The ideal cheese plate
Create a cheese tray for a cocktail party or casual get-together. Or at a sit-down dinner, present a cheese plate after the main course before dessert or as dessert with a glass of sweet wine. Follow these tips.
• Serve at least three kinds, chosen from different categories.
• Vary types and strengths, and contrast colours and textures; for instance, a soft blue cheese (such as Borgonzola), a firm and drier aged provolone, and a semisoft, full-flavoured Oka Classique. Or combine a crumbly five-year-old Cheddar with a creamy Bleubry and a plain or flavoured fresh goat cheese. You could add even more contrast with a semisoft mild Fontina or, if you have access to a specialty shop, Le Migneron de Charlevoix and an aged goat's milk Pyramide.
• Some cheese plates can offer groups of one or two kinds; for example, Canadian blues with rich and creamy Le Ciel de Charlevoix, the drier and stronger Bleu Ermite or Bleu Bénédictin, and one of the mild soft blues, such as Borgonzola or Bleubry (serve this by itself or with a contrasting offering of goat cheeses).
• Always serve cheese at room temperature. Be sure to take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before serving.
• Hard cheeses can share a knife, or supply a cheese plane. Supply separate knives for each soft and semisoft cheese.
• For appetizer or after-dinner cheese plates of three to six selections, plan on one to 1? oz (30 to 50 g) of each type per person.
• For cheese plates served at the table, prepare individual plates for your guests.
Cheese plate complements
• Cheese and bread are, of course, a natural match, but the bread should not overpower the cheese. For most cheeses, choose a plain, crusty bread, such as baguette (French stick).
• Complement strong-flavoured blue cheeses with nut and fruit breads or whole-meal crackers.
• Rye bread pairs well with strong cheeses, such as very old Cheddar or raclette.
• Choose plain, white or whole-meal crackers, or simple flavoured ones, such as black-pepper or sesame crackers.
• Fresh fruit is always welcome to provide accents in taste and colour. Grapes go well with all cheeses, as do pears and apples — an especially good partner with blue cheese. Try fresh figs, strawberries or melon or peach slices.
• Put out some dried fruit — such as figs, apricots, muscat or lexia raisins, or dates — as well as walnuts, hazelnuts or pecans (in the shell or shelled and unsalted).
• Chutneys and fruit preserves, especially plum and apricot, are good with sharp aged cheeses, hence the classic combination of chutney or fruit pickles with Cheddar in a ploughman's lunch.
