Holidays are incomplete without an epic cheese board and some drinks to compliment it. Cheese boards have something for everyone, as it comes with a mix of savoury and sweet flavours. To make your cheeseboard a holiday favourite, try loading it up with some famous cheese. Apart from cheese, the perfect cheese board can have roasted nuts, crackers, cured meats, sliced bread, dried fruits and any other item you love. We have listed down some of the best cheeses, that is a must on your cheeseboard:

Gouda

This cheese that originated in the Netherlands is semi-hard with a nutty-buttery flavour and is a perfect item to be on the cheese platter. The cheese flavour sharpens with age, and the young gouda cheese has a mild taste. The young gouda comes with red or yellow wax, and the aged gouda comes with black wax.

This cheese tastes best with fresh grapes, pears, bread, and dried apricots. You can also serve mild gouda cheese with riesling or pinot Giorgio. Whereas, the aged gouda tastes best with sauvignon or chardonnay. With some good quality cheese, you can have a single malt scotch or dark rum drink.

Further, cut off the wax and slice into cubes or wedges. The leftover cheese can be refrigerated in waxed paper.

Also Read- Ways To Set Up Your Cheese Platter

Manchego

This cheese comes from Spain’s La Mancha region and is formed with sheep’s milk and has tangy, grassy and nutty flavour in it. The interiors of Manchego cheese are lacy with a high amount of butterfat. The colour varies from ivory yellow to white and rind has brownish beige to yellow colour. The waxy herringbone rind in Manchego is inedible and is imprinted at the time of moulding.

Manchego cheese tastes best with savoury or sweet Spanish crackers. Further consuming Manchego cheese with Marcona almonds, olives, thinly sliced ham and sweet spreadable like quince paste, marmalade and honey would be delicious for your tastebuds. For the drinks, you can pair it up with fruit red cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir. The beer lovers can have it with nut brown ale.

Slice the cheese into a half centimetres triangle and cut the rind off. The leftover cheese can be wrapped into parchment paper or waxed paper.

Triple Cream Brie

Triple cream cheese is undoubtedly many people’s favourite because of its extra creamy and buttery flavour. Thus, a good cheese plate is incomplete without triple cream brie. In the triple cream, the milk is cooked with cream until the butterfat content is at least seventy-five per cent. The extra cream adds butteriness to cheese. The right consistency of mould cultures and texture makes it edible and delicious to eat.

Triple cream brie goes perfectly with plain crackers and sliced baguette. The subtle flavours can also be enjoyed with grapes, berries, and sliced apples. The champagne is best paired with the brie. Consuming the cheese with red wine is again a delicious combination. A small batch of bourbon, stout beer or fruity pilsner goes well with the triple cream brie cheese.

The leftover cheese can be stored by wrapping it in wax or parchment paper.

Goat Cheese

Goat cheese comes in a variety of flavours that range from delicate and pungent to grassy and sweet. The most popularly known goat cheese is the classic French chèvre. It is log-shaped and is soft and spreadable without any rind. Chèvre makes a great addition to the cheese plate as it is sold with herbs, ash or pepper rolled on it. Another famous goat cheese is blue cheese which has an earthy and tangy taste. Further, aged goat cheese is allowed to ripen for up to 12 weeks and have a more prominent flavour.

The goat cheese pairs with food and gives a crazy taste. It goes well with colourful berries, fresh figs, salami, sliced pears, crackers with figs, whole walnuts or dried cranberries. It tastes yummy with spreads like honey jam or tomato jam. The drinks that pair well with the goat cheese include sauvignon blanc, zinfandel, chardonnay, Malbec or pinot noir, beer or gin.

You can use a cheese knife to spread it on your favourite food. The leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap for reuse.

Also Read- Ultimate Cheese Platter for Your Best Cheeseboard!

Cheddar

Cheddar cheese is a natural sharp cheese that originated in the English village ‘Cheddar’. This hard cheese is popularly consumed by many and has a nutty plus sharp taste. Though the flavour ranges from creamy, sweet to bitter and intense, it is believed that the longer the age of the cheddar cheese, the sharper the flavour would be. The cheddar cheese comes in the colour of white and orange.

The white cheddar cheese pairs well with pears and sliced apples. Also, a pile of roasted almonds, whole wheat and sesame crackers goes well with the cheddar. The beer lovers can enjoy cheddar cheese with some English pale ales and enjoy good sharp cheddar with cabernet sauvignon.

The best way to serve cheddar cheese is in the cubes or in slices. The leftover cheddar cheese can be wrapped in waxed or parchment paper.

A party is incomplete without a cheese platter. And undoubtedly, the cheese board is unfinished without these basic cheeses. The cheese on the cheeseboard should be kept at room temperature 30 mins before serving. When you think of creating a cheese board, it should meet the criteria of colour, texture and shape. An ideal cheese board contains one hard, one semi-soft and one soft cheese and should include the cheese made from goat, sheep and cow’s milk. You can cook your favourite appetisers that would go well with your cheese platter. You will find a variety of cheeseboard in different shapes and sizes made of mango wood and teak wood at Ellementry that are handcrafted and 100% food safe. It would be a delight for all the cheese lovers.

Also Read- 4 Kinds of Cheeseboard and Tips to Use them Best!