How to Deal with the Cheese Rind

Published on Thursday, July 3, 2008, by CHOW Video Team / Edit Post

How to Deal with the Cheese Rind

Todd Jasmin, restaurant consultant and former fromager of Sona Restaurant in LA, answers the age-old question.

CHOW Tips are the shared wisdom of our community. If you’ve figured out some piece of food, drink, or cooking wisdom that you’d like to share on video (and you can be in San Francisco), email Meredith Arthur and tell us what you’ve got in mind.

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POST A COMMENT |26 Comments

COMMENT

  • I have never had cheese with the label GLUED on...that's crazy....if the label is glued on, the cheese is plastic wrapped (when I do buy at the grocery store)...I save the rinds to flavor minestrone soup...it's the best!!!!

  • This is another in my series of life learnings titled; "Never take advise from a guy with a ponytail."

    I thought this was going to be someone telling me to put parmesan rinds into soup stock...again. Instead I get Mick Fleetwood telling me not to eat glue. Awesome.

  • Looks like they finally pulled this silly video. (The only reason I'm back here is that I got an 'update' on comments here from Chow.)

  • I can't believe this abysmal "Chow Tip" popped up again in the rotation. Let me echo the feelings of Buddylove and others. This Jasmin clown is ignorant about cheese and his video gives bad information. Chowhound, please pull this video. It has no place on a serious food board. Lots of good info in the comments though.

  • If it's not a waxed rind, YOU MAY EAT IT! This guy knows nothing, please pull the video!

  • I'm wearing a T shirt as I write from Forward Foods, a gourmet cheese shop in Norman, OK, with a motto on the back: Live life on the edge. Eat the rind.

  • some rinds are a delicacy, some are wax...

  • What would HumboIdt Fog, or a salty Stilton, or a brandy-washed Epoisses, or any camembert or brie, be, without the rind? Seriously deficient.

  • man!
    this has totaly thrown a wrench into my rind consumtion
    I need real answers from credible sources!...listed sources

    CHOW PEOPLE :Get on it!

    youve started this madness!!!

    please make with the facts.

  • I can't believe that this Chow Tip was even posted.

  • I always eat my rindless brie with my crustless baguette and non-alcoholic wine.

  • I am floored. This is nonsense. I just purchased a show slew of various cheese at the market today and the number of them that had the label glued to the rind was... ZERO.

    This guy finds a cheese with the label glued to the rind and suddenly all rinds of all cheeses are bad news? Give me a break.

    As for the "germs" from everyone touching the rind, I am not sure where he is shopping but the...+READ

    I am floored. This is nonsense. I just purchased a show slew of various cheese at the market today and the number of them that had the label glued to the rind was... ZERO.

    This guy finds a cheese with the label glued to the rind and suddenly all rinds of all cheeses are bad news? Give me a break.

    As for the "germs" from everyone touching the rind, I am not sure where he is shopping but the packaged cheeses are wrapped in paper or a thin paper box and the cheeses I get from the gourmet section are handled by employees wearing gloves.

    I echo a lot of the other people who say that this is one of the lamest Chow Tips ever.-COLLAPSE

  • This had to be the lamest Chow Tip I've seen yet. Who is this guy? Does he know anything about cheese? I'll give him "glue expert".

    There are many cheeses that have edible rinds, some which have already been mentioned by others in the comments. To blindly recommend that one should avoid all cheese rinds has to be the stupidest, most myopic advice I've seen on this board ever.

    Please get rid of...+READ

    This had to be the lamest Chow Tip I've seen yet. Who is this guy? Does he know anything about cheese? I'll give him "glue expert".

    There are many cheeses that have edible rinds, some which have already been mentioned by others in the comments. To blindly recommend that one should avoid all cheese rinds has to be the stupidest, most myopic advice I've seen on this board ever.

    Please get rid of this video. It is an embarrassment.-COLLAPSE

  • I guess that's why he's the "former fromager"...

