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Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Gives Menus Flavorful Appeal

Understanding the importance of engaging diners with exciting, full-flavored fare made with exotic, specialty ingredients is important when it comes to updating menus. Foodservice operators looking to add new items to the menu should not only consider trends and bold flavors, but profit potential as well. Handcrafted specialty cheese from Wisconsin can help bring a trend to life on your menu, while increasing your bottom line.

What Makes Wisconsin Specialty Cheese So Special?

Wisconsin specialty cheese varieties are often characterized as being more unique compared to mainstream, large-volume cheese varieties. The Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute defines a specialty cheese as high-quality, limited-quantity cheeses whose production is less than 40 million pounds per year. With such strict standards for quality and quantity, specialty cheeses are often perceived as having added value. Additional factors, including ethnicity, cheesemaking techniques, design, limited supply and unusual application, also affect a cheese variety’s “specialty” status. Wisconsin produces more specialty cheese than anywhere else in the country. Examples of Wisconsin’s specialty cheese varieties include smoked cheeses, such as a Smoked Gouda or Baby Swiss that offer a unique flavor profile; aged cheeses, such as a Seven-Year Cheddar, that grow more complex and flavorful over time; and ethnic varieties including Hispanic-style cheeses such as Asadero and Queso Fresco.

Wisconsin Specialty Cheese for Full-Flavored Menus

Specialty cheeses from Wisconsin not only deliver robust flavor, they also deliver the assurance of quality that comes from the state's rich cheesemaking heritage and unsurpassed expertise. Wisconsin routinely wins more awards at international and domestic competitions for its cheeses than any other state or country. Introduce your customers to cheeses from these special Wisconsin cheese niches:

Washed-Rind Cheeses

This category includes some of the most flavorful and labor-intensive cheeses produced in Wisconsin. “Washed-rind” refers to a period during the aging process in which the cheeses are bathed regularly by hand with a bacterial solution to promote ripening and flavor development. Washed-rind cheese, such as Gruyere, Limburger, Fontina and Brick (a Wisconsin washed-rind original), generally have big, bold flavors that intensify with age.

Artisan Cheddars

Real artisan Cheddars are considered specialty because of their unique, hand-crafted cheesemaking processes and the expertise demanded of the cheesemaker to produce superior products that stand up to extended aging. Artisan Cheddars from Wisconsin may be bandaged in traditional cheesecloth, cave aged, made from seasonal, pasture-grazed cows milk or aged for extended periods of time ─ some as long as 10 years. The production process directly affects the flavor of the Cheddar. For example, extended aging produces a sharp, more crumbly Cheddar cheese.

Flavored Cheese Varieties

Wisconsin is home to a vast array of unique and unusual flavored cheese varieties. From Merlot Cheddar to Chili-Lime Gouda and Wild Morel & Leek Jack, flavored cheeses from Wisconsin are available in a tantalizing array of flavor combinations. No matter what the desired profile – Mediterranean, Hispanic, Old World, spicy, fruity, wine-spiked, herbal – Wisconsin flavored natural cheeses make delicious additions to salads, sandwiches and entrées.

Blue-Veined Cheeses

Wisconsin’s blue-veined cheeses provide an unduplicated flavor to any recipe. Once thought of as rare and highly prized, today a wide variety of Blue and Gorgonzola cheeses are conveniently available from Wisconsin’s skilled cheesemakers. Wisconsin Blue and Gorgonzola are both ivory in color with blue-gray veins. They are piquant, with a full, earthy flavor that results from the blue molds in the cheese. The largest difference between the two is in the aging process. Blue cheese is aged for 60 days while Gorgonzola is aged for 90.

Add Value to the Menu with Wisconsin Specialty Cheese

While the production processes and flavors may differ, Wisconsin specialty cheeses share one common trait ─ they fascinate and intrigue restaurant patrons. Show operators how the mere mention of Wisconsin specialty cheese on the menu commands higher prices and increased profits. According to a proprietary study undertaken by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, specialty cheese is a powerful menu addition.

• Sandwiches made with specialty cheese varieties such as Asiago, Gruyère or Gouda command higher menu prices ─ up to $2 more ─ than sandwiches made with American cheese.
• Tossing a salad with specialty cheese varieties such as Gorgonzola, Brie or Munster raises the menu price $2 more than a salad made with Mozzarella or Colby cheese.
• Stuffing or topping a chicken entrée with cheese increases menu prices by more than $1. For the greatest price increase, choose specialty cheeses such as Fontina, Smoked Gouda or Asiago.

Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Spans the Menu

Specialty cheeses are no longer limited to just the cheese course ─ Wisconsin specialty cheeses are adding variety, flavor and value across all areas of the menu. Share ideas for creating profitable signature dishes easily using Wisconsin specialty cheese.

Breakfast Entrées

• Give the basic egg and cheese omelet a flavorful twist using Wisconsin Aged Cheddar cheese.
• Create a rich topping for French toast by blending Wisconsin Mascarpone cheese with whipping cream, sugar and vanilla.

Appetizers

• Layer a flour tortilla with sliced Brick cheese, roasted peppers, artichoke hears, avocados and tomatoes; top with an additional flour tortilla and cook until golden brown.
• Stuff hollowed–out pretzel bread with a mixture of grated Fontina cheese, diced peppers and onions; bake until bread is crisp and filling is warm. Serve with a grainy mustard.

Soups

• Top French onion soup with an herbed crouton and gratine of Wisconsin Asiago, Romano, Aged Parmesan and Gruyère cheeses.
• Serve up an ethnic specialty soup made with a tomato and lime cream base, Wisconsin Anejo Enchilado cheese and crispy tortilla strips.

Salads

• Create a fresh-tasting spinach salad tossed with a creamy Wisconsin Ricotta, strawberry and ginger dressing.
• Top fresh watercress and romaine lettuce with spiced walnuts, crumbled Blue cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.

Sandwiches

• Try a Berry, Cucumber and Wisconsin Brie Baguette with cubed Brie and delicious fixings between slices of French or Italian bread.
• Add flavor to a basic turkey club with red roasted pepper rings, heirloom tomatoes and Wisconsin Smoked Gouda cheese.

Entrées

• Stuff a chicken breast with a flavored Jack such as Jalapeno Jack and serve over a bed of wild rice.
• A mixture of Anejo Enchilado and Monterey Jack cheeses, along with chopped tomatoes and peppers make an ideal filling for stuffed enchiladas.

To learn more about Wisconsin specialty cheeses and to access the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's recipe database and foodservice marketing tools, visit www.foodservice.wisdairy.com. uda command higher menu prices ─ up to $2 more ─ than sandwiches made with American cheese.