The French do it. Not just at night, mind you. As a general rule, they begin their day with it.
Get your mind out of de gutter! Of course, I’m talking about cheese. Cheese for breakfast.
Chances are you didn’t grow up having cheese as a main course for breakfast. Growing up in Alabama I certainly didn’t. Eggs and bacon, cereal or toast and jam. In the 80’s my Dad got fancy and started putting some cheese in the scrambled eggs but that was “gourmet” and not standard fare. I don’t think that counts.
I am sure that there are a lot of ideas Americans have about when to eat cheese but my hunch is that breakfast comes in dead last. As a child, when I did eat it, the experience consisted of unwrapping a thin orange slice of “cheese” from cellophane. Now that Americans are moving away from that loose definition and toward a more natural one, it is a good time to redefine not only what but also when.
You may not know that a host of countries–including Russia, Denmark, Turkey, Israel, Venezuela, Bulgaria–around the world do in fact have traditions of cheese for breakfast. Greece–my second home–is full of Greeks who enjoy cheese as a mainstay each morning. My visits there include rising each day in anticipation of a block of feta, some crispy bread, and delicious golden honey. It may sound gourmet, but it isn’t. It is standard. (Some fun facts…the French, as expected, are the largest per-capita consumers of cheese at about 58 pounds per year. Greece is third, at about 52 pounds. The United States is in 15th place, at 33 pounds. The average Frenchie consumes 75% more cheese than the average American!).
A lot of that 58 pounds is consumed at breakfast. There is a French tradition of having cheese for breakfast that consists of stirring in something sweet–honey, jam, fruit–into fromage blanc (super fresh creamy cheese with a subtle sour taste). This dish is usually eaten with a spoon because of the creamy texture of a true French Fromage Blanc.
Being the playful cheesemakers that we are at Belle Chevre, we decided to do what our mothers told us not to do and play with our food. Our line of “breakfast cheeses” was born. We started with mixing some honey into our fresh chevre and voila–Belle and the Bees Breakfast Cheese was born. More playing around led to Fig, Cinnamon, and even Coffee Chevres. The cheeses are perfect on toast or bagels and offer wonderfully bold flavors that cream cheese can’t match. And they are healthier to boot!
As a cheesemaker and a cook I can encourage you to play in the kitchen. Bring more healthy cheese into your life and to your breakfast table. There are no rules to the game but here are a few guidelines:
Try things together that, on first thought, may seem odd to you. Have you ever had a pantry that was almost bare, and you put a few things together that you thought would be terrible, but ended up being great? Cheese is extremely versatile (and forgiving!), so mix it up.
You can combine almost any fruit with almost any cheese to make a great breakfast combo. They are super easy to prepare and a good source of nutrition.
Think of the five different tastes when putting together your cheese breakfast: sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness, and umami (savory). For example, if you like sweet and savory together, try our Belle and the Bees Honey Chevre on a bagel with grilled portobello mushroom. Like salty? Throw some bacon on your bagel, or add some nuts on the side.
Nothing gives you a great high protein start like eggs and cheese. I love to pair almost any kind of cheese, oftentimes multiple kinds of cheese, with my eggs. And don’t be stingy. If you like big flavor, load it up!
So wake up tomorrow morning and treat yourself to some cultures. Bon appetite!
Filed under: The Daily South Tagged: Homepage 
