Plate It Up!

Putting together a cheese platter always seems to be the cause of some anxiety with our customers. But with Thanksgiving and the holiday season upon us, a lot of us will have to do it in the coming weeks. Here are a few pointers to help you arrange a cheese board that looks great and tastes delicious:

1. Know your audience. How many cheeses should you get? And how much will you need? That all depends on what the occasion is and who's coming. If the cheese is just an appetizer at a cocktail or dinner party, you should figure on about one ounce per person, and two to four cheeses will do the trick. If you're serving the cheese as a dinner course, two to three ounces, and three to five cheeses will work. If the cheese is the main event, four to six ounces per person is reasonable; in this case, you probably want to serve at least five different kinds of cheese, but don't let that limit you! A cheese dinner with up to 8-12 cheeses can be a memorable evening for a group of cheese lovers.

2. Mix it up. You want to have variety on a cheese platter. Start with something that you like, and go from there. If your first inclination is to pick up a cow's milk cheese, then complement it with a goat's or sheep's milk. Contrast something hard with something soft, something mild with something strong, and so on. Be sure to get cheeses you like, but be adventurous, too. Remember, you're feeding a crowd, and everyone has different tastes. A diverse group of cheeses can be a great conversation starter! Also, don't forget: you want your cheese platter to look good, too. Cheeses come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, textures and colors, and four similarly shaped wedges, no matter how delicious, look boring.

3. The great debate: Bread or crackers. Some people prefer crackers with their cheese. For others, only bread will do. (I'm in the bread camp, but the explanation will have to wait for another post.) There are two easy solutions: a) get whichever you prefer; b) do both! The main thing to remember here is that the cheese is the main attraction, so avoid anything with lots of extra flavors.

4. Fruit and other asides. I know it's cliche, but I love some red grapes on a cheese plate--they're sweet and a little tangy, making them a great foil for just about any cheese, and they add some color to the plate, too. But there's a whole treasure trove of other goodies to add into the mix: apples, pears, and berries; nuts; cured meats like prosciutto and salami; olives and pickled vegetables; or even jams, chutneys or mustard. Every cheese pairs well with some things and not so well with others--feel free to experiment, or ask your cheesemonger for some tips.

5. Looks matter! As I said before, you want the cheese plate to taste good, but you also want it to look good. Grab a nice platter, a wood cutting board, or a slab of marble or slate if you have one, and do it up! The only prerequisite is that there's enough room for all the cheeses to be cut. Chef Lynne is a master at making a plate look beautiful (one of her cheese plates is pictured here, using some fresh herbs as garnish). The rule here is just to be creative and have fun with it! There's no right or wrong--if it looks good to you, then you've probably done it right.