Why Do Europeans Eat Cheese After Dinner?

Europeans prefer to have their cheese after their dinner. There are many classic European pairing traditions that link cheeses with after-dinner drinks like British stilton and port or Spanish garrotxa and sherry.

But why do so many Europeans do this? Why eat cheese after dinner, rather than beforehand?

There are a bunch of good reasons. For example, the savoriness seems to go better with after-dinner drinks and help bring out their sweetness without overloading on sugar. Also if you've already had dinner, you're less likely to stuff yourself with cheeses.

Some culture bloggers claim that cheese is alkaline and, by neutralizing the acids in food, can aid digestion. This is false because cheeses have a lower pH than unprocessed milk and are also acid-forming, meaning they can trigger acid reflux.

Cheese that can aid digestion are the higher-fat cheeses and this is because one of the acids they contain has been linked to reduced inflammation and a more robust immune system.

The biggest reason you should consider eating cheese after dinner does not concern how it affects you: It's all about the cheese itself. Cheese is best at room temperature, so the European tradition can help it taste the way it should.

It may sound tough to take your cheese out of the fridge and then wait to eat it but room-temperature cheese is better for a variety of reasons, so the European custom of eating cheese after dinner can actually improve your cheese experience.

There's a good scientific reason for this, too. Most of the flavor in cheese comes from fat-soluble molecules. Under warmer conditions closer to our own body temp, the volatile aromatic compounds are more easily detectable by our senses.

As such, we're better able to pick up nuanced flavors. Cheeses also need time and space to breathe. Creating a barrier between your cheese and air is a mistake, and it can make your cheese start to smell like ammonia floor cleaner.

So, when you're setting your cheese on the counter to warm up, toss something loosely over it like plastic wrap, special cheese paper, or parchment. It will help your cheese taste better and you'll end your night the right way as far as the europeans are concerned.