We catch up with the don of the dairy parlour, Caprice manager Jeremy Evrard to find out how to be a cheese connoisseur.

While Caprice is renowned in Hong Kong for great service, fantastic views and fabulous French food, few people realise that it also has one of the most incredible cheese cellars in the city. French manager, Jeremy Evrard is a self-confessed cheese fanatic and having grown up spending summers on a dairy farm in Alsace, he has connections with many of France’s best independent cheese farms. He now imports an unrivalled selection of rare and traditionally curdled cheeses to Caprice, all of which he cares for with the dedication of a professional cheesemaker; salting, washing, cooling and aging the cheese until it is perfect to be served to customers. In between a spot of cheese stroking, Evrard shares a snapshot of his knowledge on how to choose, serve and eat a winning cheese.

How can you immediately spot a great cheese from an average cheese at the cheese counter?

Bad cheese has bad skin. The skin on a cheese is formed through a reaction with the atmosphere and mass produced cheeses tend to have a more waxy, false texture to the skin as chemicals are rubbed into the skin to make this reaction happen quicker. Traditionally produced cheeses tend to have a grittier texture as salt is used to preserve the cheese and these cheeses also tend to be much more flavourful.  

At what point should you remove a cheese from the fridge before serving it?

This is different for different cheeses. You want to serve all your cheese at room temperature, so for a harder, pressed cheese, you will need to remove it one to two hours before serving but for a soft cheese, you don’t want it to overheat, so around 30 minutes should be enough. Generally you can tell by touching and smelling the cheese and as you get to know a cheese, you learn when it is ready.

What is the rarest cheese you have here at Caprice?

They’re all quite unique to Hong Kong but Le Petit Fiancé is usually only sold in the farmer’s market in Toulouse. There is actually a wonderful story behind this cheese; it is made by a retired opera singer, who was performing in Toulouse for one week when she fell in love with a local cheese farmer. When her show moved on, she quit singing to stay with the farmer and make cheese. She was a very tall, broad opera singer fond of her food and the farmer was much shorter and slimmer than her, so the first cheese she made, she named after him; "Le Petit Fiancé," meaning "the small fiancé."

Should you always drink red wine with cheese?

No that is a complete myth; red wine only works well with a few cheeses. Cheese can take so many different forms and have so many complex flavours it works well with wine, sweet rums, liqueurs or even beer. As a good rule of thumb, sheep cheese and punchy blue cheese works well with red wine, goats cheese and softer more delicate cheeses work well with a floral white wine.  

Do you think eating too much cheese can give you nightmares?

Eating too much of anything is going to give you a bad night, I don’t think you can just reserve that for cheese… however, I once went home and dreamt I was sleeping with my cheese. Does that count?

You can enjoy cheese and wine pairings at Caprice in the bar or choose a cheese platter as part of your meal in the main restaurant. There is no cheese menu, cheeses are chosen everyday according to "which cheeses are ready." Check out reviews of Caprice and leave your own comments. 

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