As Helena looks into wine and cheese matching, she gets some tips from Hero Hirsh, head of retail at the award-winning cheesemonger, Paxton & Whitfield about how to put together the perfect cheeseboard or cheese platter.
How much cheese per person?
If your cheeseboard is part of a meal, about 100g to 125g of cheese per person and possibly a little more at Christmas is ideal, so 150g each. This is because at Christmas, the cheeseboard will often sit out for longer so people will come and go for snacks throughout the day. We can certainly agree with that!
How do you put a cheeseboard together?
Think about offering a mix of styles, textures and flavours on the platter. This is why the combination of Cheddar, Stilton and Brie has always been popular as you've got a blue, a hard cheese and a soft cheese; different textures, different milks and different flavours to savour. If you’d like to add further cheeses, perhaps think about a goats cheese and a washed rind to complete the board. Five is a good number for a full board.
Should you consider other food in the meal when putting together the cheese platter?
Yes, certainly consider what other food you are serving for the meal or at the event. If the dish just before is rich and flavoursome, think about selecting cheeses that have a stronger flavour so that they complement preceding courses. The cheese course should be a continuation of flavours so it can be enjoyed so try to match the intensity.
What are the ideal accompaniments to a cheese board?
If you’ve got lots of flavoursome cheeses, then keep accompaniments simple, so one chutney or honey, one style of biscuit or artisan bread and then perhaps some grapes or dried fruits. Arrange them around the pieces of the cheese on the cheeseboard. Finally, I’d add in the cheese knife and then you have a visually appetising cheeseboard to enjoy.
Are there rules to how to lay out cheese on a cheeseboard?
There are no hard and fast rules about laying a cheeseboard out. The most important thing is to make sure that it looks visually appealing and that it is easy for guests to help themselves to the cheese. There are no real rules about which cheeses can and can’t sit close to each other on a cheeseboard. If you go for a good balanced selection as outlined above, everything should be fine.
Any tips on how to store various types of cheese? And what to do with any leftover bits of cheese?
How you treat the cheese has an important impact on your enjoyment of it. Once bought, I would always recommend storing the cheese in a cold room or the bottom of the fridge - if possible wrapped in waxed paper as this allows the cheese to breath. Before serving, bring the cheese out to warm up to room temperature. Twenty minutes should be enough, particularly in a warm house at Christmas. Letting the cheese warm a little will help improve its flavours when you come to eat it.
A good piece of advice for when buying cheese for your cheeseboard at Christmas is to buy less cheese but bigger pieces. Larger pieces of fewer types will keep better over Christmas time. Bigger cuts of cheese store better than lots of small cuts. A hard cheese, a blue, a soft cheese and a piece of cheese that is slightly different or surprising is all that you need to create an appealing cheeseboard.
In terms of leftovers, cheese is incredibly versatile and leftover cheese makes a superb cooking ingredient. It can be used in soups, risottos, pasta bakes and as a finishing touch stirred into a gravy, or sauce, to add a little bit of richness.
Visit Paxton & Whitfield for all your cheese needs:
London Shops
93 Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 6JE
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7930 0259
Email: jermynstreet@paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk
22 Cale Street, London, SW3 3QU
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7584 0751
Email: calestreet@paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk
Bath Shop
1 John Street, Bath, BA1 2JL
Telephone: +44 (0)1225 466403
Email: bath@paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk