"Creating an amazing and personalized cheese plate is pretty easy if you know a few structural tricks. These aren't cheesemonger trade secrets, but are instead mostly just common sense. You want a mix of milk types, textures, and appearances, and a few accompaniments. Honestly, the cheese does the hard work; you just have to put it in front of people."
"Start with this plan for a five-cheese plate: soft-ripened, semi-soft cheese, goat milk, firm cheese, and a wildcard. In common cheese types, this could be any brie, young Manchego, Humboldt Fog, Aged Gouda, and Blue Stilton. (Little known cheese trivia: Stilton is considered a must-have Christmas cheese in England and even we sell easily five times as much Stilton in December as any other month.)"
"The great thing about envisioning a holiday cheese plate this way is that it is totally customizable. My late spouse raised goats for years and could no longer even stand the smell of goat cheese. That's cool; just substitute a sheep or water buffalo cheese. My dad was raised by a German stepfather and loved the food, so I always need something really stinky for him, even if no one else wants it."
A five-cheese plate should include soft-ripened, semi-soft, goat milk, firm, and a wildcard to ensure variety. Typical choices include brie, young Manchego, Humboldt Fog, aged Gouda, and Blue Stilton. Stilton is a traditional Christmas cheese in England with December sales roughly five times higher than other months. Cheese plates benefit from mixing milk types, textures, appearances, and a few accompaniments. Plates can be customized to accommodate dislikes by substituting sheep or buffalo cheeses, and can honor family preferences by anchoring the selection with familiar crowd-pleasers. Examples of specific pairings include nutty tomme, paprika-coated goat pyramids, and buttery soft-ripened cheeses.
Read at San Francisco Bay Times
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