Dish up a cheese board … here are some tips and ideas to make sure your board is brilliant:
- Offer cheeses with different texture and flavour.
- Stick to three or four different types of cheese: a hard cheese like Cheddar, soft ones such as Brie, Camembert or goat’s cheese, a blue cheese like Gorgonzola or Stilton, or an artisanal one.
- Know the different cheeses you’re serving so you can tell your guests what they are.
What to serve with the cheese
- Seed crackers, breadsticks, artisanal bread, chutneys, preserves and seasonal fruit are all perfect accompaniments. Grapes, figs, strawberries and dates always go down well. Equally, a simple pot of strawberry jam, or some honey, are just as delicious with cheese.
- If you want to make your board a little more elaborate, you can also add things like peanut brittle, nuts and dried fruit or fresh herbs.
- Always bring cheese up to room temperature at least 20 minutes before serving; this enhances their flavours.
- If you’re serving a cheeseboard after a meal, you can easily serve one type of cheese with crackers, preserve and a bunch of grapes.
Cheese and wine pairing
When it comes to cheese and wine pairing, don’t hesitate to serve white wine as it’s often a good match; you need to be more careful of dry, tannic red wines. Rather go for fresh, fruity and younger red wines such as merlot or pinot noir, which are both excellent with Camembert. Sweet wines and certain ports pair well with blue cheese. Sauvignon blanc and goat’s cheese is a match made in heaven, as is a an oak chardonnay served with mature cheddar cheese.
Where to buy cheese?
Most supermarkets have a wide selection of cheeses. Checkers also has an excellent online guide on how to put together a cheeseboard. Visit checkers.co.za/cheese/cheeseboards. There’re also many artisanal cheeses out there so try and support them too. Keep your eye out for local cheese sellers if you’re browsing at weekend markets and explore the little cheese shops and farm stalls in your area.
If you’re in the Cape over the holidays, be sure to diarise the 20th annual SA Cheese Festival, which will take place from 24 to 26 April, 2021 at Sandringham near Stellenbosch. See @sacheesefest or cheese festival.co.za for details and Covid-19 regulations.
* PICTURE CREDIT: Unsplash.com
