Queso Roncal Navarro con Nueces

Roncal Navarro is Navarra's mountain sheep cheese, from the Roncal valley in the Pyrenees, made firm from raw sheep's milk and aged until the paste is ivory, dense, and gently piquant. That firm, dry bite is what separates it from a softer table cheese or a smoky Idiazabal next door. You serve it in wedges with walnuts, not hidden under syrup and not melted into a sauce.

The method is hardly a method, so don't make it clever: temperature and cut. Take the wedge out early enough for the chill to leave it, then cut from the centre toward the rind so each piece carries the whole cheese. Too cold and it tastes mute. Too warm and it sweats. At cool room temperature, the sheepy, nutty smell opens, and the knife leaves a clean, slightly crumbling face.

If Roncal is not in your market, choose an aged Manchego curado or viejo, or an unsmoked Idiazabal if the shop has it. Manchego is rounder and sweeter; Idiazabal can bring smoke if it is the smoked kind. Good cheeses, different names. No hace falta haber pisado España, you do not need to have set foot in Spain, but you do need to call the substitute what it is.

In the Margin beside this one I wrote only this: less decoration, better cheese. About 40g per person is enough for an appetizer. The walnuts should taste fresh, the bread should be plain, and the Roncal should be allowed to speak.