Many people know that "Sake is delicious even with cheese."
The reason is generally "because they are the same fermented food". Others say it's difficult because Sotron, a Japanese sake, goes with the fatty acid esters of cheese.
There are many different types of cheese, with a wide variety of flavors, aromas, and mouthfeel. Not all cheeses match every brand of sake. It seems that few people know in detail what kind of cheese is suitable for which type of sake.
However, this time, the idea of matching sake brands and cheeses by type was the sake contest “Kura Master” in Paris, France, which has “one cheese in one village”.■"In earnest.
* This is a Japanese sake contest held in France for French by French people.
Rather than theory, the intuitive mariage of French, experienced in cheese, with sake is likely to be very helpful.
In order to spread sake in France, where the consumption of sake is not so large compared to the United States and China, the only thing that can not be done is pairing sake and cheese.
In Japan, a marriage using individual sake and specific cheese names has been proposed, but this time a marriage using a Japanese sake brand and specific cheese names highly appreciated by French people in the cheese kingdom France I will introduce it.
This is my favorite sake. Please enjoy the best match with the cheese cuddling the taste.
Why is sake and cheese delicious?
Cheese is full of umami. It is a well-known fact for wine enthusiasts that they do not fail if they combine red wine with a lot of tannins in the cheddar cheese and port wine in the blue cheese with a habit to enjoy each taste.
However, cheese is not a traditional Japanese food.
But why is the combination of sake and cheese attracting attention now? The keywords are "umami" and "health".
Sake and cheese contain UMAMI
Umami is one of the basic tastes discovered in Japan. Until then, the taste was thought to be only "sweet, sour, salty, and bitter", but with the discovery of new umami, it was accepted as the "fifth taste" in the world.
Umami enhances each other's taste
The components that make up umami are roughly divided into three types, each with the following characteristics.
- <Amino acid type>Glutamic acid… One of the 20 amino acids that make up protein, included in cheese and sake
- <Nucleic acid system>Inosinic acid, guanylic acid... It is made by changing the nucleic acid, and is abundantly contained in dried bonito and dried shiitake mushrooms that become delicious when dried.
- <Organic acid type> Acetic acid, citric acid, lactic acid, succinic acidAnd so on ... included in sake
And the umami component has the property of increasing by aging.
As cheese ages, milk proteins are broken down into amino acids, increasing the umami and flavor.To go. For example, compare fresh mozzarella cheese to two years old Parmigiano reggiano. The taste is completely different.
Combination of fermented foods → health promotion → food is delicious!
The combination of sake and cheese can ingest more bacteria into the body than eating each alone, and the following effects are expected.
- Improve metabolism… If you increase your basal metabolism, the amount of energy consumed will increase even if you are not active, but enzymes contribute to this metabolism. Decreased enzymes reduce basal metabolism. Fermented foods such as sake and cheese contain plenty of this enzyme.
- Fat burning effect… Fermented foods contain abundant amino acids such as glutamic acid, which is an umami ingredient, and some of them have the function of decomposing fat, which works to convert fat into energy.
- Intestinal environment improvement… Good bacteria are needed for intestinal care, also called “second brain”, but fermented foods such as sake and cheese are abundant
Click here for "Types and Functions of Amino Acids in Sake"↓
So far we have described the benefits of combining sake and cheese, but in fact not all types of sake are suitable for all cheeses.
How to distinguish good pairing from bad pairing
Try combining sake and cheese to see how it tastes.
○ Satisfying sake and cheese pairing
- Enhance umami and sweetness with each other
- Bitterness and astringency are decreasing due to synergy
- Unique flavors of each other are brought out
- Creates a pleasant scent and does not give off a stench
If you actually mix sake and cheese and get the above impression, it's a good mariage.
On the other hand, it is not recommended if the following results are obtained.
× Pairing of unfortunate sake and cheese
- Bitterness and astringency come out
- Precious taste is lost
- The natural flavor of sake and cheese disappears
Now, let's experiment using the cream cheese that is stocked in every household (it seems to be) to actually distinguish good pairing sake from bad pairing sake.
Try Mariage with "Cream Cheese"!
Cream cheese often found in shops. In Japan, many people buy cheesecake and ice cream as well. An unripe cheese that has a sour taste and melts fat in your mouth.
