Fig jam

- Quince jam

- Rose hip jam

Fresh pecorino cheese

- Fig sauce

- Peppers jam

- Quince jam

- Green tomato jam

- Rose petal jam

- Onion jam

Semi-seasoned pecorino cheese

- Orange marmalade

- Peppers jam

- Green tomato jam

- Pear jam

Aged pecorino cheese

- Pumpkin jam

- Fig jam

- Grape jam

- Orange marmalade

- Red onion jam

- Pears jam

Sardinian pecorino cheese

- Peach jam

- Apricot jam

- Rose hip jam

Aged Piave

- Fig jam Pont l'Eveque de Normandie

- Black cherry jam Provola

- Red tomato jam

- Zucchini mustard

Provolone cheese

- Peach jam

Puzzone of Moena

- Blueberry jam

Ricotta cheese

- Onion jam

- Mandarin marmalade

- Orange marmalade

- Lemon marmalade

Piedmont ricotta cheese

- Wild berries jam

Sheep ricotta cheese

- Citrus fruit jam

- Peach jam

- Banana jam

- Pear and cocoa jam

- Apple jam

Baked cottage cheese

- Duron jam

Roblechon

- Black cherry jam

Robiola

- Fig sauce

- Mandarin marmalade

- Lemon marmalade

- Strawberry jam

- Ramasin plum jam

- Green tomato jam

Alba Robiola

- Strawberry jam Robiola di Mondovì, di Murazzano

- Tangerine jam Robiola di Roccaverano

- Raspberry jam

- Tangerine marmalade

Roquefort cheese

- Apricot jam

- Pears jam

- Duron jam

- Fig jam

- Apple and quince jam Scamorza cheese

- Red tomato jam Taleggio cheese

- Plum and plum jam

- Blueberry jam

- Raspberry jam

- Green tomato jam

- Clementine jam

- Orange / mandarin marmalade

- Ramasin plum jam

Apulian canestrato taleggio cheese

- Apricot jam

Piedmontese / aged toma cheese

- Pumpkin jam

- Orange / tangerine marmalade

- Red onion jam

- Green tomatoes jam







- Confettura di ciliegie

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