Fantastic foundations
A wooden board is a classic choice when serving cheese, but slate and marble work well too: consider several small boards and plates in different materials. Provide an all-purpose cheese knife, a mini cleaver for hard cheese and a knife with holes for soft cheese (the holes help prevent the cheese sticking on the blade so you get a clean slice).
Essential cheeses
Choose between three and five varieties, and aim to vary the milk sources: cow, sheep and goat, with attractive colours and textures. For a good spread of flavour, buy one cheese from each of the five main categories: fresh, bloomy (eg brie or camembert), semi-soft, hard and blue.
A classic board
Try a brie, camembert and emmental cheeseboard. Président, the number one brie brand in France, uses traditional, artisan methods for a fresh, authentic taste; the brie is creamy and buttery, the camembert is bold and rich, and the emmental has a sweet, nutty flavour.
The right amount
If you need advice on the right amount of cheese to buy, a useful guide is to serve about 25g per person, per cheese type, for a casual get-together. If you’re planning a cheese course for a dinner, increase that to 50g per person. If the cheeseboard is the focus of your occasion, plan for 100-200g per person.
Ideal accompaniments
Cheese needs crackers … and chutney. You don’t want to overdo it, as the cheese is the star, but serve carefully selected accompaniments on your board. Look for simple bread and crackers, with little or no extra ingredients (try sourdough for the bread and rye crackers) and consider tapenade, fruit chutney and mild mustard. On the side, serve small plates of mixed olives, cured meats and sliced seasonal fruits, such as grapes, pears and figs.
Time it right
The textures, tastes and aromas of specialty cheeses are best at room temperature, so take the cheese out of the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before serving. Chutneys and fruit will also taste better if they’ve had a little time at room temperature.
Order of service
Arrange the cheese from mildest to strongest and encourage guests to consume it in that order. Try starting soft, with herby goat’s milk cheese, move on to brie, followed by emmental, then blue cheese, which mellows in the mouth.
Delicious drink pairings
Choose beer, cider and wine pairings carefully, to complement the cheese, not overpower it. Rich, aged cheeses work well with tannic red wines; sweet white wine balances saltier cheeses; a creamy brie works with fruity cider; and bubbles create contrast with rich cheese, so sip champagne with your camembert.
