How To Build A Cheese Platter

You're having a party and want to put out a cheese platter. Where to start? Here's a quick guide to guarantee there's something for everyone and plenty to eat.

The key to a great cheese platter is to focus on serving a variety of textures, flavors and accompaniments. In general we count on about 1 ounce per person, per cheese, assuming a selection of 3-5 cheeses. I rarely serve more than 5 cheeses because it becomes overwhelming to the palate. Always serve cheese at room temperature so remove them from the refrigerator at least an hour before serving.

I usually begin with a light, lemony goat cheese, such as Coupole from Vermont Creamery, or a La Tur which is a mixed milk cheese from Italy made from cow, goat and sheep's milk. Next I would pick a rich cow's milk triple cream cheese like Brillat Savarin from France or a Champlain Triple from Champlain Creamery in Vermont. Then on to a firm, sheep’s-milk cheese, such as Manchego or Pecorino Tartufo, studded with black truffles. These types are always crowd pleasers.

An Alpine-style, should come next. I like Comte or the American counterpart,Ascutney Mountain, which has an onion-like flavor. A more adventurous selection would be the brine-washed Eden from Sprout Creek Farm in upstate New York. It has a slight pungency but a pleasing creamy texture. The final cheese should be a blue cheese. Choose a classic blue like Stilton, but also consider an American cheese like Bayley Hazen Blue. Made by Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont, it has a nice buttermilk flavor and a hint of Vermont minerality in the finish.

To accompany a wide range of cheeses, fresh fruit is a natural. Grapes are a classic but also consider sliced apples or pears. Fresh figs, when in season, add something special. Preserves or chutney also work well. The sweetness from the preserves complement the saltiness of cheese. Nuts, such as caramelized walnuts, are a good accompaniment because they add an additional texture to the platter. Stay away from salted nuts because they tend to make everything seem too salty.

Finally, the big question, bread or crackers? I say, why not both? A great baguette provides a nice neutral canvas for the cheese and also a nice chewy texture. Breads studded with fruit and nuts complement tangy cheeses like goat and blue. When it comes to crackers I like to offer something plain like an olive oil cracker, as well as something with a little sweetness like Daelia's Biscuits for Cheese. This ensures there is something for everyone.

A Cheese Road Trip to The Cellars at Jasper Hill

Last week I finally got a chance to get out of the shop, jump in my car and take a ride up to Vermont for a tour of the Cellars at Jasper Hill. Chris was catering a party so he stayed behind to cook and hold down the fort.  Ever since my dream of opening a cheese shop became a reality I have been dying to take a tour and see first hand what could be called the engine of the artisan cheese movement in the Northeast. Tours aren't available to the public so my new life as a proprietor and cheesemonger got me a golden ticket courtesy of the Vermont Cheese Council, of which we are memebers.

  

I arrived at Jasper Hill on Friday morning met my group and began the tour. In order to maintain strict hygiene and food safety protocol we changed our shoes and put on white coats and hair caps. The Cellars is a 22,000 square foot underground cheese aging facility that they've opened up to other small Vermont cheesemakers that can't afford (or aren't interested in) building and maintaining a cheese cave and setting up an operation to handle wholesale selling and distribution. Basically they provide a place for cheesemakers to send their young cheeses to be ripened and marketed by an expert staff.

  

Our tour took us into four different caves each with a different style of cheese aging in it. Each cave provides the ideal temperature and humidity for the style of cheese. It was quite a sight and so fascinating to see all the work and skill that goes into aging cheese. Our tour ended with lunch outside on the farm and a chance to taste a new cheese called Harbester (sp?) that hasn't been released yet and is currently aging in the Cellars.  I can't wait for its release and I will let you all know the minute it hits Fairfield!  In the meantime we have a bunch of delicious cheeses from The Cellars arriving just in time for the weekend 

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar aging in the cave

Cabot to the ceiling

Bayley Hazen Blue

Clarence patting down the Moses Sleeper

Constant Bliss

New Cheese! Harbester (sp?)

our group in the humidity

Trying the new cheese

What we do...

Cheesemonger -noun someone who sells cheese

That of course is the simple definition of what we do.  We sell cheese; but really our job is more complex than that. We act as the liaison between the producer and you the consumer, we tend to the cheese until its sold, and we advise and educate you so you can make the best choice possible.  A true cheesemonger is passionate about cheese and should be able to recommend which cheeses pair well with which foods and wines. They always know which cheese is at its peak and in season.  A good cheesemonger is knowledgeable and approachable and should always offer a taste. In other words, a good cheesemonger will forge a relationship with you, will learn your preferences and will happily share their passion. It is essentially an old fashioned way of shopping for food, but in a world of super sized box stores and impersonal grocery chains it can be a refreshing.    We've been honing our skills these last two years and we've been  invited to participate in the Cheesemonger Invitational in NYC!  40 cheesemongers from around the country and Australia will compete for the title against the backdrop of the biggest cheese party you've ever seen. If anyone is interested tickets are available just click on the links below. http://www.cheesemongerinvitational.com/