Hong Kong never fails to impress with its dynamism and cultural diversity, which have no doubt influenced the city's take on food. It's hard to imagine but in less open-minded destinations, raw milk camembert from Normandy wouldn't be permitted for consumption unless matured 60 days (by which time the cheese must already have expired). Elsewhere the great goat cheeses of the Loire Valley are forbidden simply because of their ashen rind – a key element of the production and essential to their flavour and character.

It is indeed a privilege to call this gastronomic hub home. The great varieties of cheeses brought by such food democracy are increasingly challenging people's taste buds. Would the tastes of Comté render as many possibilities as its multitudes of grades suggest? Where does the spectrum of subtleties of taste come from with cheeses?The intention to answer these questions systematically and completely has inspired my latest cheese masterclass programme, made possible thanks to the wide variety of cheeses available here in Hong Kong.

Fundamentally, the taste of cheese comes down to the physical and chemical changes to the milk. The less processes are applied, the closer the cheese resembles milk in its taste and texture; you could think of yoghurt as being similar to fresh cheeses. The more the milk is processed e.g. by pressing or cooking, the further it is concentrated and flavour developed.

Apart from milk, we should mention moulding as being essential to flavour; at the same time developing cheeses into different families. Those with white bloomy rinds (such as brie or camembert) and cheeses with blue veins (such as stilton or Roquefort) belong to different groups due to different penicilliums. These act to develop their typical flavours in cheese, in addition to helping the maturation process.

Furthermore, we must mention the contribution of affinage or cheese refining. "Age doesn't matter, unless you're a cheese" is a belief that you'd share with me after learning the art of cheese maturing, and no example serves better than Comté in illustrating this.

Each piece of Comté has its potential to age. Less than 12 months of aging equals to a simple, lactic buttermilk taste. Aging to 24 months brings out grassy to fruity (apricot/dried fruit) flavours. Some wheels can be further aged to taste nutty and lightly roasted. However, a well-aged cheese should never be dominated by a single flavour - it should be balanced with lingering taste.

At the root of everything though, the place of origin is to be remembered. Why is the cooler, wetter and lusher north of France traditionally cow-cheese country and the warmer, drier, more sparsely vegetated south better suited to sheep and goats? In the mountains of Alps and Pyrenees, where the grassland is seasonally rich, there exists the time-honoured tradition of transhumance: the seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. Moreover, cultural influence can be observed in cheeses - we find cheeses from Alsace to be more Germanic while cheeses made in Jura share much in common with Swiss cheeses.

Such are the numerous topics to be explored! Having tackled the regions of France, and the subtleties of a range of blues and goat varieties, this year we'll be kicking off next month with an in-depth look at British cheddars, and later some important contributions to the cheese world from the beautiful country of Italy. Plus for the first time we'll be leading a hands-on class of cheese-making.

If it has been hard for you to make sense of a plentiful array of fine cheeses to be had here in Hong Kong, or you'd just enjoy the chance to acquaint yourself more closely with the wonderful world of cheese – come along and join us.