When you find yourself in front of a cheese case, wide-eyed and overwhelmed, there’s usually a friendly monger on the other side to whom you can turn with your cheese queries. But what to do when your monger is MIA, and you need to know which hard sheep’s milk cheese to pair with a bottle of Montepulciano? If you can’t find the answer in our extensive cheese library, (and if you can’t, let us know!), don’t worry — there’s an app for that. Three, in fact. Download these easy, touchscreen resources, and proceed to stroll the dairy aisle with confidence.
Cheese Plate ($2.99)
You can always consult culture when looking for the perfect picnic-friendly or Mexican-themed cheese plate, but for more ideas at your fingertips, download food journalist and cheese expert Janet Fletcher‘s app Cheese Plate. Fletcher has curated 25 themed cheeseboards featuring over 150 different cheeses. If you’re feeling nostalgic for your vacation in Basque Country, try the “Salute to Spain” board, or for a particularly pungent pre-dinner course, try “Aging Gracefully.” In addition to offering clear descriptions on how to arrange each plate, Fletcher offers tips for tasting, handling and storing cheese. Plus, the gorgeous photos make this one of those apps you could gets lost in for hours on end.
VinePair (Free)
The wine informational site VinePair claims to spread wine knowledge while checking the accompanying snootiness at the door:
We’re removing the anxiety, pretension and insider language from one of the world’s oldest beverages. You drink wine to relax, celebrate and have a good time. Trying to understand and buy wine should not be stressful. And now it isn’t.
Hey! Sounds just like how we think about cheese. And with its cheese and wine pairing app, Vinepair makes putting the two together that much more accessible. Simply select the type of cheese you’re craving and whether you’re in the mood for red or white (thought you couldn’t pair fresh chèvre with red? Try a glass of acidic Gamay, and think again) and VinePair will procure a no-fail pairing. It’s kind of like a magic 8 ball– but about 80% more accurate.
Ask the Cheesemonger ($2.49)
Not only does this answer all your burning cheese questions from “Is the moon made of cheese?” to “What is Croque Monsieur?”, it also trains you to become that person that everyone turns to with theirs. Ask the Cheesemonger from McIntosh & Bowman and Protein includes a “Cheese Challenge” quiz that works with you to improve your cheese knowledge and lets you share your progress with friends. With a lengthy cheese database, a wine and spirit pairing guide, and a first-hand knowledge from real mongers, this might just be the cheese app to rule them all.
Photo via Cheese Plate app
Amanda Minoff
Amanda graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine with a degree in English Literature and Art History. She is a reader and writer of fiction and loves cheese that tells a good story.
