Cheese with my Cha
28 July 2003

Just when you thought they've run out of ideas for food pairing, here comes one that seeks to marry French cheese with, get this, Chinese tea. Yep, you read that right - Chinese tea.

Before you balk at the idea though, consider how the French have for centuries enjoyed their cheeses with wine, cider, coffee, milk and tea. After that, the notion of marrying the best of French cheese with fine Chinese tea just doesn't sound too (pardon the pun) cheesy.

I mean, I love my cheese-wine set just fine too - so asking me to replace a key element in that time-honoured pairing just sounds a tad taboo. But hey, an open mind and an even wider mouth can only enhance one's gustatory experiences, right?

Thus I found myself making my way down to Le Meridien Singapore for its inaugural French Cheese & Chinese Tea Appreciation session hosted by cheese Maitre, Monsieur Gerard Poulard, and Mr Eric Chua - Director of the Chinese Tea House.

Finding the room wasn't too hard - I followed the scent of jasmine tea and the soft strains of Chinese erhu music. Seated upfront was Eric in full Oriental regalia presiding over a table bedecked with bowls of tealeaves, teacups, pots, herbs and a steaming clay teapot atop a merry burner. Monsieur Gerard stood beside him, smiling benignly as his beloved trolley of cheeses was wheeled in. We settled down after exchanging bonjours and got down to taste the featured pairings.

1) Morbier with Yin Hao Mo Li

Morbier:
A rich and creamy cow cheese made from 2 layers of unpasteurised milk - one from a morning milking and the other in the noon, separated by a vein of gray ash (they now use vegetable dye) to keep flies away.

Yin Hao Mo Li (or Silver Tip Jasmine):
A fragrant favourite since the Southern Song dynasty - this Chinese white tea has been infused with jasmine.

Pairing: The mild jasmine tea went down well with the sweet fruity taste of the semi-soft cheese, neither overpowered the other, resulting in a fragrant and fulfilling taste on the palette.

2) Mimolette with Gao Shang Oolong

Mimolette:
Otherwise known as carrot-cheese for its intriguing tangerine colour (formerly from carrot juice but now attributed to the natural dye annato.) Flavourful, yolky and reminiscent of crab roe or salted duck egg without the saltiness. With a subtle fruity aroma and mellow nutty taste.

Gao Shang Oolong: Member of the Oolong family originating in Fujian and brought over to Taiwan. Strong orchid aroma, smooth and sweet aftertaste.

Pairing: An interesting combination with the intense cheese 'milking' the tea for a rich flavour in the mouth.

3) Comte with Long Jin

Comte: Traditional hard cheese - very creamy with a sweet piquant flavour. Requires a long maturing period (the one we had was about 2 years old - an ideal age to be eaten.)

Long Jin: One of China's most famous teas - clear yellow-green colour with a mellow green tea taste and aroma. Considered to have a cooling effect, great for complexions and dissolving harmful free radicals in our bodies.

Pairing: Full, flavourful, and pleasing. Leaves a yummy creamy, nutty aftertaste in the mouth

4) Buche de Chevre with Rose Tea

Buche de Chevre:
Made from goats milk. Flavourful with herbal undertones. Sharp and tangy near the rind and creamier towards the centre.

Rose Tea:
Delicate tea fragrant with essence of purplish English rose buds. Naturally sweet and flowery-tasting. Touted to nourish the skin and improve complexions.

Pairing: By feeding off the best of hillside grass and herbs, the goats have already infused herbal elements into their milk. The pairing with rose tea complemented its floral heritage and served up a flavourful and fragrant taste on the palette.

Cha Wang:
The most popular amongst all the Chinese Oolongs, thus the Cha Wang (‘King of Teas’) moniker. Otherwise known as Tie Guan Yin - dark as iron, heavier than other teas with an uplifting orchid aroma. Magnificent fragrance and aftertaste.

Pairing: The high astringency resident in the tea helped to balance the acidity and sweetness of the Abondance for a long and fulfilling aftertaste.

6) Bleu D'auvergne with Feng Huang Dang Chong

Blue D'auvergne:
Full-bodied cheese with dark-blue veining that was quite salty to the taste.

Feng Huang Dang Chong: Otherwise known as the select shrub from Mount Phoenix - name of a mountain near the coast in northeastern Guangdong province. The clear orange-brown beverage has a strong natural aroma - slightly bitter but a long-lasting pleasant aftertaste.

Pairing: The tea nullified most of the saltiness from the characterful cheese and followed through with a piquant aftertaste.

Separately, the cheeses were exquisite and the tea excellent. With such individual personalities vying for attention on your palette, it was indeed surprising that some of the combinations actually went quite well together. You know you can't really tell all the time when it comes to wine-cheese pairings because of the gratuitous booze involved. But here it was clear-headed Zen-like assessment of pairings that either hit the spot or lost its way.

My favourite tea was the Long Jin for its full-flavoured body and aroma with the Mimolette cheese just pipping the Mobier for its exquisite 'roe-ish' texture and taste. My pairing of choice had to be the Comte cheese with Long Jin for its complementary creamy and nutty aftertaste (See pairing 3).

All in all, the pairings were well considered and foodies interested to try the unusual would do well to make a beeline for Cafe Georges at Le Meridien Singapore (67338855, ext. 8133) from 2-6 August 2003 for its cheese platters. Monsieur Poulard will be on-hand to aid you with recommendations.

Tea may be purchased separately from Chinese Tea Houses at its various branches (Ngee Ann City: 67340965, Bugis Junction: 63378537 and Esplanade Mall:64231013).