My sister, who lives in North Carolina and has rarely traveled to Europe, suggests it is removing the center of the cheese, which is perhaps cherished, or at least an important part for everyone to experience.
As much as I hate waste, I won’t force myself to clean my plate if I have had enough.
My husband will take 10 small servings of something, saying he is leaving some for others. This is in our household of two. I hate putting away tablespoons of the last of something.
If that were the case, the proper way would be to cut and eat from the outside inward toward the tip.
Let’s see what John or others say. My guess is that polite company will, as they eat, try to maintain some semblance of a pointy tip, so that the uneaten portion still resembles a triangular slice, and can be re-served llater not looking like leftovers.
I am not John, but i was always told to not “nose the brie” or cut off the pointy end of any soft cheese because that was the best part.
Sounded odd to me, but manners do not have to make sense. So i cut slices off the sides and that was apparently the well mannered way to sample cheeses if they are not pre-cut by the host.
Oh. The polite cheese circles I’ve been in have no problems whittling back the point. But they’ve done it in such a way that there still IS a point, it just ceases to be THE point.
This should have been a Monty Python bit–We must keep THE point, no matter what! Cut only from the sides, until the tip is just a Monad…
I’ve gone through my whole long life not knowing this; hope I haven’t offended anyone.
Guess I usually eat cheese at home so it doesn’t matter how I slice it.
The people at work whom I used to lunch with used to make fun of the slow speed at which I used to eat. One of the guys once said, “We were four big boys at home, and whoever finished their piece of pie first got to eat the last piece.” I couldn’t see myself wolfing down food to get more.
Also in the UK. There was definitely references to the famine in Biafra in urging children to eat up their food. I remember TV news reports of starving people.
We just ate until we were full. No one cared if you took the last bite or not, as long as you didn’t leave anything on your plate.
Ha! Me either. My youngest brother is twice my size, home builder/rock climber kinda chap. When I needed a roof patch he was the guy, so most leftovers were his without much debate 
. However, if the last bite was my mother’s latke-I dove across the table.
No words.
Oh, a few choice ones come to mind.
Starting with, “You gotta be…”
From what I understand, the preserving the tip is done because soft/rinded cheeses ripen at an uneven pace from center to edge. Cutting in wedges that preserve the tip ensures that each slice has some cheese at every point of ripeness, so every eater can enjoy the full palette of textures/flavors the cheese has to offer.
I’ve never noticed any significant difference in flavor profile between the tip and the rim of soft cheeses in small wheels. Texture, a little, maybe. Maybe that’s the reason for small wheels.
The reductio of this theory is that everyone should give themselves migraines over preserving these idealized tips for everyone to partially enjoy with every slice. The geometries and knife skills would be impossible. I just don’t buy it as a practical thing.
I think it’s just a social convention. If it wasn’t, we’d be seeing “Hearts of Brillat-Savarin” cored from wheels at exorbitant prices.
TBH, I’ve never had issues finishing off a wedge of any soft cheeses by slicing it center to rind until there is none left. Unless we’re talking Époisses or similar melters where you’re better off using a spoon.
Obviously, the thickness of the slice matters, among other things, including the cutlery. Thin, perfectly proportional slices with short-blade tools are not practical with soft cheeses, IME.
But again, I don’t buy the premise that there’s a flavor difference, much less anything worth shaming anyone over.
I’ve no idea, I’m afraid. It may not even be true about the French. It’s not a thing 22 miles from them over here.
I can think of a couple of arguments in support of keeping it in a wedge shape. Firstly, I think it looks more attractive, if you’re going to bring it out for a subsequent meal. And, second, you don’t end up with a big chunk of rind.
FWIW, here’s a “how to cut” article from the UK’s longest established cheesemonger:
Taking the last bite of your entree is expected. Taking the last dinner roll, beware.
I usually finish my meal; but leave the last biscuit of a communal meal.
I’m a professional when it comes to cutting the cheese.
I’ll see myself out now…
