hi I'm Beth
welcome to the mongrel minute I talked
to a lot of people who have questions
about cheese and one of the most common
questions usually accompanied by a
skeptical look is can I eat the rind the
short answer is almost always yes after
all a rind is a terrible thing to waste
let's look at some cheese's though
because there are a few exceptions to
that rule if you have a Gouda or a
cheddar like this one coated in wax
don't eat the wax similarly if you buy
an aged clothbound cheddar like some of
the really great ones from England the
cloth on the outside is not a good snack
you'll peel it back and you may feel
like the rind underneath is a little bit
dry a little bit crumbly go ahead and
cut that away aged cheese's like a
parmesan a manchego or this greer have
natural rinds that form as the cheese is
aged there's nothing in these rinds that
can hurt you but they do tend to be old
and dry and not really palatable you may
want to leave some of the rind on when
you cut cheese's on a platter though
because it'll add some color and
contrast to the cheese and never ever
throw away a parmesan rind freeze them
if you need to the next time you make
soup or tomato sauce go ahead and toss
the rind in the pot it'll melt and add
flavor to the liquid Italian
grandmother's have been doing that for
centuries and they know what they're
doing now here's a cheese called Tom
clay use this one's from France younger
softer natural rind of cheeses like this
one have orion's that can look a little
bit funky this one's gray its bumpy got
a little bit of neon yellow on here
that's normal and it's fine lots of
people think these rinds are delicious I
don't think there's anyone in France who
would hesitate to eat this entire thing
it's a bit of an acquired taste but it's
worth a try
these rinds have flavors of the cheese
cave which is part of the flavor of the
cheese if you have a soft cheese a
bloomie Rhine a little wrinkly goat
cheese like this one absolutely
everything is edible now you may have
had an unfortunate experience with what
I call supermarket brie which is
mass-produced
the rind is perfectly white and lovely
like this one but it has the texture and
sometimes the flavor of a stretched-out
rubber band that's not how it's supposed
to be the rind on a softer cheese is
designed to contrast with the really
rich creamy interior a rinds firmness
and slight bit of bitterness help
balance that buttery character of
something like a brie or a camembert and
if you see little blue or green spots on
the X
of a soft cheese that's fine too some
cheese makers actually work to cultivate
those and they can add some very
interesting flavors so the next time you
buy good cheese be open to an adventure
and eat the whole thing
my motto at Mill City cheesemongers is
simple no rind should be left behind bon
fromage
you