Nothing says Christmas like friends, family and a cheeseboard. Whether it’s a Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Eve board (or all three!), the festive cheeseboard is as much an occasion for two as it is for a large group.
With so many cheeses and accompaniments to choose (there are over 700 types of British cheese alone) it can be tough to know where to start. Well, help is at hand!
We’ve teamed up with cheese expert, writer, author and World Cheese Awards judge, Patrick McGuigan, AKA the “walking cheese encyclopaedia” to give his insider tips for creating a memorable festive cheeseboard. From choosing your cheese to storing, cutting, presenting and eating it – we’ve got you covered.
SELECTING CHEESE
Concept
First rule of a cheeseboard? There are no rules. You can do whatever you like! One Christmas I had an entire 3kg blue cheese in the middle of the table – that’s it. I went big on the accompaniments and there was something really great about everyone eating the same cheese, together.
That said, it's usually a good idea to have plenty of diversity on a cheeseboard. You want to have something for everyone, especially at Christmas with lots of people and different tastes around the board.
Build from the spine
Start your cheeseboard with three cheeses; a blue, soft and hard. Think of it as your spine. This gives you a mixture of textures and colours and even if you don’t add any other to this, you’ve got a great cheeseboard here.
The cheeses in your spine will usually be cow’s milk (although they don’t have to be), so when you’re adding your fourth, fifth or sixth cheese, you can think about introducing a sheep’s milk cheese like Parlick, or a goat’s milk cheese such as Raven’s Oak. Try different styles, too, so you could have a goat’s cheese with a wrinkly rind, for example, and then a log like Kidderton Ash, or buttons and pyramids. I prefer larger pieces on the board for a striking visual – you can always eat over a few cheeseboards during the holidays.
The board
A grey slate for your board looks great against the white or golden colour of cheese. I also like a butcher’s block as it raises the board higher which gives it even more impact. Big, ceramic plates are great fun as well.
I like to give cheese some height, so for example pointing a wedge facing up instead of on its side. You can also use the box the cheese is in and sit the cheese on top of it, then people know what they’re having, too. Tunworth is a great for this.
You can buy little flags and describe each cheese, or with a slate board you can write on it with chalk. Brown parchment paper over a board is fun, then you can write on the paper, and it looks fantastic.
PREPARATION & STORAGE
Cutting
Cutting your cheese is about both presentation and flavour. Aim for a cross section from the centre (the heart) to the rind. The heart is more protected so can taste citrusy and fresh, and the rind is usually has more intense, savoury notes.
Avoid cutting the thin end of the wedge (the nose) as you’re only getting one part of the flavour profile - plus you’ll be robbing everyone else the chance to try it! It can be a nice idea to pre-cut some slices or cubes on the board, but make sure to balance visual appeal with functionality; it should look great but be easy to eat, too.
Knife etiquette
Use separate knives for each cheese to avoid cross-contamination, especially with blue and soft cheeses. A knife with holes works for soft cheeses as it prevents sticking, while hard cheeses are fine to cut with a standard kitchen knife. If you do cross contaminate and return your leftover cheese to the fridge, clean up your cheese by scraping the cut face with a knife before you wrap it so that the mould from one doesn’t start to grow on the other.
Encourage good knife usage by putting the knives next to the corresponding cheese on the board - but don’t be the cheeseboard police either. Have fun and don’t take it too seriously - a bit of cheeseboard chaos never hurt anyone!
Wrapping
Blue and soft cheese is best wrapped with waxed paper. It allows the cheese to breath and protects it from drying out. Baking parchment paper is a good substitute and easy to find in the supermarket.
Cling film is fine for hard cheeses and Tupperware is great for soft– just don’t leave too much room around the cheese and take the lid off every now and again to let a bit of air in.
Storage
You want to create a protective little cave, so store your cheese in the salad drawer away from the fans and cold, main body of the fridge. I sometimes put a piece of clean cardboard over the cheese for another layer of protection. Huddle your cheese together, they like to be close to one other (as long as they’re individually wrapped).
Cheese is best eaten at room temperature. It depends on the size of the cheese, but as a rough guide, little individual cheeses can be taken out of the fridge around half an hour before you eat, and larger blocks may need an hour or so.
If you have bought big 2kg pieces to eat over a number of cheeseboards, don’t bring the whole thing out to room temp and then back in and out of the fridge. The quality will deteriorate, and it won’t taste as good by your fourth cheeseboard.
ACCOMPANIMENTS
Contrast or complement
Cheese is always the star of the show, but at Christmas I think you can have some fun with accompaniments. It turns your cheeseboard into more of a banquet and conversation point.
There are endless things you can pair with cheese. The tradition of a brown, sticky chutney and humble crackers is brilliant and a classic combination for a reason. I have matched cheese with literally everything, from popcorn and chocolate, to crisps and cake. I like a Lancashire cheese like Trotter Hill with an Eccles cake and blue cheese with a ginger biscuit.
A good approach to choosing your accompaniments is to either contrast or complement. The saltiness of a blue cheese like Blacksticks works well with something sweet like Christmas cake, and marmalade and goat’s cheese are an unexpectedly brilliant combination of sweetness and bitterness. Hazelnuts and walnuts complement the nuttiness of hard cheeses really well, and chilli infused 'hot honey' is a bit of a trend at the moment, this is lovely with a soft cheese like Button Mill.
You might just want to choose just one for your board. Honey goes with all cheese, figs or dates are brilliant and very Christmassy or some simple fresh fruit like pears or grapes are really versatile.
I like a cracker; it can really help your cheese. The purists however will have cheese and nothing else! Stronger flavours like rosemary are great with a goat’s cheese, as it complements the floral, herby, grassy notes, and the nuttiness of a seeded cracker is nice with a hard cheese. I would suggest having a variety, the Christmas cracker selection boxes are great to get a little bit of everything.
Wine
If you have four, five, or six cheeses on the board, it’s not realistic to pair each with an individual wine. The good news is that sparkling wine goes with everything. It’s a bit lighter, so when you’re jaded at the end of the day, it livens up the palate and cuts through the richness of your cheese. The carbonation of beer and cider also work well.
I’d recommend lighter red wines that don’t have a lot of tannins, something like a Pinot Noir (the heavier reds can clash with blues and soft cheeses). White wine is easier to match as it typically has acidity that will cut through any cheese. I like a Riesling, and a dry Chardonnay also works well.
….AND FINALLY
Pace yourself and experiment
You’ve created the perfect cheeseboard, it’s now time to eat it! Try to take small portions at a time. It’s a marathon, not a sprint and that way you leave enough room to try everything and pick your favourites for round two (or three, or four!). What’s more, if there's ever a time to explore, it's Christmas. Try a little of each cheese and you might just surprise yourself and find a new love that becomes part of your more regular cheese repertoire.