harles de Gaulle famously wondered how anyone could govern a country that had 246 varieties of cheese. Had he been thinking of the United States instead of France, the question wouldn’t have occurred to him. Most Americans in the 1960s thought there were three kinds of cheese: white, orange, and that exotic stuff with the blue bits.

Fast forward a few decades. Now every supermarket has exotic cheeses, though the big sellers are still cheddar, mozzarella, and jack. Most of us know about the incredible variety, but we may not be sure what to do with it all. Descriptions, Internet advice, even a nibble at the deli counter won’t tell you how a cheese might taste when cooked, or paired with the right fruits or vegetables.

A restaurant and gourmet market called Cube, at Divine Pasta on La Brea, has come to the rescue with “Maker Nights,” at which diners can meet food craftspeople over a fine meal. A recent cheesemakers’ dinner offered insights about what a good cook can achieve using one of the oldest prepared foods in human history.

Our first of eight courses was a tasting of nine cheeses with minimal accompaniments: breads and crackers, honey, fig jam, and raisins with a New York cheese reminiscent of Parmesan, a dash of wasabi with dabs of blue and goat cheese. The textures ranged from almost gelatinous to nearly crisp, the flavors from sweetly creamy to musky dryness. It was a master class in how many effects can be achieved with milk and skill, but in retrospect it may have been a mistake. Since we would experience the same cheeses throughout the meal, it would have been more informative to serve the raw cheese alongside the cooked dishes.

Our second course was quite surprising, since it was entirely free of cheese. Yet the selection of pâtés from Fatted Calf charcuterie of Berkeley made an excellent complement to the previous course. We delighted in a pork pâté that was like a rough sausage, a meaty and rich duck variety, and a delicate pâté of guinea hen. After this taste of France, it was back to Americana – a cup of tomato soup and a petite grilled cheese sandwich. This was far from Campbell’s and Velveeta, though – the soup was fruity and seasoned with a dash of chive oil, and the sandwich was made with artisan bread and Sprout Creek Farm’s Ouray cheese. I had never heard of Ouray before, but I’ll be looking for it – it had an addictive buttery flavor and a slight saltiness that made it perfect for melting. I wished for just a sliver of the raw cheese to compare, since I didn’t remember anything in the first course that matched this flavor.

After a slice of prosciutto, arugula, and ColoRouge cheese pizza that was excellent but didn’t teach us much about cheese except that we liked it on pizza, we moved on to a fresh ravioli in a sheep cheese sauce. This was no ordinary ravioli – the stuffing of kabocha squash and guanciale (an Italian smoked pork) was the stuff of dreams. I was pleased to learn that I could make these at home, since the fresh ravioli and all the cheeses we tried are for sale at Cube. It isn’t a wine shop, though – we had brought our own bottles of Vionta Albarino and Folie à Deux Zin, which we shared with the people at our table.

The courses continued – luscious pasta with pork liver, Toussiant cheese, and crispy sage, followed by an incredible lamb shank in port wine reduction with a sheep cheese polenta. We laughed at the idea of dessert, until we saw the poached pears filled with blue and mascarpone cheese mousse and the goat cheese and Valrhona chocolate pudding. Though we couldn’t finish every dish, nothing was wasted – the remains of that lamb shank and the pasta

delighted our houseguests the next day.

How much was this feast? Seventy dollars apiece, including a very full meal, explanations of cheesemaking from the people who know it best, and excellent service. It was several hours quite well spent, a perfect introduction to a restaurant that doesn’t merely use fine ingredients but educates customers so they can successfully do the same. Cube is a treasure, and I plan to attend other “Maker Nights” to enjoy more of the most hedonistic educational experiences L.A. has to offer.