Do not cut all cheeses the same way. Aesthetic reasons apart, cutting can affect flavor!
Every cheese has its knife!
- A large blade or wire for large wheels.
- A cheese slicer for fine curls of dry, parmesan-style cheeses.
- A spoon for Vacherin Mont d’Or and Cancoillotte.
- Open surface blade knife for runny cheeses (like Brie and Camembert) to prevent cheese from sticking to the knife.
To keep things simple and limit cutlery, a cheese knife with an open-surface blade and fork-tip is essential!
The Prodyne CK-300 Multi-use Knife and BOSKA Copenhagen Knife are good examples of an all-rounder cheese knife:
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These knifes can cut most cheeses to varying widths and the slices can then be pronged for easy service.
A Tip:
If you have more than one cheeses to cut, use multiple knives so you can keep the sometimes overwhelming powerful flavors apart.
The 4 Commandments of Cheese-cutting
- Always respect the direction of the cheese’s height.
- When the cheese is presented as a whole loaf or wheel (Camembert, Munster, Langres, Livarot, and pyramid or heart-shaped cheeses), cut from the center outward.
- Small round cheeses like Pélardon should be cut into half or quarters.
- When presented with a slice of cheese, adapt the cut so that everybody is served both nose and rind.
Also read: Can I Eat the Rind on Cheese?
How to Cut Different Types of Cheese
Small Round Cheeses
Small round cheeses such as Camembert should be sliced as you would a cake, in equal parts, starting from the center and moving out to the edge.
Recommended tool: Brie Knife
Square Cheeses
Square cheeses such as Maroilles are to be sliced into wedges like round cheeses.
However, you start by cutting across the diagonals first to create four triangles; then cut each quarter in half.
Recommended tool: Brie Knife
Pyramid-shaped Cheeses
Pyramid-shaped cheeses such as Valençay should be cut like round cheeses or cake.
Start cutting from the center and move on to the edge. Then cut into wedges.
Recommended tool: Cheese Lyre
Wedges
You should cut wedges such as Comté starting from the narrow point and make three or four parallel cuts.
Then divide the heel into pieces, making cuts perpendicular to the previous ones.
Recommended tool: Cheese Cleaver
Blue-veined Wedges
Blue wedges such as Roquefort should be cut from the narrow part of the center point.
Cut diagonally into 6-9 slices depending on the size.
Recommended tool: Cheese Lyre
Log or Cylindrical-shaped Cheeses
Log-shaped cheeses like Charolais and Sainte Maure de Touraine should be cut into small logs by standing them on end and slicing them into thinner portions.
Reminder:
Be reminded to remove the straw when slicing Sainte-Maure de Touraine to avoid breaking up the cheese.
Recommended tool: Cheese Lyre
Runny Cheeses
You should make a hole through the rind of runny cheeses such as Mont d’Or.
DO NOT remove the rind; it should be eaten!
Recommended tool: A small spoon placed in the center
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