  • There is a wonderful dish from the Savoie region of France that involves the rind--tartiflette. Using a whole rebluchon cut lengthwise you put it over parboiled cubed potatoes, sauteed lardons and onions and bake in the oven. The interior of the cheese melts and makes a sauce and the rinds crisp up and become delicious.

  • I'm Italian, and the rinds from parm ALWAYS go into soups or ragus.
    IF there are any germs, they are cooked for a long time, we've never gotten sick from using them. At the price charged for great cheeses, it is a waste to throw them away. I, too, have never seen a label glued to the cheese itself.

  • i actually by parm rinds, cut then in smallish chunks, put then in a jar and cover with olive ill, and put in the fridge (that part's important!). the flavored oil is fabulous, and may actually soften the rinds a bit. fry the rinds in a hot cast iron skillet, rind side down first. flip them and pay attention because they can burn quickly. drain and use to garnish soup, salads or pasta.

  • I live in the Netherlands, some eat the rind, not the wax; others feed the rind to the chickens for tastier eggs. But who cuts the rind off of Brie? If you think eating the rind is bad, you do know that in big supermarkets the ones that have individual chunks of cheese wrapped in plastic wrap. They actually cut the mold off of older unsold pieces and repackage them. Better to buy what is cut in...+READ

    I live in the Netherlands, some eat the rind, not the wax; others feed the rind to the chickens for tastier eggs. But who cuts the rind off of Brie? If you think eating the rind is bad, you do know that in big supermarkets the ones that have individual chunks of cheese wrapped in plastic wrap. They actually cut the mold off of older unsold pieces and repackage them. Better to buy what is cut in front of you. And I mean the places in the states.-COLLAPSE

  • Who all is handling this cheese? It's not exactly in the bargain fruit bin for everyone to manhandle. If it's individually wrapped then it's been touched by the cheesemaker and the person who wrapped it (who could very well be the cheesemaker). If it's in a cheese case, it's been handled by the cheesemaker and later the cheesemonger(s) who should be wearing gloves. The rind is monitored and cared...+READ

    Who all is handling this cheese? It's not exactly in the bargain fruit bin for everyone to manhandle. If it's individually wrapped then it's been touched by the cheesemaker and the person who wrapped it (who could very well be the cheesemaker). If it's in a cheese case, it's been handled by the cheesemaker and later the cheesemonger(s) who should be wearing gloves. The rind is monitored and cared for throughout the process and should be considered an edible part of the cheese...unless it's waxed, of course!-COLLAPSE

  • I eat the rind, but wear surgical gloves while I'm doing it.

  • "Do you really want to eat the things that everyone's hands touch?"

    Ooh, Germs! Ooh, icky!

    Please keep hiding under your bed and leave the real food for the rest of us.

  • Our Cheese Obsessive (coming out in a month or so) said it best: Do you really want to eat the things that everyone's hands touch? It's like eating the paper a sandwich is wrapped in. Yes, some people do it, but it's a bit gross.

    I had never thought of it like that, but I've definitely curbed my rind habit since then. Meredith of CHOW

  • Gluing labels on cheese? Who does that? The rind adds a completely different character to the cheesiness found inside. A lot of our customers prefer it to grate over salads or in sauces. Absolutely, try the rind!

  • i agree with ya lemoyne .good cheese absolutly eat the rind ,unless its boll de lille .i know i spelt it wrong but the mites that make that rind can have that rind ,cheese is good thou

  • so other than the label glue, the rind is the good stuff?

  • He is an idiot..... buy better cheese without low rent labels glued on them. Fromager ... come on. .... THe rind usully containes bacteria from the smear that provides most of the character for the cheese. use it in stocks. use it in little jullienes as a garnish, use it as a powerful grate. BUY GOOD CHEESE WITH THE LABEL STENCILED AND USE THE RIND!!!!!