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— There are no truths, only stories.
Simon Ortiz

Recently, while shopping for cheese at our local supermarket, I noticed there was a fine selection of cheeses from Switzerland. The same could be said for their array of Cheddar, as well as several other types of cheese, including not one, not two, but three different kinds of Parmigiano-Reggiano. The selection was admirable, the cheeses were neatly cut and wrapped and all looked to be very fine examples indeed. What perplexed me, however, was how a non-cheese expert could know which of the varieties to choose. Is price alone a significant enough factor upon which to make a decision as important as what cheese to have for dinner? I think not. They all looked good; no moldy spots or any other signs of deterioration or neglect could be detected. The Swiss cheeses all seemed to be from Switzerland and the Cheddar, well, there it was more difficult. Cheddar, except for the blocks that are so obviously dyed orange, all tend to look the same under the plastic wrap.

What was missing, if you haven't already guessed, was proper signage to help delineate between the various examples of the same type of cheese. Even individual cheeses had scant information to entice anyone to try them and since it was a self-serve cheese case, there was no chance of requesting a taste. The Parmigiano-Reggiano, as it turned out after closer inspection, was misleading. Indeed, only one was true Parmigiano-Reggiano, the other two being imitations from South America. No doubt, they were perfectly good cheeses but they were not what I was after, nor what the signs would lead one to believe. As for the Gruyère I was contemplating, there was both basic Gruyère and cave-aged Gruyère. Because of the nature of the maturing process (and specifically that they are matured in real caves) and the length of time in which they are aged, they are quite different cheeses. Nothing on the signage indicated any of this, causing one to muse why one would be notably more expensive than the other.

We've often discussed signage for the store in general, but aside from wine, the cheese case is certainly the area in which signage is most important, especially in a self-service situation. The bare facts on a good cheese sign should include the name, country, state or region of origin; the type of milk (cow, goat, sheep); whether or not it is pasteurized; and the price per unit of sale (pound, piece, etc.). Beyond all that, however, the limit is only the space provided and your own level of knowledge and imagination. The idea of "romancing the cheese" may have become an overworked expression in recent years, but it is no less true as a result. You have to tell some sort of story about the cheese — at the very least, how one Cheddar differs from another. It isn't enough to simply state the age or that one is a farmhouse version. What does it taste like? How is it best used? Is there something about the area in which it is produced, or the animals that gave the milk, or the cheesemaker who makes the cheese special? If you think you lack the flair to write engaging signs, look around. There is likely an employee who is a budding writer who could handle the task. As to cheese knowledge, if you feel inadequate in that department, there are plenty of good sources of cheese information. For example, read Steven Jenkins' Cheese Primer (Workman) and Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best (Potter) by Max McCalman and David Gibbons. Both contain a wealth of information and signage material. With that said, following are the signs that my supermarket might have used for their Gruyère. Note that they are not long. Most shoppers don't have the time to read a tome on each cheese. As the poet said, "Brevity is the soul of wit."