Creating a cheese board for guests can be simple and fun with some imagination and a few basic guidelines. Here are our suggestions for pulling together an enticing and delicious arrangement of specialty cheeses and complimentary accompaniments.
Choose cheeses from different cheese families for a variety of textures and flavors. Consider regional themes, such as all Northwest or all French cheeses. Limit your choices to three to five varieties so your guests may savor each of them. Plan on two to five ounces total cheese per person, depending on how much other food will be served. Be creative in choosing accompaniments, while keeping it simple.
Use one large or multiple smaller wooden, granite or marble boards. Allow cheese to come to room temperature for best flavor. Arrange cheeses so guests sample them mildest to strongest. Give each cheese plenty of its own space.
Have a separate knife for each variety. Don’t precut cheese. Label cheeses with small cards so guests know what they are. Place some accompaniments on the board, others in small dishes.
There are various ways to classify cheese, including those listed here, and many cheeses fit into more than one category. The specialty cheeses in our Deli are arranged into the following families. Though there are milder and stronger cheeses within each family, they are listed here from mildest category to strongest.
Soft-Ripened Cheese: Also called bloomy-rind cheese, these rich cheeses ripen from the rind inward. They have thin, white, velvety rinds and creamy buttery interior. The longer soft-ripened cheeses are aged, the softer the texture and stronger the flavor. Most common varieties are brie and camembert.
Examples: Fromage d’Affinois, Cambozola, Bucherondin, Brie Le Châtelain.
Cheddar Cheese: All cheddar cheese, from mass-produced to farmhouse options, are made using the process of cheddaring – curd is cut, cooked and stacked to produce the tight, smooth texture. Cheddars are naturally white to pale yellow; orange cheddars contain annatto, a natural food coloring.
Examples: Black Diamond Cheddar, Barber’s 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar, Carr Valley Snow White Goat Cheddar.
Semi-Soft Cheeses: Somewhat softer and less aged than hard cheeses, semi-soft cheese has a lot of moisture and soft texture. Perfect for cheeseboards, slicing, and melting on sandwiches and in recipes.
Examples: Beecher’s Just Jack, Danish Fontina, Appel Farms Jalapeño Gouda.
Goat Cheese: Many different varieties of cheese are made with goat’s milk, from fresh chèvre to brie to blue cheese. Goat cheeses are generally lower in fat, calories and cholesterol than cow milk cheese, and may be easier to digest for many lactose-intolerant people.
Examples: Snøfrisk, Laura Chenel’s Chèvre, Montchevré Goat Brie, Bleu de Chèvre.
Hard Cheese: Aging gives these cheeses a hard dry texture and pungent flavor with plenty of character. They are commonly used for crumbling and grating, though hard cheeses are also wonderful on cheese plates. They have a long shelf life, and their flavor will continue to develop as they age.
Examples: Mimolette, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Beemster XO Extra Double-Aged Gouda, Cave-Aged Gruyère.
Washed-Rind Cheese: While aging, these cheeses are washed or brushed with liquids such as beer, wine, brine or brandy, promoting an exterior mold that creates more pronounced flavor. Though typically rather pungent, the flavor of a washed-rind cheese is usually milder than its smell.
Examples: Taleggio, Limburger, Mt. Townsend Creamery Kilt Lifter, Muenster.
Blue Cheese: These cheeses may be made with cow, goat or sheep milk, and are injected with penicillium cultures to cause blue veins to develop while aging. They usually smell quite pungent and have a strong, tangy, salty flavor, though some are milder than others.
Examples: Bleu d’Auvergne, Gorgonzola, Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue, Stilton.
Favorite Dishes with New Cheeses
Favorite cheesy dishes abound, awaiting the introduction of a new cheese to bring them back to the table. Try these creative variations on old classics:
Grilled Cheese: Gorgonzola Piccante on Essential Bakery’s Sweet Perrin bread … Beecher’s No Woman Cheese and spicy chutney on country white bread … Isigny Brie with sweet apricot jam on a baguette
Macaroni and Cheese: Sartori Rosemary Asiago and Barber’s 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar … Cahill Irish Porter Cheddar and Kerrygold Dubliner with Guinness beer in the sauce … Herbed goat cheese béchamel topped with sharp cheddar and Parmesan … Salemville Amish Blue cheese, spicy buffalo chicken pieces, topped with diced celery … Creamy Gorgonzola, candied walnuts and apples
Pizza: Tallegio, Greek Feta, Brie, Fresh Mozzarella, Muenster, Fresh Chèvre, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Rosemary Asiago
Potato Au Gratin, Soup or Twice-Baked Potatoes: Cotswold with Chives and Onions, Fontina Val d’Aosta, Red Dragon Cheddar with Mustard and Ale, Mascarpone, Salemville Amish Gorgonzola, Beemster XO Extra Double-Aged Gouda, Sage Derby
Quiche: Cotswold with Chives and Onions, Fontina Val d’Aosta, Fresh Herbed Goat Cheese, Gruyère, Brigand Du Jorat
Fondue: Red Dragon melted with your favorite ale, Gjetost with dry white wine, Brie with Champagne, Pt. Reyes Blue and roasted Cipollini onions with Riesling
Cheesy Q&A
How should I store cheese?
Cheese should be loosely wrapped in something breathable, like wax paper, and held in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer away from direct air. Turn it periodically to distribute the milk fat in the cheese and to age it properly.
How do I find cheese with vegetarian rennet?
Many cheese producers will note on their labels when vegetarian rennet is used. However, they are not required to do so; therefore not all cheese labels indicate whether it includes vegetarian or animal rennet.
What is raw cheese?
Full-flavored cheese made with unpasteurized milk, thereby retaining all the enzymes naturally found in milk. In the US, The FDA requires that all raw-milk cheese sold in the US be aged a minimum of 60 days.
What is farmstead cheese?
When cheese is made on the farm where the animals providing the milk are raised, it is called farmstead cheese.
What do DOC, PDO and AOC mean?
These are designations for European cheeses guaranteeing that a particular cheese is made in the exact manner and region as defined by the certifying agencies. For example, for a cheese to be called Parmigiano-Reggiano (a DOC cheese), it must be made in specified regions of Italy between mid-April and mid-November, and aged for at least 14 months.
