5 The big cheese

Le Méridien Al Aqah executive pastry chef Sanjit Gupta thinks that cheese is the perfect post-meal digestive when coupled with convivials. He also believes in the versatility of cheeses in dessert, citing a litany of examples — baked cheesecake, chilled cheesecake, cheese soufflé, cheese fondue, cheese platter and cheese puddings.

“Many restaurants have incorporated cheese to make sorbets and ice cream, such as a sorbet of orange and cottage cheese with a hint of paprika; or raspberry and mascarpone sorbet with a hint of togarashi that give a trinity of fruit, cream and spice flavours,” he says.

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Sakti, though, isn’t sure whether cheese is the ideal way to wrap up a meal. “I personally think that cheese is too heavy for a dinner round up as sometimes it can be a very rich way to end a meal. A dessert based on cream cheese, however, is a good option. Whenever a guest asks for something lighter, I always recommend a classic sorbet-based dessert.”

Trilck is firmly in the cheese camp, but says that cheeses in dessert need to be chosen carefully. “Every dessert menu should have cheese on it. For me a strong cheese should be not part of a traditional dessert but a cheese platter. But both can be combined. A nice cheese platter can have a slightly sweet poached pear or a nut-based dessert on it. Whilst a traditional dessert for me should be always made with light cheeses like cream cheese, mascarpone, ricotta, etcetera.”

Over at Galea’s establishment, cheese plays a major role in weekly brunching bacchanalia. He said: “We celebrate the joy of cheese in our weekly brunch, where we feature over 150kg of artisanal cheeses. Personally, finishing the meal off with a good quality selection of cheese is still the perfect ending to a dining experience and we are very fortunate to be able to source a great selection of artisanal cheeses from around the globe.”

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