Image courtesy of Backpacker Magazine
Cheese. I love it, and am rarely out in the wilderness without some form of it. Trail-Son has taken on my affinity, but he's not a huge fan of the oily, limp Tillamook cheddar cheese that comes out of my pack after a hot day of trekking. Between his pickiness around the lack of the cheese's integrity and the absence of a nearby frommelier, I resorted to online research to investigate our other options (especially after a disastrous semi-soft Havarti incident during our last camping trip).
In researching which cheeses are the best for varying trips, I came across one of the most brilliant hacks courtesy of Backpacker Magazine. One part Edam cheese wax coating, one part improvised wick (napkin, toilet paper, etc.), and you have yourself a candle/firestarter and a bellyful of yummy Dutch cheese.
Outside of getting creative with fire, here are some thoughts around those cheeses and tricks that garnered the most accolades during my brief research.
Gouda
Pecorino
Parmigiano Reggiano
Montgomery's Cheddar
Gruyere
Hoch Ybrig
Toussaint
Appenzeller
Wrapping cheese tightly in plastic is the big no-no; The wizard of cooking, Harold McGee, touts three very logical reasons behind this - Tight plastic wrapping promotes non-cheese bacterial growth, prevents dissipation of natural off odors, and can taint the cheese with the flavor of the plastic.
Opinions are mixed otherwise, but for those of us too cheap to invest in cheese paper, the combination of parchment paper or foil-wrapped chunks of cheese stored in an unsealed plastic baggie seems like a win for the trail or campsite.
If you have any recommendations, please share in the comments!
In researching which cheeses are the best for varying trips, I came across one of the most brilliant hacks courtesy of Backpacker Magazine. One part Edam cheese wax coating, one part improvised wick (napkin, toilet paper, etc.), and you have yourself a candle/firestarter and a bellyful of yummy Dutch cheese.
Outside of getting creative with fire, here are some thoughts around those cheeses and tricks that garnered the most accolades during my brief research.
Gouda
Pecorino
Parmigiano Reggiano
Montgomery's Cheddar
Gruyere
Hoch Ybrig
Toussaint
Appenzeller
Wrapping cheese tightly in plastic is the big no-no; The wizard of cooking, Harold McGee, touts three very logical reasons behind this - Tight plastic wrapping promotes non-cheese bacterial growth, prevents dissipation of natural off odors, and can taint the cheese with the flavor of the plastic.
Opinions are mixed otherwise, but for those of us too cheap to invest in cheese paper, the combination of parchment paper or foil-wrapped chunks of cheese stored in an unsealed plastic baggie seems like a win for the trail or campsite.
If you have any recommendations, please share in the comments!
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