Business Times - 04 Apr 2009
GUEST CHEF
Waxing lyrical about mould
It affects the way cheeses look, defends them from other bacteria, and changes the way they taste too, explains Bruce Chapman of Jones the Grocer. By Audrey Phoon
SOME foodies rave about deeply-scented truffles, others rhapsodise about rich, fatty foie gras. But Bruce Chapman is waxing lyrical about mould - or, to be more specific, the mould on cheese.
He's in the cheese cellar of Jones the Grocer, where he is general manager, enthusiastically pointing out various varieties of the fuzzy stuff.
'Look at this,' he says, using a gloved hand to pick up what looks to the untrained eye to be a supremely ugly log covered in a short coat of fur that resembles a sharpei's. It turns out to be a cylindrical chunk of St Maure de Touraine, a prized variety of French cheese made from unpasteurised goat's milk. The 'coat', explains Mr Chapman, is 'all wrinkly from the edible mould - a variety called geotrichum - that's been introduced to it'.
Different moulds affect the way the cheeses look, he continues, plus the way they ripen. And they're important because they 'defend cheese from other bacteria and repel other organisms from living in it'.
'To get any sort of poisoning from cheese is incredibly rare,' states Mr Chapman.
Mould changes the way the cheeses taste too. Chomping on blue mould, for example, 'is like eating pepper because it's spicy', says the Perth native, who was formerly chief fromager for Jones the Grocer in Australia.
While he finds that Singaporeans love their cheese and are quite adventurous when it comes to trying different varieties, he feels that goat's cheese is underrated here. 'A lot of locals try it and tell me they don't like the taste,' he says, adding that he thinks it's a pity because lots of recipes do well with goat's cheese.
To set diners on the road to appreciating it, he recommends Cabrioulet, a soft-ripened goat's cheese from a small producer in France with a creamy texture. Meanwhile, those keen to try something even more unusual should take a chunk out of a Fleur du Marquis. This pretty, posy-shaped rustic artisan cheese from Corsica is honeyed and delicate on the palate, with a sweeter, nuttier flavour as it matures.
The Australian, who grew up in a 'semi-rural' area where his family grew their own vegetables and reared chickens, spent much of his childhood either in his father's garden or 'in the kitchen helping mum cut apricots in half to make jam - she was always making jam'. He is also a chef, having spent years in the kitchens of several award-winning restaurants including the Oriel Cafe in Perth and Atlantic in Canberra.
As such, apart from mould, Mr Chapman is enthusiastic about and is an expert on Australian fresh produce too. And he displays his passion within the glass showcases of Jones the Grocer's deli section, which was recently expanded to include a larger range of restaurant-quality gourmet meats and cold cuts.
When buying Australian beef or lamb, cooks should choose produce from Tasmania because 'it's got the best environment and it's cooler there', shares the chef. 'There's a lot of grass and lots of open space, really clear air and it's clean because they don't really have big cities there.'
He specifies Aurora as a good producer. 'They tend to be very sensitive to what the cattle eat and how they're raised. And that's also why dairy from Tasmania is good too.' If meat from Tasmania is unavailable, the chef rates Victoria - and particularly the region of Gippsland - as being 'probably the next best' because of the similar climate there.
For all his passion and work connections though, Mr Chapman hasn't yet been able to sink his teeth into one product he's been hankering after in Singapore, due to AVA regulations. 'It would be so lovely if we could get one particular type of salami from a small producer in Italy. But it's not likely to happen,' he says with resignation. 'The smaller producers usually don't have the money to invest getting their product here.'
That doesn't stop him from gushing about the salami as he did with the mould, though. 'It's a wild boar salami (or salame di cinghiale in Italian), made from wild pigs in Tuscany. I just eat it on its own with some bread and some olive oil - it's really rich and has sort of a strong, deep flavour so a little bit goes a long way.
'It's like a home-made salami; my wife's father makes his own sausages and it's a bit like that. Every batch is different but it's always quite good.'
Lamb cutlets with fruity couscous and mint
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 Tasmanian lamb cutlets
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
200g couscous
5 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
32 dried cranberries
Zest and juice of two lemons
Handful of roughly chopped mint and flat leaf parsley
Method
1. Place lamb in a bowl, sprinkle over paprika, half the onion, 1 tbsp vinegar and 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Set aside.
2. Boil your kettle and tip couscous into a heatproof bowl, then stir in the pine nuts, cranberries, lemon zest and half the juice. Pour 140ml of just-boiled water over the mixture, then push couscous to the sides of the bowl, cover and leave to stand for 10 mins.
3. Heat grill to high and grill lamb cutlets for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, then wrap them in foil and leave them to rest for another 10 minutes.
4. Stir half the chopped herbs and some seasoning into the couscous, then add the remaining lemon juice to taste.
5. Mix together the remaining herbs, red onion, vinegar, oil and seasoning to make a herby vinaigrette.
6. Portion the couscous onto four plates, set a lamb cutlet on top of each and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Serve hot.
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