I love cheese, and would love to make a cheese plate for my next dinner party. Where do I even start?
Tanya H. emailed us at expert@sweetspot.ca, and our friends at Leslieville Cheese Market in Toronto, answered;
How to make a great cheese plate:
Pick a variety of cheeses and ask your cheese monger to suggest different types, he or she will know what's ripe and ready to eat. My personal suggestions are in brackets below:
- Blue (Try Bleu D'Auvergne or Roaring Forties)
- Hard (Aged Gruyere, Parmigiana Reggiano)
- Semi-Firm/Washed rind (Oka, Morbier)
- Soft (Bries, Brillat Savarin, La Sauvagine)
- Goat/Sheep's milk (Petit Basque, chevrette)
(Don't miss our wine pairing suggestions from SweetHome sommelier, Erin Rosar!)
Present your cheese on a board (wood, slate or marble looks great). Avoid cutting up the cheese into cubes or bites beforehand, since this causes the cheese to dry up faster. Instead, leave a variety of knives out. Leave your cheese out for about a 1/2 hour before you're serving it, so it warms to room temperature. Straight-from-the-refrigerator cheese has muted flavours.
Labeling the cheese with little flags is a great idea for entertaining.
Serve fresh crusty baguette, crisps or crackers. Some crackers are very strongly flavoured (garlic, onion, etc) and may overpower the flavour of the cheese; be aware of what you're serving.
Garnish makes a board complete. Spiced walnuts or pecans go great with blue cheeses, honey goes well with salty aged cheeses, fruit spreads and jellies are always popular with softer cheeses.
Don't miss our wine pairing suggestions from SweetHome sommelier, Erin Rosar!
Leslieville Cheese Market has two locations in Toronto, Ontario. Their first location on Queen Street East (at Logan) has been open since June 2006, and their second location on Queen Street West (at Augusta) opened May 2009. For more information, visit www.leslievillecheese.com, or call 416-465-7143.
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