Love Cheese? Get An Overdose

We told you about the fine wines of Thailand. How about cheese? A fine wine and a good cheese make perfect companions.

Right, there’s no life without some good cheese more than once in a while. Unfortunately, the kingdom produces only some rather bland cheeses on its own. But then again, you still get the finest of fine cheeses in Bangkok:

At the Millennium Hilton’s Cheese Room at Flow. Fridays & Saturdays for dinner only. Enjoy!

By Brian Kent, Bangkok Post

With its delicate aroma and pungent punch, cheese is now an essential ingredient in the gourmet experience.

Today, the artisan cheese, hand made to a traditional recipe and matured either in traditional cellars or state of the art refineries, is as sought after by connoisseurs as the wine it so often accompanies. And, like a wine, its quality and authenticity can be proclaimed by being awarded DOC or AOC certification: there’s only one champagne and it comes from Champagne; there’s only one Camembert and it comes from Normandy.

As a food, it has a long history, and the story about its origin is fairly predictable: A goat herd somewhere in the Middle East stored some milk in a container made from an animal skin. When he opened it up to drink the milk, bacteria in the skin had caused it to ferment and form solid bits or curds, and a sour-smelling liquid, whey. Rather than waste it, the goat herd pressed the curds together, cooked them, and voilà! He had made the world’s first cheese.

Well, maybe; but what we know for sure is that it evolved around 7,500 years ago when people began herding animals. We also know that the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans had a liking for it, and for very practical reasons: it was a concentrated, compact and portable way of storing the nutrition contained in milk. You could take it on a journey, cut a slice when hunger pangs assailed you, and you would have immediate access to protein, fat, vitamins A and B and minerals.

The city’s first Cheese Room is at Flow restaurant in the Millennium Hilton Hotel.

There are so many cheeses in the world today, hard, supple, waxy or soft and crumbly, all offering an immense range of sensual pleasures and an insight into the culture that produced them. Restaurants in Bangkok invariably offer a good selection, but the opening of the city’s first Cheese Room at Flow in the Millennium Hilton means that lovers of this exotic gourmet food have never had it so good.

Flow is on the ground floor of the hotel and extends right to the river bank. If you come by boat, it’s the part of the hotel that greets you, an expansive room with a spectacular buffet, a large show kitchen and, on the right hand side the long Cheese Lovers’ Table seating eight a side right beside the Cheese Room.

This is like a large, walk-in wine cabinet, and indeed, one wall is completely occupied by bottles of wine chosen for their harmony with cheese. Step inside and the aroma that greets you is anything but cheesy: It is perhaps nutty, creamy, mushroomy, even a little bit fruity, because that is what cheeses are often like.

A controlled temperature is important to keep them at their best, and in the room it is a constant 14 degrees. Whereas in a wine cellar the light is dim, here it is clinically bright, revealing on the long, cheese buffet table a selection of the gorgeous products and their culinary accoutrements. They are clearly labeled and the chef is standing by to cut you off a bit to taste and carve your selection.

The first in line was a large wheel of yellow-white matured Cheddar from England, standing next to a deeper yellow Montasio from Italy; further down was a round Brie Royale from France enhanced with black truffle, then blue-veined Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Stilton, and a small melon-shaped Crutin al Tartufo, among others in the array.

There were many kinds of bread, and fresh or dried fruit-figs, dates, plums, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries – homemade jams and jellies, olives and nuts. We chose half a dozen kinds of cheese, two known and four discoveries, which were carried to the table with a big selection of sweet offerings.

The place mats at the table are printed with five rings, one for each of the recommended wines to accompany the cheese selections. There are two whites, two reds and a Port, with a brief description of each and the names of the cheeses for which it is recommended.

Matching these two ancient, fermented products isn’t as easy as it might seem as they’re both sensitive and one can easily overpower the other. Every guide to matching I’ve looked at offers conflicting information, so it’s best to follow your own inclinations and experience, but while acquiring that experience, following the Cheese Room’s recommendations would be the best idea.

The first wine was Vision, an Australian blend of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and riesling, and its partners were the hard cheeses, Cheddar and Parmigiano. They are hard because the curds made by fermenting the milk have been pressed together and cooked to yield the appropriate texture. With a slice of Cheddar matured for about a year this white wine had plenty of fruity, mineral flavors balanced by keen acidity, so that was quite a good match.

Montasio, a firm, cow’s milk cheese with small, neat holes, is more creamy and as it matures the texture becomes grainy and the taste more fruity.

Another white wine is recommended for this, Chablis Terroirs, but I preferred the first one with it as the flavors balanced one another more comfortably.

Pecorino was next, a hard, white cheese made from sheep’s milk. It has a salty, slightly fruity flavor and I enjoyed this with some fresh raspberries and strawberries and a slice of the Cheese Room’s fruit and nut bread. I didn’t feel the need to add any wine to this mix.

Caciocavallo Podoloco from Sicily is a supple cheese, neither hard nor soft. Its texture is due to the curds being stretched before cooking, and that makes the cheese more elastic. I thought it deserved a red, and chose number 3 on the list, Babor, a cabernet sauvignon from Chile. It was firm but soft with plenty of the cabernet flavor of black currant and formed an immediate bond with the cheese.

Testun di Barolo is made from the milk of free range sheep and goats on the hillsides near Alba. Its flavor changes through the seasons depending on the grass and vegetation the animals have been cropping, so there are likely to be hints of wild thyme and mint. It is also enhanced by the addition of the marc from Barolo wine, and its creamy interior is covered by a dark, red-brown layer of grape pips. I tried this with some pale green celery jelly with a fresh, pale green flavor, and some dried strawberries which were absolutely delicious.

As the grand finale I chose one of the traditionally ordained blends, Stilton and Port. The almost savory richness of the crumbly, blue-veined cheese melts into the deep, velvety richness of the port for a memorable experience. And this was not just Stilton, but specifically Colston Basset Stilton, a reminder that every product in the Cheese Room is a traditionally made artisan or farmhouse cheese.

You can make some exciting discoveries, or confirm your favourites at the Cheese Room for 950 baht, complete with all the fruity, spicy extras. The flight of five wines including a glass of Graham’s Fine Tawny Port, is 650 baht.

And since all this is in Flow with its superb buffet, you may well opt for a selection from the Cheese Room as part of your buffet choice. That would be a good decision, as the inclusive price would be only 1,500 baht.

Whichever way you approach it, the Cheese Room is a notable new addition to the Bangkok dining out spectrum. Say cheese and you’ll automatically find yourself smiling.

The Cheese Room at the Millennium Hilton’s Flow
Call 02 442 20 00