Whether you are hosting a casual drinks night, an extravagant dinner party, or simply bringing a dish to picnic with friends, a well-curated cheeseboard is sure to tantalise everyone’s palate.
Crafting the ultimate cheeseboard for your next get-together has never been simpler with our comprehensive guide to the cheeses to include, how to make it look great and the best drinks to accompany it – ensuring you make an impression and provide a delectable experience for your guests.
Which cheeses to feature
When it comes to creating the perfect cheeseboard, remember the rule of three. You should feature at least one hard, one soft, and one blue cheese. This ensures a variety of textures and flavours to cater for a diverse range of palettes.
Hard cheeses, such as Parmesan, Gouda, Cheddar, and Gruyère, are essential for their robust textures and rich flavours. Ranging from rubbery to crumbly, hard cheeses provide substantial bite, and their firmness allows them to act as edible plates for other accompaniments on the board. Consider using aged versions of your cheeses to add complexity to your cheeseboard.
Soft cheeses like Brie, Camembert, Mozzarella, and Burrata are crowd-pleasers with their mild flavours and creamy textures. Ideal for spreading on crackers or bread, these cheeses blend beautifully with nuts and chutneys, offering a plethora of savoury combinations to experiment with.
Though not universally popular, blue cheeses, such as Stilton, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, and Danablu are savoury treats for cheese connoisseurs. Tangy and sharp, with various textures, they make an intriguing addition to the board, especially when paired with honey and dried fruits.
While cheese from each type forms the heart of your cheeseboard, you don’t have to stick to just three. Consider incorporating other cheeses, such as goat’s, feta or Havarti. A great cheeseboard should offer a variety of flavours and textures, ensuring there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Cheeseboard ideas – accompaniments
Beyond the cheeses, adorn your cheeseboard with various accompaniments to help elevate the taste experience.
Crackers, toasted baguette slices, and seasoned crisps add a delightful crunch. Fruits, from fresh grapes and blackberries to dried apricots and figs, add colour and sweet accents that balance the savoury cheeses. Drizzles of honey and sprinkles of herbs like thyme, fennel, lavender, or oregano, as well as chutneys, olives, and pickles, further enrich the flavour profile. Popular nuts such as walnuts, almonds and pecans pair well with most cheeses, so add a few of each to your platter.
How to serve your cheeseboard
How you serve your cheeseboard matter, too – requiring a mix of aesthetics and practicality.
Use a large flat board, slate, or platter for an appealing presentation and easy access. Remember to take the cheeses out of the fridge half an hour before serving to reach the ideal tasting temperature.
To create a visually striking arrangement, segment your board into sections for each cheese type, making it easier for guests to locate their preferred cheeses. Fill the gaps with suitable accompaniments — fruits with blue cheeses, honey and jams with hard cheeses, and nuts and herby crackers with soft cheeses. Leave soft and blue cheeses whole or in large chunks to prevent them from spreading, while pre-cutting some pieces of hard cheeses.
Wine and cheese – the perfect partner
Wine is the perfect partner to cheese – and pairing the right wine with your cheeseboard can help enhance the flavours. When it comes to red wines, you can choose from both full-bodied and light-bodied wines. Remember to pair like with like – so, heavy with heavy, light with light. For example, a bold Shiraz complements robust cheeses like Gouda, whereas a delicate Cabernet Sauvignon pairs excellently with lighter cheeses like goat cheese.
White wines, too, are excellent cheese pairings. A dry, light Chardonnay goes well with mild, soft cheeses like Mozzarella, and a less-known variety, Semillon, pairs perfectly with big-flavoured, creamy cheeses like Manchego, Camembert, and Double Gloucester.
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