There are no concrete rules when it comes to serving cheese. You can only say that you’ve done it wrong when you didn’t like the end result. Serving cheese is easy and fun and you shouldn’t be stressed about it. If you are throwing a party, or there are visitors coming to your home and you’d like to serve them cheese, here are some tips to make you a cheese-serving expert.
Serve Cheese at Room Temperature
You should never serve cold cheese. It is because the aromatic and complex flavors of cheese appear when it is at room temperature. When you decide to serve cheese to your visitors, plan ahead by taking the cheese out of the refrigerator at least an hour before serving it. However, you should be careful as well especially during the summer months because if you warm up the cheese too much, it’ll become sweaty and will melt in unappetizing ways. You should also avoid freezing cheese because it obliterates the flavor, smell and texture.
Serve Fresh Cut Cheese
When the cheese is exposed to air, its flavors diminishes that’s why it’s better if you’ll serve freshly cut cheese. However, if you’ll be serving some leftovers, make sure to trim away the outermost ¼ to ½ inch to expose a fresher center.
Do Not Pre-Cut the Cheese
It’s better to serve the cheese whole because pre-cutting it may cause it to dry out easily. However, if you do not mind your cheese looking lie a cheap deli platter, then you can pre-cut them into cubes. Pre-cutting cheese before serving it is a personal choice.
Use High-End Cheese
If you want to serve cheese, make sure that you use special kinds of cheeses. If you’re only going to use processed, discounted, or sub-par cheese, you shouldn’t bother making a cheese platter.
Know Your Knives
If you will be serving different kinds of cheeses, remember to put one knife for every portion of cheese. It will be better if you have a hard and soft cheese knife and a cheese plane as well. These will help your guests cut the cheese easily and neatly.
Maintain the Shape of the Cheese
If you decide to cut slices off the cheese, try to maintain the shape of the original wedge. Well, this is to maintain a good presentation of the cheese. But it is important to cut the cheese in a way that best showcases it. Try to cut a slice which includes the center of the cheese as well as some parts closer to the rind. It is because they have different taste and texture.
Space Your Cheese Properly
Avoid crowding the cheese board because it will become awkward and difficult to cut. Four cheeses on a cheese board can be the maximum. If you want to serve more than four kinds of cheese, you can use a bigger cheese board, or use multiple boards to avoid crowding them.
Leave the Rind On
Most of the cheese rinds are edible therefore, you can leave them on the cheese when you serve them. Some kinds of cheese such as Gouda and Emmentaler have an additional coat of wax, plastic, or paraffin. These added coatings should be peeled away before serving. Peeling them away will expose their edible rinds.
Do Some Cheese Pairing
You can serve cheese together with some accompaniments such as bread, butter, crackers, raw vegetables, cured meats, nuts, fruits, and jams. You can also try experimenting on the pairing. Who knows, you might discover your very own signature cheese pairing.
Do Not Take Cheese Pairing Too Seriously
Don’t be too stressed out when thinking about what to pair your cheese with. Taking it too seriously might make it look boring. Cheese pairing should be fun. One of the classic pairs is wine and cheese. Beer and cheese work well too. It is experimental and you shouldn’t be scared to do trial and error. Bring out your creativity when it comes to cheese pairing.
If you’re going to store the leftover cheese, do not place different kinds altogether in one container. You can use a roll of cheese paper to re-wrap the unfinished cheese. As an alternative to cheese paper, you can also use a plastic zip-top bag or a plastic wrap for each kind of cheese.
These are just some of the tips on how to serve cheese but we hope these help you in preparing and serving cheese to your guests You can also come up with your own ways which are more convenient and comfortable for you.