There are many ways to serve a cheese board to get the best of your cheese selection.
Obviously the first thing to do is to choose a few cheeses that go well together. It’s probably best to group them by theme such as region of origin or milk type. Don’t forget that the weather can influence the sort of cheese that people want to eat – warmer weather lends itself to fresh tastes such as goats cheese and colder weather lends itself more to mature flavours such as strong cheddar and blue cheeses.
Once you have a selection you will need a cheese board to present them on. There are many materials that the board can be made from slate to wood and marble to glass. They come in all shapes and sizes so choose something that you will be happy using time and time again and make sure that the board has enough room when filled for guests to cut the cheese.
Wood is great to serve on because it looks beautiful with the pattern of the grain, and the natural oil content of the wood kills bacteria. Each board is unique because each piece of wood is unique.
Slate is nice to use because you can write the name of each cheese using chalk so that your guests can find out what they are eating. One downside is that the noise of cutlery scraping on it is very unpleasant to some people.
Don’t put the cheese on the board too late. Get it out of the fridge about 2 hours before you want to serve it. This allows the process of aromatisation to occur which brings out the fullest flavour.
You can have fun with the way you arrange the cheese. It’s a good idea to put crumbly cheeses in the middle though. Consider turning wedges up on their end because it creates a dramatic impression. Make sure that you keep the cheese separate from each other though to avoid the flavours contaminating each other.
Depending on how you have cut the cheese you will need different cutlery. a block will need a knife to cut it but slices will need a fork or tongs. Spoons are a good idea for very soft cheeses.
To accompany the cheese on the board you will need a few crackers or some bread. also consider adding some fresh or dried fruit and some nuts.
However you choose to serve you cheese board you are sure to enjoy the flavour, textures and aromas that the cheese has to offer.