What works for me, is buying the strongest flavored cheeses I can affordf - the kind that smell and taste too strong to be enjoyable in large quantities.
For example asiago cheese is much more intensely flavored/scented than parmesan or romano (and more expensive too).
Usually, the strongest cheeses are also the most expensive, so the price is just another incentive to use them sparingly.
I love the penicillin mold cheeses (Roquefort, gorgonzola, stilton, blues...) so I buy the most intensely flavored ones I can find. Some of the more expensive blue cheeses and gorgonzolas are so intense that they're almost unpleasant to eat "straight" but a tablespoon can nicely flavor a HUGE salad.
I bought one that was over $25 per pound (I only bought 4 ounces), and it was so intensely tasting of salt and mold that I'd stir only one rounded tablespoon into an entire pint of sour cream to make a veggie dip. To get the same flavor from cheap blue cheese (like Amish or Danish blue), I would have needed to use a quarter pound.
Super stinky cheeses = super intense flavor, but if you shave or grate the stinky cheese over a salad or plate of pasta - the flavor and smell is more like a larger quantity of milder cheese.
The one place this doesn't always work well, is eating cheese straight. Even with pieces of fruit, you can use the "sprinkle of strong cheese" in place of a slice of weak cheese. But if you like eating actual pieces of cheese, you may not care for the stronger cheeses.
I like the strong cheeses enough to eat an occasional sliver, but to eat a "hunk of cheese" the strong cheeses are a bit too much (which is a blessing, or I'd be in deep trouble).
|
I just wish LF versions would cut it...they're all so bland and have a weird texture.