If you want to match overseas cheese with sake but you can't make it in time by ordering online, cream cheese stocked in the refrigerator is enough.
However, it is better to know if the sake that goes with cream cheese is Junmai Daiginjo, Junmai, Sparkling Sake, or Aged Koshu.
Junmai Daiginjo x Cream Cheese: Clearly not recommended
Cream cheese, a mixture of fresh cream and milk, is characterized by its rich taste.The cream will cover most of the mouth in a matter of seconds, so you won't be able to feel the taste of the rice that is unique to Junmai Daiginjo, which you can taste throughout your mouthThe drawback is (;;)
This cheese is not recommended for expensive Daiginjo. × for Camembert cheese for the same reason.
Junmaishu x Cream Cheese: If you want to try it, please go to the level
Cream cheese acid breaks the balance between umami, sourness and sweetness of Junmaishu. It is not the best mariage, but if you like it, you may try it.
Sparkling sake x cream cheese: recommended
Sparkling sake's subtle sourness, sweetness and refreshing taste harmonize with cream cheese to enhance the umami of both.I can recommend it.
Aged sake x cream cheese: super recommended level
Aged sake is sake that has been carefully aged in sake breweries for more than three years.
The rich and rich flavor of sake is slowly leaching out of the aging ingredients during storage,When combined with rich cream cheese, after mixing in the mouth, sweetness reminiscent of caramel comes out. This is a very good pairing.
So what about mariage with other types of cheese?
Types and flavors of cheese
Cheese tastes different depending on the ingredients, such as milk, texture, flavor and aging history. There are three main types of milk: cows, sheep, and goats.
Natural cheese
Natural cheese is fermented with the power of lactic acid bacteria and yeast that milk originally possesses, and its flavor changes as it ages.
Natural cheese is in a state where lactic acid bacteria are still active, so it has various shapes and colors depending on how it is made, and the taste and aroma are unique.
You can easily get the world's natural cheese in Japan, but at least in the worldThere are over 74 types of cheese produced in 1829 countriesWhile400 in FranceCheese is made. But,In Japan, only a handful of domestic cheese is processed cheese.■Account for the majority, and most natural cheeses are imported and expensive.
Therefore, it is unlikely that many people will be able to determine which foreign cheese is married to sake.
* What is process cheese?
Slice cheese and snack cheese commonly found in Japan are made from heat-processed processed cheese. It is convenient because it can be stored for a long time without any change in taste.However, in Europe, processed cheese is fake cheese. Not treated as cheese. In Europe, cheese refers to natural cheese.
Kura Master awarded sake and cheese mariage selected by French
Cheese is mainly classified into eight types.
Here are the types of cheese andIntroducing award-winning sake selected as the best mariageTo do.
① Fresh cheese
Unripe cheese.
The features are creamy texture and mild flavor. It has no habit and is soft and has a mild taste of milk.
The texture also differs depending on how much whey and moisture has been squeezed out of the fresh cheese. The shape can be changed from cottage cheese to queso fresco depending on the amount of water squeezed.
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Quesofresco: Light salty and sour taste. Used for salad toppings and enchiladas
Cream cheese: Rich taste of lactic acid bacteria-derived sourness and milk fat, characterized by smooth texture
Ricotta: Richer taste than cottage
Chevre: Made from goat milk. It has a simple taste with sourness, but it is also called a "moldy rag".
Among the Kura Master awarded sakes, no sake was selected as fresh cheese and the best mariage.
② Pasta filata
Pasta refers to powdered ingredients as well as dough and cheese dough. Firata means "thin as thin as yarn" and "thin cheese" is called pasta filata.
The way to make pasta filata, a cheese that grows like rice cakes, is very different from other cheeses.
- Coagulate and dehydrate milk
- Ferment
- When the acidity reaches a certain level, cut finely
- Add boiling water and knead. Then the tissue of the cheese becomes fibrous
- It is made into a line while hot or molded into a gourd
- Mozzarella: Buffalo mozzarella made with buffalo milk has more calcium and protein and less cholesterol than mozzarella of cow milk. No refrigeration is required.
- Burata: Brata means butter in Italian. Inside the hard mozzarella curd is fresh cheese made of buttery rich cream. There is a surprising thing that comes out of the trolley when a knife is inserted, and the popularity is rising rapidly in Japan.
