Between the just-drained cheese and the creamy marvel that is ready to be eaten, there is the aging process.

Aging a cheese means allowing its natural transformations to take place under the two-part action of an enzyme (the diastase) and the microorganisms lodged at the surface and inside the cheese.

Particular care and an extensive knowledge of cheeses are necessary at this stage.

But aging a cheese is also the work of a specialist.

It’s a matter of maturing the cheese so that it fully expresses all of its flavors. As a true test of patience, aging a cheese demands constant surveillance and an adapted environment because moisture (or hygrometry), ventilation, and surrounding temperatures are all going to determine its evolution.

Furthermore, each cheese requires a specific aging period according to its texture or its family : the length of aging can vary (from a few weeks to several months), as can the type of cellar or vault that is used. Of course, the degree of aging is also a question of taste : you can prefer a cheese more or less aged.

For a specialist, however, there is a moment when the cheese is “à point,” when the cheese best and most fully expresses its flavor and the characteristics of its region.

>> More at Cheese manufacture

>> More at Xavier, Alchemist refiner