If you’re an avid cheese lover, then cheese boards are like heaven on a platter for you. But how do you build the perfect cheese board?
Keep reading to learn the makings of a good cheese board and how to save money when buying so much cheese.
Texture
A great way to have some variety on your cheese board is to mix different textures and strengths. Here are our favourite examples below.
Soft Cheeses
A soft cheese such as brie is perfect for spreading and is typically enjoyed by most people, thanks to its mild, creamy taste. It’s the perfect cheese to enjoy with a plain cracker or even spread on some crunchy baguette slices for an extra bit of luxury.
For a slightly more intense taste, camembert has that little bit deeper, riper flavour. Rather than just cutting a slice off and popping it in your mouth, camembert can be baked in the oven and enjoyed by dipping bread into its soft, melty centre – adding sophistication and dimension to your cheese board.
Soft-Firm Cheeses
For a sweet, nutty and almost caramel-like flavour, gouda is the perfect choice for a cheese with a springy texture that’s not as soft as brie, but not as hard as cheddar. Gouda is best enjoyed with wholegrain crackers or sweet fruits to highlight its own sweet flavour.
Since it is often wrapped in a red wax casing, though this is inedible, gouda is also a great cheese addition to add a pop of colour to your cheese board and make it more attractive.
Hard Cheeses
Cheddar is one of those cheeses loved by many, by far the most popularly consumed in the UK. A really mature cheddar will have a beautifully crumbly texture with bits of crunchy crystallisation, being more tangier than milder cheddars, letting you really taste and appreciate the intensity of its flavour.
Pairings
There are a number of accompaniments to cheeses that can really compliment their flavours. Here are some of the most popular that we recommend you partner with your cheese board:
- Honey – A good quality honey pairs excellently with camembert. The sweetness of honey, along with some aromatic herbs (such as rosemary or thyme), drizzled atop a camembert and baked in the oven really enhances its nutty flavour.
- Fruit – Like cranberries with brie or peaches with gouda, fruit is often a safe pairing with most cheeses, since the flavour contrasts tend to bring out certain notes in both the cheese and the fruit that blend harmoniously on the palate.
- Wine – The acidity and sweetness of wine cuts through the fattiness of cheese, creating a pleasantly fuller flavour in the mouth. Why not check out our favourite cheese and wine pairings?
Wholesale Cheese
If you’re planning on making a cheese board, either for a family get together or to serve at your upcoming Christmas party (perhaps even both!), then you may be thinking ‘how on earth am I going to afford all this cheese’?
The solution is to buy cheese in bulk. When you bulk-buy your cheese, you are able to get all the cheeses you want at once from the same supplier at an affordable rate, compared to buying multiple packets of each cheese variety in the supermarket. This will also ensure that you have enough cheese and will likely even have some left over to indulge in on a rainy day, or to top up your cheese board should it prove popular – which we’re sure it will!
Looking for somewhere to buy your cheese? Visit Freshways. We are wholesale cheese suppliers, along with other food, drink and dairy products – whether you’re looking for goat’s cheese or stilton, we have the cheese you need. Contact us today to place your order.