Mastering the Cheese Platter

There's just nothing so elegant, sophisticated and downright delicious as a first-class cheese platter. Living out here in California, I've grown to appreciate the wine culture and one thing they love just about as much as their wines... an ensemble of cheese. 


Slightly intimidated by some of the platters I've encountered and as a newbie to the kitchen, I've been on the quest for tips on assembling the perfect selection of cheese, crackers, fruits, condiments, etc... all in hopes of mastering the craft as well... and I'm not talking about the store-bought cubed collection of tasteless cheeses w/ Ritz ;)


I'll share as I find the gems of information, here's the first great little video I've found, it's from Matt Bites, a wonderful food blogger/photographer that I check in on here and there. Followed by tips from The Barefoot Contessa. Enjoy! ~ Jill

MattBites.com/Cheese-Plate-Tips

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, by Ina Garten also shares a few tips for assembling the platter:
Barefoot Tip #1: Choose an interesting assortment of cheeses—hard sharp cheeses, soft creamy ones and pungent blue cheeses. Look for an interesting mix of flavors, textures and colors. Most experts suggest limiting your number of cheeses (choose three to five) and picking a theme (i.e. Spanish cheeses, French cheeses, one cow’s milk/one goat’s milk/one sheep’s milk), but it’s still easy to get overwhelmed with the options. 

Barefoot Tip #2: Be sure to have a platter or wooden board large enough to hold the cheeses without crowding them. Arrange the cheeses with the cut sides facing out and with several small cheese knives. But before you plate the cheeses, you’ll want to unwrap them and let them come to room temperature. This should take about an hour.

Barefoot Tip #3: To finish the platter, add sliced breads or crackers and green leaves. Whether you choose plain, multigrain or otherwise flavored breads or crackers is up to you. Many cheese experts recommend plain crusty breads and crackers, so they don’t interfere with the taste of the cheese. But if you can’t imagine eating cheese without a stack of Breton Multigrain crackers, by all means, bring the crackers hither.

Barefoot Tip #4: Overall, the simpler the design, the better the platter looks. Group each kind of cheese together and add one large bunch of green or red grapes in the center to create a visual focal point. Fill in the spaces with lots of crackers or small slices of bread. 

Other popular accompaniments include nuts, figs (fresh, preserved or baked in a cake), apple or pear slices, olives, quince paste, fruit preserves and honey.