The 5 Most Common Cheese Platter Mistakes
Fancy yourself as a bit of a cheese aficionado? Make sure you aren’t committing these common cheese platter mistakes:
1. One knife to cut them all
Hands up if you’ve ever been about to zero in on a bit of super-runny Brie on a cheese board, only to find the single cheese knife on offer covered with stinky blue cheese. Any host worth their weight in cheese knows that it’s a good idea to put out a few different knives.
2. Snooze-worthy accompaniments
Too often at Ocello we see people buy an amazing selection of cheeses, and then just stock-standard quince paste to serve with them. Matching your cheese with exciting accompaniments can create some delicious new flavour combinations that will have your guests raving for months to follow – try chestnut honey with strong, hard cheeses, or this luscious strawberry and balsamic jam with creamy goat’s cheeses. Check out our full range of accompaniments here.
3. The usual suspects
You know the drill – guests are coming and you break out the super-safe Brie/Cheddar/Blue combo. Sticking to the same cheeses every time means you might be missing out on discovering your next favourite cheese! Break the mould (we couldn’t resist a cheesy pun) and try something a little different: instead of cheddar, perhaps a truffled pecorino or a cheese matured in wine like Ubriaco Amarone. Mix up your milks – if you like blue cheese why not try this buffalo milk blue?
4. It’s all about timing
The $64 million question – when to serve your cheese. Before the meal? After the meal but before dessert? After dessert? We say ‘all of the above’ but you might want to tailor your cheese selection to the occasion. Before a meal, choose wine-friendly, milder styles that won’t overwhelm your guests’ palates, like Holy Goat La Luna or classic French Comté. After dinner, stick to the stronger cheeses like Cheddars and Blue – our Roquefort is a sure-fire after-dinner winner.
5. Baby, it’s cold
Sure – you have to keep your cheese in the fridge, but letting some of that 4 degree chill wear off before serving will mean you can experience the full flavour of the cheese. We recommend that you take your cheeses out of the fridge around 30-45 minutes before eating, as long as you have the will power not to start nibbling before your guests arrive!
