impervious to pain, yet sensitive enough to accurately gauge temperatures! — to transform curds into mozzarella cheese. His superhero demonstration was the second act in a cheese party recently hosted by Dana and Penny Ship.

"If the water is too hot, the cheese curds are too runny," he explains. "Too cold and they don't fuse into a cheese. The water has to be just right." The human thermometer determines when the temperature is correct, and then begins to knead the curds. Soon, he has a smooth but fluid mass that looks like an albino boa constrictor. As it slithers through his hands, he neatly twists off a compact oval. "That's half a pound," he announces, then forms a larger oval. "That one's a pound."

No one doubts him. He has 27 years of professional cheese experience under his belt, and we've just seen him tell temperature with his hands.

While other cheese shops like Auray in Larchmont and Hartsdale Cheesery offer samples in-store, Laraia, who owns Laraia's Cheese Shop in Nanuet, is the only one to offer in-home demos and lectures on a regular basis. (Mint in Tarrytown and Nyack Gourmet do catered parties, though.) This is the 47th such party Laraia has conducted over the past 18 months in private homes, community centers and libraries, and demand has been growing. After all, like a home wine-tasting, a cheese party can be both educational and fun — info-tainment that provides focus for a gathering or an excuse for a party.

Plus, it's easy to throw — especially when a personality like Laraia is leading it.

He deftly ties cheese into knots and stirrup-shaped loops, rapidly braids it into pigtails (a skill learned while growing up with seven sisters), and creates animals. The Ships' guests happily cheer him on like kids watching a balloon-sculpting clown, rapt as he produces a mozzarella rabbit, a turtle, a swan.

This, of course, was after the wine.

The Ships' 16 guests are a close-knit group of long-time friends, virtually all of whom have turned up sporting T-shirts that proclaim, "Life is Good." They often travel together and generally share life's joys, accompanied by good food and drink. Laraia has been invited to help them better understand how good cheese can be part of that mix.

"The more people know about cheese, the more they enjoy it, because they start eating better cheese," he says.

The hosts furnish three wines — a red, a white, and a Champagne — and Laraia provides samples of two cheeses to pair with each. He brings along two dozen other cheeses for display and discussion. Demand for the parties has been growing, but Laraia prefers to limit the number of evenings he devotes to the parties (as well as the number of attendees at each event), so his calendar is filled well in advance. Laraia has been making himself, his assistant, and his cheeses available for free, but beginning next year he will charge $100 — not an unreasonable amount when you consider that it covers education, entertainment, and an above-average snack for more than a dozen people.

Unlike a Tupperware party, nothing is for sale, although the cheese parties do ultimately benefit Laraia's business: "Every party I do, I get at least one good customer for my store," he said. At this particular event, the hostess's fervent endorsement seems likely to yield him even more.

"Oh, my God! Turkey cheeses!" Penny Ship exclaimed, marveling over the seasonal molded mozzarella she discovered while picking up dessert. "Last Thanksgiving I was going into Carousel Cakes [next door] and I also went into the cheese store for the first time. Everyone was so nice. They made me taste everything before they'd let me buy it."

Her guest Mary Sue Finnerty seems intrigued by both the tasting and Laraia's contagious enthusiasm about cheese. "I think this is great because in Rockland there isn't gourmet anything," she says.

When it comes to cheese sources, Laraia agrees, explaining that supermarkets are not good places to buy cheese. "They pre-cut everything and there's no one there to ask about the cheeses," he says. "And if there is someone there they don't know anything."

"When you are tasting good cheese, you should wet your palate with a sip of wine," says Laraia. Everyone dutifully takes a sip of white wine before tasting Fol Epi, a double cream Swiss with a subtle sweetness on top of the characteristic nuttiness. Right after that comes a Spanish cheese called Campo de Montalban, made from goats', sheeps', and cows' milk. As Laraia predicts, you can discern the separate flavors, with the goat milk finishing last.

While tasting we learn about cheese maintenance. "Store your cheese in Saran wrap, and change the Saran every time you open it," says Laraia. "That goop on the old Saran has bacteria and when you expose it to air it grows. Change the wrap and you don't have to worry about it."

During the evening, Laraia tosses out tidbits of cheese information, trivia, and jokes. "Parmesan and aged cheeses don't have to be refrigerated," he explains when a guest asks about freezing cheese. "You can keep aged cheeses on the kitchen counter, maybe on a nightstand if you want." He notes that grated Parmesan can be frozen, before moving on to more information. "Did you know it takes eight gallons of milk to make one pound of cheese?" We didn't, until now.

As red wine and two more cheeses are distributed, he outlines some basic pairing principles. "Red wine needs strong cheese. Red wine gets red fruit: strawberries, red grapes, or apples. White wine gets white or green fruit like kiwis and white grapes," we hear as we bite into crackers carrying Old Amsterdam, a buttery-tasting two-year-old Gouda that is his best-selling cheese, and Black Diamond, a Canadian cheddar that starts out creamy but ends on a distinctly sharp note. Each is indeed flavorful enough to hold its own with a robust red.

"Cheeses that are refrigerated should be allowed to come to room temperature before tasting or you won't get the full flavor," is the advice we get with the Champagne that will accompany the final two cheeses. Both are creamy, a textural contrast to the sparkling wine. Chunks of strawberries are dipped in relatively low-fat mascarpone, which seems bland and uninteresting compared to the more intense cheeses we've sampled. Then there's the D'Affinois, a rich Brie, but not so ripe that it's either runny or sharp.

Throughout the tasting the mood is upbeat and the group is almost giddy with wine and cheese as we move into the kitchen for the cheese-making demonstration. Before long, the cheese curds are used up, and Laraia packs up to leave. He fields a few more questions, thanks the hosts, hands out a few business cards, then he and his associate head out into the night. Inside, the party goes on. As the T-shirts say, life is good.

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Record Number: wst2006061610184220