Technically, a “monger” is “a dealer in a specific commodity.” Since I don’t SELL cheese, I guess I can’t be a true cheesemonger. But I do deal it out to myself, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it.
My secret: ziploc bags, cling wrap, and a cold windowsill.
Big pieces of cheese get cling-wrapped and ziploc’d, and put into the fridge.
Medium-sized pieces of cheese get cut from the big pieces, cling-wrapped separately, and then set upon our North-facing kitchen window sill.
Small pieces of cheese (one snack’s worth) get cut from the medium-sized bits and eaten, but only AFTER the medium-sized bits have been on the sill for a couple of hours. Good cheese is best consumed at room temperature.
I’m pretty sure that temperatures on that sill never exceed 65 F in the winter. I’ve had medium-sized chunks sit there for two or three days, and they were just fine for cutting into and eating. In fact, they were PERFECT. I now try to only deal myself cheese after it’s been out for a day.
In this way I’m still making my way through the last 3/8ths of a wheel of Shitake-Leek Appalachian. There’s a quarter-wheel in cling-and-zip with the rind still on it, and 1/8th wheel, trimmed, in cling wrap on the sill.
I just got two cans of Washington State University “Cougar” cheese from a reader, and some of that is on the sill right now, too. I’ll write more about that stuff in another post. It’s taaaaasty.