The case for… Cheese slices

We’re not necessarily talking about processed cheese, though I’d make a strong case for it. These days, you can buy slices of mature cheddar, Gouda, even Castello Blue. If you’re still not on board, the problem is you.

No one thinks a flap of Dairylea belongs on a cheeseboard. For one thing, it’s two-dimensional. A good cheeseboard – like a good group picture, or pun – works on several levels.

Now let’s talk about burgers. Let’s agree a burger is elevated by cheese seeping into it. Will Mimolette get you there? Do you want goat’s cheese on that job? Won’t Reblochon make everything about itself? Imagine slicing a Port Salut, bunching around your fingers like a cream gown fallen off the hanger.

Instead, you reach for the humble slice: gold-leaf-thin, ready to vanish. It wants this. Lay slice on patty. Its geometry recalls Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man, square and circle representing the mundane and divine within us all. The melt is perfect, symmetrical. Take a moment to appreciate that magic is real. To achieve the impossible, all you need to do is open up the fridge, and shut down your prejudice.

Photograph by Shaw & Shaw