- Keso Oaxaca: Mexican semi-soft cheese. Creamy and mild with the texture of mozzarella cheese.
Among the Kura Master awarded sakes, no sake was selected as the best marriage with pasta filata.
③ Soft-aged cheese ... awarded sake and mariage
Cheese represented by Camembert and Brie in France, characterized by a thin mold skin surrounding the outside.
The ripening period is short, but when converting milk fat to an aromatic compound called ketone, mold fungi called penicillium camemberti grow on the outside, and the smell and flavor like mushrooms from the outside to the inside are rich It is becoming.
- Brie: Originally from the Brie region of France. You can basically eat the skin. If it is slimy or brownish, remove the skin and eat.
- CamembertA: The difference from Bree is the difference in milk fat content. Brie cheese contains 60% fat and Camembert contains 45% fat. As for the taste, Brie is more salty and has an ammonia odor. For those who are not used, Camembert cheese is recommended.
- Cambosola: German cheese combining Camembert cheese and Gorgonzola. The sweet flavor is perfect for blue cheese beginners.
◎ Soft Aged Cheese × Kura Master Awarded Sake ◎
Bria Savarin (aged type) is a tasting cheese with a low acidity, despite the aging habit.
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In addition to Bria Savarin, goat milk is a raw material and low salty sable cheese is also suitable.
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Kaifu-to is a unique pure rice brew that uses white koji used in shochu to create a sour taste like white wine. There is a fish illustration on the label, but it is also a wonderful mariage for cheese.
Other award-winning sake recommended by Bria Savarin and Marriage with Chevre cheese are:
- Goto Sake Brewery Junmai Daiginjo Seiun
- Handsome boy
- Yoka Nigori Sake
④Semi-soft cheese
A soft cheese with a creamy and moist texture. The ripening period is usually short, a few months, and the taste is mild and mellow.
Munster: American cheese made by German immigrants. Easy to melt, so hot sand ◎
Jarsburg: Big holes and nut flavor.
None of the Kura Master awarded sakes was selected as a mariage with semi-soft cheese.
⑤ Washed cheese
does anyone need a transparent .png of limburger cheese
you never know when you'll need it pic.twitter.com/jqMx6ZnKsL
—The Gregory Brothers (@gregorybrothers) November 7, 2018
It is a category that contains cheese that does not exaggerate to say that it smells like worn out sneakers.
Washed cheese is named for washing the outside of the cheese twice a week for about two months with seawater, beer, wine, and sake. Why wash? This is because washing cheese with alcohol, such as seawater or beer, kills mold and encourages the growth of bacteria called brevibacterium linen.
This bacterium lives under human skin and is the same bacterium that causes the smell of the feet, but you don't need to be afraid. If you remove the skin, the cheese inside will not smell so much.
Mondour, a popular cheese in Japan and eaten with a spoon, is also included in this category.
"Tori", which is a snack of sake, such as Kusaya, may be a more addictive type of cheese.
- Limburger: Top 10 most smelling food in the world.
- Tareggio: Relatively mild smell.
- Epowas: Features orange wrinkle appearance. The contents are soft and thick.
None of the Kura Master awarded sakes was selected as a mariage with washed cheese.
⑥Blue cheese
It seems to overlap with the soft ripened cheese, but the difference is in the blue mold that appears in Roquefort and Stilton cheese, like veins.
Soft and aged cheeses like the brie described above are made with the action of an external mold, while blue cheese has the difference that mold is applied from the inside.
Since blue mold used in bull cheese grows in places with air, cheese makers work by opening holes in the side of the cheese and injecting air when the time comes. So if you cut the cheese, you can see small holes everywhere.
Blue cheese has a strong salty taste, butyric acid and nutty flavor.
- Rockfall: Cheese made from southern French sheep's milk.
- Stilton, Gorgonzola: Made with milk. Mild than Rockfall.
- Dana blue: Blue cheese from Denmark. For blue cheese lovers, famous for being salty.
None of the Kura Master awarded sakes was selected as a mariage with blue cheese.
⑦Semi-hard cheese ... awarded sake and mariage
Depending on the type of lactic acid bacteria mixed into the milk and the aging period, semi-hard cheeses with various flavors are produced.
