Cuisine: Clara Diez

Clara Diez, #HWTraveler & Style muse is one of the minds behind a soon-to-be-launched artisan cheese project in Madrid: Formaje. We spoke with this inspiring creative, whose eyes light up when she speaks about her passion for cheese, her latest trips and future projects coming up with her husband, Adrián. Below, she will show us how to make a cheese platter that will immediately transport us to the African Savannah through exotic flavors.

Left: Photo by Rosa Copado

Tell us about your relationship with cheese. How did this love affair begin?

Like best things in life, unexpectedly: I was invited to join the creation of a new project that was about selling and advocating artisan cheese, but putting the focus on the stories of the producers and the production processes behind each cheese, so the importance was not just about the cheese itself, but also about the work, effort, and traditions involved in the production of every cheese. The concept made me fall in love: I had never conceived food from such a '' humanistic '' perspective, considering the ancient practices that allow us to have products on the table that represents each territory and tradition.  That’s how I began to work with cheese, with small producers, and I interiorised their values, their interests, in order to be able to transmit it to the final customer… This "love affair" led me to travel around the world spreading the philosophy of artisan cheese.

Does the love for cheese run in your family?

No one in my family has worked with artisan cheese before; however my mom loves cheese for as long as I can remember, and in my house there was always a piece of cheese to eat at night. My father is a great photographer and he has traveled Spain photographing many artisan cheese makers as well, so the link we have with the cheese industry in our country is strong. Then, my brother runs a goats farm, and in the future he wants to make cheese too with the milk the goats provide. 

What is your ideal environment for this cheese platter?

I imagine eating these cheese in the middle of the African savannah, just like I did a couple of years ago when I was visiting my best friend who lives in Kenya. Whenever we found a moment or a place where to eat cheese, we settled and started the ritual of cutting it, accompanying it with fruits from the trees around us, and inviting everyone around us to join the experience. I remember eating cheese in the middle of the Masai Maara, with some people from the Masai tribes that joined us. We also got to try the fermented milks they did at their village. It was a great experience.

And the company of your dreams?

I really like eating cheese with my husband, Adrián, because we’re both professionally involved with it, so when we taste cheese together, we don't have to explain anything to each other. We both know what we are talking about and we omit all the information that we both already know, we read our minds a little bit so we know what the other thinks about what we are trying. But I also really like sharing cheese with friends, because I really like to see their natural reaction when they try delicious things that surprise them. It is a great lesson for me, to see the response of "palates without prejudice".

What is your favorite dish of all time?

Lasagna! I love it since I tried it for the first time when I was very little at a friend's house. I remember that I had never tried lasagna at home, so when I tried it, my head exploded! Also, it is a dish that always carries cheese so you can do it with as many different cheeses as you want, to create and add different flavors (try it with blue cheese!). 

How about dessert?

I really like desserts that include some cream or tropical fruits, like mango or passion fruit, to refresh after a hearty meal. There's a dessert called  ’white chocolate soup with apple’’ that I love! It is made of white chocolate in liquid texture with frozen apple flakes. Marvelous! 

You have traveled around Europe looking for the best cheese makers, any favorite destination?

I loved visiting the Bavaria area in Germany. The cheese factories of the Alps are incredible: the cows graze in immense green meadows, the landscape is amazing. However, France is without a doubt my favorite destination: there are small cheese farms in each town that make super correct, fascinating cheeses. Since there is a lot of local consumption, they always sell fresh recipes, such as lactic cheeses (a type of cheese that is made without adding rennet; they have super interesting rinds and texture) that are one of my favorite types.

What music do you like to listen to while preparing / enjoying this dish?

R&B, or blues ... I also love ambient music you won’t realize is there (it does not distract you) but yet it lifts your spirits and makes you feel good, flowing. I also like the rhythms of African music to be at home, they make me happy.

Have you ever traveled somewhere just for food? If so, where?

Vietnam! Asian food is so rich, that we decided to travel there where we spent fifteen days eating street food with the locals.  My favorite dishes were the prawn curries and Vietnamese fried rice.

A restaurant / chef on your wish list?

Diverxo, by David Muñoz.

If you had only three things that you could eat for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Butter chicken or Massala (with rice), mango fruit, and cheese!

What’s coming for Clara?

Formaje is the new project that I am going to launch with Adrián, my husband, and is totally focused on spreading the culture of artisan cheese. I still cannot reveal 100% what it is, because we want to wait for the launch, but we are looking forward to reveal it soon! Is going to be a very personal project that means so much to us, and is a summary of all our work with cheese in the past years.

So, tell us about this platter.

A picnic in the savannah! These are the tips you have to follow if you want to imitate the experience from home:

Fresh / acidic cheeses that refresh your palate.

It is very hot and humid in Africa. You will not regret choosing cheeses with a certain acidity (such as the lactics that I was talking about earlier) that will help you cleanse your palate and continue eating. They do not have high percentages of fat therefore you will not feel full as quickly. If you want to get this kind of cheese, go to your closer cheese store and ask for ‘’lactic cheeses’’, such as Valencay (France), Dorstone (England), Moluengo (Spain)…

Loads of fruit!

Collect the fruits of the nearby trees that you have around you. If you are in a tropical country, go for mango, passion fruit, tomatoes ... they are a perfect match to cheese and will refresh the experience. Also, they are sweet fruits, they go perfect with cheese! In Africa they sometimes eat banana fritters, like the one in the picture: in Kenya, we had a picnic at a friend's house in the mountains; I brought the cheese and they cook the fried banana! The mix was exquisite. You can make banana fritters at home very easily, you only need flour and oil.

A bit of Cheddar!

Africans have a great influence on the period of colonization of the British, so cheddar cheese is part of their culture in some way, and in some local cheese factories you can find for sure some '' cheddar type '' cheese produced in the area. , although in Africa there are only a few dairies and they’re almost always industrial. Try looking for a local farm in the area, and try their cheeses! You will for sure be surprised by the result.

Yogurt or some other fermented milk!

Fermented milks are an important part of the African culture, much more than in Europe or America. Because fermenting milk is a very primary way of storing without spoiling the products (through acidification). The weather is also very hot, so fermentation occurs on its own: this way they can take dairy products made in the same day, without having to wait months for it to be done.