You Might Not Be Familiar With Wolfgang Puck's Favorite Cheese

Wolfgang Puck is a celebrity chef who hates to be called a celebrity chef. However, it can't be denied that his culinary know-how, coupled with his decades of serving up his must-eats at Spago has truly catapulted him into that realm. Foodies everywhere adore his smoked salmon pizza, which was supposedly inspired by Joan Collins, and we can't get enough of the tomahawk steaks he serves up along side his son, Oliver, at his steakhouse Cut. But have you ever wondered what foods this Austrian-born chef likes? 

Open Table caught up with him and he revealed he likes a little crushed pepper to spice things up. And if he is going to have chocolate, it will most likely be dark, with a minimum 70% cocoa. Why? He told the restaurant site, "It can have a filling, but it can't be too sweet. I don't like sweet for sweet. I like sweet with flavor. If it's overly sweet, you can't taste anything. That's why milk chocolate doesn't taste like chocolate." Of course, if he is going to eat cheese with wine, Puck favors one of the blue variety that might not be one with which you are familiar.

We know when you are a cheese lover, your love comes in many forms — sliced, shredded, spreadable, soft, melted... you get the idea. And there are a lot of cheeses to love. Per Wisconsin Cheese, there are more than 1,800 different types of cheese to enjoy around the world. But, per Bloomberg, the cheese that Wolfgang Puck is fond of hails from a mountainous region in France known as Puy de Dôme, in Auvergne. Puck told Bloomberg, "I love Fourme d'Ambert. It is a blue cheese but really creamy and easy to eat with wine and everything."  

According to Murray's Cheese, Fourme d'Ambert is made from pasteurized cow's milk. The site goes on to explain that the process for making this blue cheese involves using unpressed curds injected with a "less spicy blue mold" than what you would find in Roquefort. Culture Cheese Magazine shares that it takes at least 40 days for this semi-hard cheese, which has a history that dates back to the Roman occupation of France, to mature. After it matures, it will be aged for 2-3 months. This cheesy publication suggests pairing this creamy cheese with a dessert wine or a pinot noir. Pro tip: Sprinkle a little honey on your cheese to take your taste buds to nirvana.