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.
