A Holiday Cheese Plate
Posted by Heidi Woolever on Growers and Grocers.
Tired of making the same batch of Christmas cookies? An ideal food to bring to a holiday party this year is a cheese plate. Cheese is “in,” it is good for you, and as it continues to grow in popularity, its availability is skyrocketing. To really impress your family, friends, strangers and colleagues, serve a plate of winter cheeses this holiday season.
As cheese is a living, breathing food, each variety with its own unique properties, different cheeses ripen throughout the seasons. The cheeses that are best eaten at this time of year have been made from summer milk and aged throughout the fall. Now they are out of their caves and carefully regulated storerooms and into the cases at cheese shops and specialty food stores, ready for consumption.
In fact, the very best cheeses are often winter’s seasonal cheeses, made special because the animals providing the milk are less likely to reproduce under staggered breeding conditions and more likely to breed naturally. During the summer months, these well cared for animals are out in the pasture, eating a diversity of local grasses, shrubs and flowers. This is called the terroir, the distinctive taste that land brings to the milk of the animals who graze upon it. Terroir is what makes summer milk richer than winter milk, when an animal’s diet is often mostly silage and hay. Cheeses worthy of cheese plate status are described as either genuine farmhouse cheese or artisinal cheese. Farmhouse cheese, the best, is made from one herd, on-site, using traditional methods. Artisinal cheese, a close second, is made with milk from local farms or a local cooperative. Ask specifically for cheeses made using farmhouse or arstisinal methods to ensure high quality and nuanced flavors.A cheese plate should have variety, both in types of milk and in styles of cheese. For a holiday cheese plate, I recommend four cheeses that are currently in their prime: one blue cheese, one mild semi-hard cheese, one stronger washed rind cheese, and one traditional chevre. (The substitutions offered are not necessarily seasonal cheeses.)
- Colston Basset Stilton
- Berkswell
- Reblochon
- Saint Maure De Touraine
The cheese most often associated with the winter season is blue cheese. Of these, the most famous Christmas cheese is undoubtedly Stilton, made of cow’s milk in Great Britain, and this is the first cheese I recommend. Be sure to buy only the Colston-Basset brand, which has a rich, smooth and zesty flavor, as it is the last of its kind made artisinally. If Colston-Basset Stilton is unavailable, try Roquefort (any variety) from France, or Great Hill Blue, from Massachusetts. All are excellent.
The second cheese I recommend is Berkswell, a sheep’s milk cheese also from Great Britain; it is quite simply the most delicious cheese I know. To fully appreciate the flavor, take a full 10 seconds to smell, taste and savor a bite. Berkswell can be described as nutty, dense and gentle yet complex. Other semi-hard sheep’s milk cheeses that can stand in for Berkswell are Spenwood (Great Britain), Abbaye de Beloc (France), or Ossau Iraty (France).
Now for a stronger cheese, I recommend Reblochon, a washed rind cow’s milk cheese from France. Reblochon is not quite a full flavor cheese, so it is sure to satisfy a wide range of tastes. It is a creamy, grassy, robust cheese that has been aging for four to five weeks. If you cannot find Reblochen, other excellent washed rind cheeses from France are Epoisses and Livarot, although both are more pungent that Reblochon.
Finally, we need a cheese made from goat’s milk. I recommend a traditional chevre that has been aged and hardened so that it is now somewhat firm to the touch. Sainte Maure De Touraine, from France, is an elaborate, tangy and rich cheese shaped like a log. If Saint Maure it is not available, ask your cheesemonger for guidance in choosing another aged traditional chevre.
A growing holiday trend is to incorporate fruit into fresh chevre. If this is your type of thing, these cheeses can be excellent, especially if they are locally made.
It is generally suggested that the mildest cheese on a plate be tasted first and so on. The mildest of the these four is Berkswell, then St. Maure De Touraine, Reblochen and finally Stilton.
To round out the plate, add fresh bread, fruit, chutneys, or charcuterie. Serve with wine, beer, cider, or sparkling juice. Enjoy!
