What cheese taught me about life
The beauty in slowing down
Dining at exquisite restaurants isn’t just fancy. It also surprisingly is a great source of life lessons.
My family and I recently ate at a somewhat fancy restaurant. As one typically starts, we first looked at the appetizers hoping to find something intriguing.
One of the first things that caught our eye there was the cheese platter. Our family loves cheese. We just couldn’t get enough of it, to the point where our fridge is incomplete without cheese. It just has to have cheese. And my love for cheese especially was great. I have high expectations. To me, cheese is not quality unless it’s full of diverse flavors bouncing across each other, full of texture and richness. Cheese was an art form to me. Whenever I ordered, I would always come with high expectations. I was worried the platter wouldn’t meet mine. But I was also growing hungry, so I complacently ordered one for me and the family.
After the waiter left, I looked back at the menu. I considered my choice again wondering whether it was worth it to order cheese for a decently expensive price ($20). I read the flavors again, pondering my expectations. What I wanted from the cheese. What I expected it to taste like.
My pondering would have to be interrupted though as the platter was set onto our table. I took a quick glance but allowed my hunger to override me quickly cutting a slice of cheese and plopping one into my mouth. The first cheese, a rather brittle one, contained a sourness but seemed to lack any other flavors. It just tasted bitter and dry. Disappointed, but my hunger a bit more satisfied, I proceeded to move on to the next one until my sister glared at me.
I caught her eye. She gave me the angry look and I realized that she was mad at me as she thought I was going too fast. She was still cutting her first slice.
I nodded my head (and rolled my eyes), cutting through slightly slower than the prior time for my sister’s satisfaction. She nodded her head, and I rolled my eyes again. Why did everything need to be so slow?
I plopped the next slice of cheese into my mouth detecting an extremely creamy nature and density. But again, the cheese failed to bring what I was still hoping for. Complexity. All I could detect was a creaminess. Nothing more.
Growing impatient, I moved on to the third and final cheese. A smooth blend of the two. A soft but thin cheese. I again cut a slice and proceeded to join my sister who had finally started eating the first piece of cheese.
However, the third cheese was the worst. It was extremely dull. There was flavor, but it wasn’t enough. it was minimal. I couldn’t detect any brittleness nor softness or creaminess. It was just basic old cheese.
I sat back and sighed. The platter was a mistake. I glanced around at my sister who had just finished her first slice.
“What on earth are you taking so long for?” I said, surprised by my sister’s slowness.
“I want to taste all the flavors,” she responded.
“What flavors? There’s nothing there.” I was surprised by my sister’s naiveness, but I knew she’d soon realize that the cheese had no flavor. Though I couldn’t figure out why hadn’t she recognized that with the first cheese.
My sister rolled her eyes this time, seeing no point in engaging.
I watched as she moved on to the second cheese, cutting a slice and slowly inserting it into her mouth. It was insufferable watching her. She chewed slowly and I waited for her reaction, hoping she’d finally realize the mediocrity. But instead, her eyes filled up with delight. She continued to chew slowly, but her eyes only grew wider, and she couldn’t help but smile. She was in love.
I was shocked. Why had she not realized the mediocrity of the flavor? It was so bland? I was flabbergasted. But I needed to know more. Had I missed something? I realized I needed to try this second cheese again. I needed to see who was right?
I proceeded to cut a second slice and grab the piece of cheese before my sister interrupted, “Slow down. There’s enough flavor.”
I raised my eyebrows in doubt but decided to go along with what she said. Couldn’t hurt anyway.
I took the second piece of cheese and chewed, slowly.
I again detected that creaminess. That was no surprise to me. It seemed like I was right. But I continued to chew, and slowly a tanginess came about. I was surprised. I hadn’t felt that before. The texture also seemed developed. There wasn’t just a ‘creamy’ or ‘liquidy’ nature to it. There was substance as well, and that substance was so soft. It was elegant. I smiled and caught my sister’s eye who couldn’t help but smirk. I chuckled back, but I wanted to see if it was just the 2nd cheese that was an exception, or if I had missed more flavors in the other.
Taking the first cheese into my mouth, I again chewed slowly. This time, I could detect a nuttiness with the brittle nature of the cheese. There was a tartness as well with a hidden softness on the outside. It was the perfect combination.
Then, the third cheese caught my eye. So far, the other two had gone from mediocre to good, when I slowed down. But the third cheese would have to rescue itself from tragedy. There was no hope.
Grabbing the third cheese, the initial flavors seemed dull and bland. But with all of this, I had learned I needed to be patient. I waited for something to hit me.
Continuing to chew, I then detected a subtly bitter taste that was stuck in my mouth. Soon, a nuttiness joined as well. And then a creaminess. The hard outside and the smoother inside were forming a perfectly blended cheese. The textures and flavors were on point. It was art.
I smiled enormously as my eyes filled with child-like joy. I was amazed. The cheese was fabulous.
But why hadn’t I realized it before? I finished chewing the third and began to ponder this idea while my hunger and my taste buds were more than satisfied. Why had I only liked the cheeses the second time? Why not the first? I looked back and remembered my sister’s advice.
At first, I thought there wasn’t enough flavor. The texture was basic. Nothing good came out of the cheese. Yet, when I slowed down, I was so significantly wrong. The cheese was filled with flavors and combinations of texture beyond my imagination.
When I slowed down, I detected the subtleness of the textures. The rich flavors. There was more than enough for each moment. I just had to slow down to recognize it.
