How To Prepare A
Cheese Board
One of the most popular ways of eating cheese is off a cheese board.
Tips
On How To Prepare A Cheese Board
Remove
cheese from the refrigerator approximately two hours before serving in
order to bring out the true flavour. Wrap loosely until ready to serve.
1.
Offer a good selection of cheeses to include a
variety of shapes, colours, flavours and strengths - a good starting point for
a British cheese board includes a mature or farmhouse Cheddar, a Stilton, a
soft cheese e.g. Somerset Brie and a regional variety e.g. Lancashire, Red
Leicester, Wensleydale or Cheshire.
2.
Consider offering a speciality cheese such as
one made from goats’ or ewes’ milk.
3.
Garnish the cheese board with natural
ingredients - use the traditionally popular parsley, grapes, apples, tomatoes
and celery.
4.
Have a number of knives to hand. Always use
separate knives to cut blue cheese and mould ripened cheese such as Brie.
5.
Wrap any unused cheese and return to the
refrigerator immediately after the meal.
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Making A Cheese Board Profitable (by
speakers at The British Cheese Awards 1999)
·
Describe the selection of cheeses available on
the menu rather than just calling it a cheeseboard; describe the cheese courses
as you would the puddings – tantalise the taste buds.
·
Encourage your customers to eat the cheese
before the desserts; they can keep drinking wines from the main course or you
can offer half bottles to complement the cheeses served.
·
Use local cheese wherever available and
remember there are British equivalents of most continental cheeses.
·
Home produced mature cheddar and mature blue Stilton
are a must for any British cheeseboard.
·
If you present your cheese on marble boards,
the cheese will tend to sweat; to avoid this, place cheese on wicker mats which
have been previously sterilised; clean wooden boards are just as good.
·
Once cheese is out of the fridge, keep covered.
·
Do not over price your cheeseboard – many are
with the result that wastage levels are high; remember there is little
preparation required for a cheeseboard and so standard mark ups may not be
appropriate.
·
Don’t clutter your cheeseboard with too much
fruit – cheese must be the champion of the cheeseboard; instead look for
cheeses with interesting shapes and colours. For decoration try seasonal leaves
for a change.
·
Be careful with accompaniments – choose
biscuits which are not salty; try local breads for change.
·
Do allow the cheese to come up to room
temperature before serving and use separate knives for different groups of
cheese e.g. blue cheese, mould ripened cheese, soft cheese, hard cheese.
·
To minimise wastage, a plated cheese course
will allow you to prepare only what you think you will sell; besides a small
slice of cheese will come up to room temperature within 10 or 15 minutes
compared to a few hours for a half pound wedge.
·
Ensure waiting staff are fully conversant on
the cheeses offered in terms of origin, consistency and taste and are able to
offer wine recommendations.