For example, Lactococcus includes lactis and cremoris bacteria, but lactis bacteria create beautiful skin, and cremoris bacteria that make cheddar cheese reach the large intestine alive, improving the intestinal environment.
Lactobacillus helveticus, which is used in hard cheese described below, is said to improve brain function.
As these fungi mature, the lactic acid bacteria proliferate and create a unique taste.
- Cheddar: Cheese native to South England made into a fibrous tissue using a unique method called cheddaring (a method of stacking curds and discharging excess whey). Aging period is 2 months to 2 years. Features a hazelnut scent and a sharp aftertaste.
- Gouda: Famous Dutch cheese alongside Edam. The flavor is mild but rich and rich flavor is suitable for everyone.
- Edam: A sharper gouda taste.
◎ Semi-hard cheese x Kura Master awarded sake ◎
Tom de Savoie (semi-hard) is made from skim milk after removing butter. Although the fat content is a little low, it has a firm nut-like richness due to aging, and it is calm without taste and habit.
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One of the joint projects of a brewing maker with Reiji Matsumoto, a manga artist known for "Ginga Tetsudo 999" and others, is "Shirasagi Castle", one of Sengoku's Arcadia, a great shogun liquor. The taste is finished with refined Ginjo scent and refreshing rice flavor.
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Other award-winning sake recommended for mariage with Tom de Savoie are:
⑧Hard cheese ... awarded sake and mariage
A hard cheese with very little moisture.
To make it, first soak it in salt water for 3 months, then aged for 2-3 years.
When you eat, you may notice small chunks in the cheese, not the salt, but the cheese crystals produced during the ripening process.
- Parmigiano Reggiano: Cheese King is a cheese made from Bologna, Mantua, Modena and Parma. Strong umami taste due to high glutamic acid content.
- Asiago: From northern Italy. Mild and floral scent than Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Pecorino: Sheep milk is the raw material. Because of the purpose of long-term storage, it has a lot of salt and a crisp taste.
- Manchego: This is also grazed and is made from tail manchega sheep milk, which has a strong acidity.
◎Hard cheese x Kura Master awarded sake ◎
Conte that is usually eaten after aging for 5 to 6 months. However, the conte aged 12 months has a distinctive smell from the outer brown skin, but the contents are sweet and rich in taste. Complex tastes such as honey and hazelnuts just leave the mouth.
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In addition to Conte, we recommend the popular hard cheese "Sun Nectaire", which has a chestnut-like flavor.
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Shichihonyari is a pure rice brew that uses plenty of low-polished rice to make the “fate of rice”, which is said to be an illusionary sake rice. Marriage with cheese that feels a little sweet.
Other award-winning sakes that have been aged for 12 months and are recommended for marriage with Saint-Nectaire are:
- Nabe store Junmai sake “Jinyu”
- Sugii Sake Brewery
In addition, the conte is also aged for 24 months, and the sake that is married with this is said to be aged sake.
Japanese sake [Limited sake of 20 year storage] Ginjo treasured sake [since1998] 720ml
If you are not good at hard type, try stilton (blue cheese) with aged sake. Thick butter melts in your mouth, and its soggy feel snugly fits the thickening of aged sake.
Conclusion: If you have trouble thinking about mariage, toast with wine like sake and your favorite cheese!
Wine country French soul food, cheese. Just as we are particular about egg-cooked rice, the French have a strong eye on wine and cheese combinations.
And 2018 Kura Master is actually trying to marry cheese and sake, which are indispensable in the French food scene. There wasn't a lot of sake in their glasses that knew all about cheese, but I knew that cheese and sake would definitely match.
However, the sakes and cheeses I have introduced are not always easy to buy because they are close at hand. You may be dissatisfied with this.
For those who like it, why not enjoy your favorite cheese with sake made with wine yeast?
The taste reminiscent of high-quality white wine is slightly sweet. It is fun to find your own marriage with various cheeses ♪Sake, but like wine! That is. You often see them recently. This product is prepared with wine yeast and looks and drinks like champagne rather than wine. Sweet, with a subtle aftertaste and scent that passes through the nose. But not at all. One dish recommended for aperitif. It is best to drink it chilled.
