The Co-op food stores in Hanover and Lebanon NH did a March madness cheese bracket. We hosted a small bracket party with a selection of unfamiliar cheeses for friends to try while filling out our brackets.
It was weirdly fancy (eating good cheese), and weirdly not (I don't think of March madness brackets as a particularly refined thing). It was all delicious though!
From what I read [1] this habit of eating cheese as part of the meal is a tradition in France since at least the Middle Age, although until the end of the XIXth century it was eaten after the dessert instead of before. However I can’t find why this happens in France and not in other cheese-loving countries like Switzerland or Italy.
[1]: https://ericbirlouez.fr/index.php/activites/articles/42-une-... (fr)
No, the American style of eating cheese by itself is anything but a fancy activity.
We usually lean over the sink, with the bag of shredded in one hand…
Re:Why Tap a Wheel of Cheese?
by poulsbohemian on Friday April 11, 2025 @02:18AM
(#43650985)
But it doesn't need to be! If you want to put out a nice charcuterie and cheese spread for a social occasion, you have so many options at multiple price points. You can make a great spread with even a generic cheddar, colby, "mozerella" etc. If you've got a restaurant supply store near you, bet you can find some basic sausages, salami, etc that won't break the ban on a charcuterie board. I've seen $20 spreads and $200+ spreads, and while they were different, each made the guests happy.
In America eating cheese by itself is usually seen as a very fancy activity.
I can’t think of the last time I had a spread of just cheese in the US, and it was probably a fancy place.