What to Consider When Creating a Cheese Board

There are so many options at a cheese counter... Where do you begin? Will your cheeses overwhelm each other? Or even worse, be too similar and therefore unmemorable?

The key is this: Pick different milks: Cow, goat, sheep. Pick different textures: soft, semi-, hard. Even on the smallest cheese board you can manage to have variety.

Pairings can focus on bringing out the similarities or highlighting the contrasts. Whichever way you go, you want the intensity of each to be on a similar level. A big bold cheese needs a big bold buddy, while the delicate ones need a more nuanced friend. Let the cheese sit out for 30 minutes before guests arrive to let the flavors develop.

For determining portions, a good rule of thumb is that people will eat about 2 oz of each cheese as an hor's d'oeuvre, and 1-1.5 oz when other items are present.

The board I'm about to show you contains one pound of cheese, so I could expect it to serve about 8-10 people. It includes four cheeses that are basic enough to be party pleasers, yet have enough character to captivate:

Humboldt Fog

Humboldt Fog is an ash-ripened chevre produced by Cypress Grove. This cheese has a soft crumbly texture towards the center and a creamy oozy texture close to the rind. Best of both worlds. It is made from goat's milk and has a fresh tangy milky flavor with minimal 'barnyard' taste. The rind is edible. I chose to add Marcona almonds to my board for a contrasting texture.

 Lamb Chopper is a semi-firm gouda aged for 3 months and made from sheep's milk. It has a rich buttery taste and is also a great choice for melting. Cypress Grove is also responsible for this delicious beauty.

I threw some finochiona onto the board because it has aromatic qualities without being too heavy or bold.

Fresh apples and mandarins were also inlcuded because it's acidity will help cut through some of the fat and help cleanse the plate. Some people adore cornichons and olives for this purpose as well.

Cave-aged Emmentaler. This is the iconic Swiss cheese style most people will think of. The semi-firm raw cow's milk cheese is prepared by hand, then aged in a natural sandstone cave for up to 9 months, which imparts an earthy mineral flavor. The unpasteurized milk always adds a little something extra, too. You can thank the Emmi and Kaltbach companies for collaborating on this one. Also a great melting cheese, it would be killer over french onion soup or in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Piave Vecchio. This particular slice is produced by Lattebusche, and comes from Italy. It is a hard cow's milk cheese aged for 9-12 months. Often thought of as parmigiano-reggiano's younger cousin, Piave bursts with a tropical fruity aroma. I chose dried apricots to highlight those sweet flavors and to balance the saltiness. Besides snacking, you can shave it over a salad or pasta.




Aaaaand...here's the finished product! It makes it easy for guests if you have already cut everything into nibble-worthy pieces. For the soft ones, include a knife.

Have you brought a cheese board to a gathering recently? What did you include?