What are the Best Combinations for Cheese and Fruit?

Whenever you talk about combinations of foods or pairing one type of food with another you always have to take into consideration the personal taste of the person who is assembling those foods. You also have to consider just what purpose the food is being prepared for. If you are going to have a cheese and wine tasting you would use different types of cheeses and fruits than if you were serving beer and popcorn and block cheeses for a group of males who will swill down the beer and use the cheese and fruit to keep their stomachs full until they consume the nachos and sandwiches later.

When you are assembling foods for a TV game marathon you would most likely choose simple block cheeses such as jack, pepper jack, cheddar or maybe Swiss, all of which would go with beer. Then you would serve this with fruits that are fairly hardy like apple slices, seedless grapes and maybe almost ripe pears. These fruits won’t discolor or go bad very quickly especially if you dribble some lemon juice over the fruit so it won’t discolor if it is not consumed immediately. You can also serve some dried fruits with this like raisons or cranberries or even apricots. The flavors will all work well together because the cheeses are not hand crafted or considered artesian.

If you are having a wine tasting with cheese and fruits you may be serving those that are considered hand crafted or artesian or perhaps with more flavor such as one made out of goat or sheep’s milk. They may also be flavored with herbs or pepper or other spices too. All of this has to be considered when pairing with fruits. In general, apples pair well with almost all of them. Especially if you choose a nice crisp juicy on the tart side apple. It is bland and juicy enough to work with most of them. Pears also seem to work well with most choices. Naturally you have to consider what wines are being tasted too.

If you are going to serve dried fruits such as figs or apricots which are sweeter and in the case of figs, have a distinct taste you could use a creamier textured one such as a brie which generally has it’s own flavor so that the two kind of meld together when chewed. And that makes a yummy cheese combination for sure.