IF YOU’RE HAVING friends over this weekend, or just feel like being a little fancy all by yourself, there’s nothing quite like a cheese plate for adding a little class of an evening.
But there are rules (of course). Well, not rules so much as suggestions on how to make your cheese plate a thing of glory.
Pull up a chair, and crack open a bottle of wine, we’ve rounded up how to create the best, dare we say ultimate, cheese plate.
You can thank us later.
Variety, as they say is the spice of life, so it’s nice to have a selection of cheeses to choose from.
A good rule of thumb is to have one from each of these groups – hard, semi-hard, soft, and after that you can make a selection based on milk types – cow, sheep, goat and blends.
Depending on who’s coming and what way their tastes lie it’s better not to have all strong flavours or all mild flavours.
Mix it up.
Your selection of breads and crackers on which to ferry the cheeses to your mouth are not quite as important as the cheese themselves (it’s a cheese plate after all), but they do have a big role to play in the cheese-eating experience.
Two or three varieties of crackers and or breads is more than plenty. Water biscuits are a firm favourite and don’t have a strong flavour so won’t impact on any cheeses you have.
After that, oat cakes, wheat crackers or a crusty bread are all good choices.
Of course, the accompaniments very much depend on what cheese you’re having but apples and grapes go wonderfully with a sharp cheddar, and quince paste and gorgonzola is a delicious combo.
Nuts – especially candied walnuts if you can find them, are really tasty and go great with cheese (provided there are no nut allergy sufferers amongst your guests).
You could even have some salted almonds as a starter while you’re waiting for everyone to arrive.
It’s probably the best option to have your cheeses sliced to make access all the more easy, but if you don’t have time or can’t be bothered, then at least have a couple of knives handy. One per cheese would be best, but who’s got that kind of silverware hanging around?
Oh you do? Carry on so…
Of course you can have charcuterie if you like, but just have a separate platter. If you’re having any vegetarians over they’ll really appreciate not being worried about meaty knives touching the cheeses.
How much wine (and indeed cheese) you have on offer, will of course depend on how many people you’ve invited around.
You can decide which wine you’re going to drink and then match cheeses to it – for instance red works with cheddar, gouda and gorgonzola, and white goes really nicely with camembert, brie, gruyere and mozzarella.
But that’s just a quick rule of thumb – if you want to be super fancy, having a word in your cheesemonger’s ear will get you plenty of suggestions and combinations to try that you may never have thought of.
Whatever delicious meals you’re planning this weekend, you’ll find everything you need at your local Supervalu. From dedicated butchers ready to answer all your questions, to an extensive deli counter with every accompaniment you can think of, there’s everything you need for a wonderful meal all in the once place.
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