The Best Ways to Serve Cheese

Cheese is a very versatile ingredient, which can be used in a variety of ways in your meal preparation or on its own, depending on what you want. When you are choosing which variety of cheese you want to buy, you need to consider how you intend to use it. Many cook books will recommend a particular type of cheese to be used for a specific recipe, but don’t be afraid to experiment with different varieties.

Cheese which used to be known as the ‘poor man’s sandwich’ because it was often used for packed lunches, was versatile, cheap and when made into a sandwich stayed reasonably fresh when wrapped up. However, as we now have available to us, a very large range of cheeses, some suitable for cooking and some not, our whole attitude towards using cheese often on a daily basis has changed. The cost of a good cheese can range from the reasonably priced that we can all afford, to the very expensive which we cannot all afford.

I believe that there are several best ways to serve cheese as outlined below, but it depends on your own personal food type likes and dislikes.

The classic cheeseboard

Asking for the cheeseboard in a restaurant means you either get an individual portion of two or three different types of cheese, or the board which may have a larger selection to choose from. Either can be acceptable, if the presentation is attractive and appealing and it does give you the opportunity to try several different varieties without having to buy them individually from a store.

The general rules for a cheeseboard are to select a hard cheese, a soft cheese and a blue cheese, keeping the selection balanced. There are also guidelines on how to cut the various types of cheese to help prevent waste, but they also still look appealing to your guests. Square and round cheeses can be cut in half and into triangles; small wedges of cheese such as Brie, should be cut in slices from alternate sides so it retains its shape; wedges of Cheddar can be cut in long slices and you can cut a lid in the top of truckles and cut the cheese into small wedges or slice in rounds.

A wooden cheeseboard is thought to be best arranging the cheese and some fruits for decoration such as grapes, crispy apples slices and ripe pears can make a really attractive dish. As an alternative to fruit, fresh crispy bread or crackers can be served with the cheeseboard. It is preferable to provide a cheese knife for each type of cheese which prevents the tastes of one cheese being transferred to another on the knife.

The cheeses should be removed from the fridge about an hour before serving, covered with a damp cloth and kept at room temperature until it is time to serve.

Cooking with cheese

Cheese can be used in several ways when cooking and one of my personal favorites is using grated hard cheese as a topping on a dish, which is then placed under the grill until the cheese melts and starts to bubble. The grilled cheese topping adds to the flavor and the appearance of a dish. If you prefer a crispy topping, leave under the grill a few extra minutes, taking care not to burn. Cheese on toasted bread or rolls etc can be done in the same way.

Adding grated cheese to dishes such as scrambled eggs, omelets, mashed potatoes or sprinkling Parmesan cheese on your pasta and soup dishes helps to enhance the flavor and appearance of your dishes.

Baking with cheese

Specialty breads, scones and cakes are now very easy to make and it is simple to grate or cut into small chunks some of your favorite type of cheese and add it to the mixture before baking to add a unique flavor.

Using a good cream cheese to make cheesecake and cheese sauces for pouring over vegetables and pasta dishes can provide amazing results with very little effort.

Cheese and nibbles

Cheese can be used on its own as a snack between meals. Cheese can be served with crackers or cut into small blocks and put on cocktail sticks with a variety of other food items such as small pickled onions, cocktails sausages and pineapple chunks etc to be served at a cheese and wine party or having a few friends in for drinks. If you are intending to serve wine and cheese to your guests it would be wise to do your homework. To ensure your guest an enjoyable experience, you should ensure that the wine and cheese you intend to serve compliment each other.

There has been quite a growth recently, in the market place with specialty cheese shops springing up. This makes it much easier to obtain more accurate information on the types of cheeses, how they should be stored, whether they are suitable for use in cooking and how they should be served. The staff in the store should be much more knowledgeable than their counterparts in the supermarket or the corner store and may also be able to provide advice as to which wine is best with which cheese.

In summary, it seems that the best ways to serve cheese depends on how you want to serve it, there are some guidelines around, but it always seems to come back to personal preferences.

-Written by Ruslan K