Would you like to entertain at home but think you will look like an amateur?
Never fear, the answer is also the hottest new trend in restaurants – food platters. With our 5 easy tips, you can create a cheese platter which will entertain and impress your biggest foodie friend.
1 Knife skills
Provide one knife per cheese, to avoid mixing the flavours. To cut a wedge from a wheel, you can use a large cook’s knife dipped in hot water, to achieve clean-cut lines. The knives with holes in the blade are generally used when cutting soft cheeses, to stop any sticking.
2 Classy cut
The flavour of a cheese varies between the rind and the centre, so cut from the centre to the rind so everyone gets to experience the flavour. Furthermore, don’t cut the point off a cheese – the shape of the cheese generally indicates the best way to cut it. When cutting a brie, cut a wedge like a cake; when cutting a blue, follow the long sides of the wedge.
3 Feel and moisture
The harder the cheese, the lower the moisture content. Hard cheeses, like cheddar, have a lower moisture content. Soft cheeses like feta and cottage cheese have a higher moisture content. If cooking, pick the cheese type that’s best for your dish.
4 Vintage, darling
Cheddar is only called vintage when…it’s aged for 12 months or more. The longer it’s aged, the sharper the flavour and the crumblier it is. To compare, a mild cheddar is generally aged for around six months and has a subtle, buttery flavour.
5 Arrangement is key
Make sure you arrange the cheeses on a platter from mild to strong. Separate the really stinky cheeses from the milder cheeses, so the flavours of the strong cheese don’t affect those of the milder.
The Carousel thanks Naomi Crisante and King Island Dairy’s e-book for these food tips.
