A beginner's guide to cheese: types, cheese boards, pairings and storage

TUREFF• •0

A cheese counter can be intimidating: hundreds of names, many in other languages, and prices that make a wrong choice feel expensive. You do not need to learn them all. Understanding a few broad families, and how to store and serve cheese properly, is enough to put together a great cheese board and know what to try next.

The main families of cheese

Cheese can be sorted in many ways: by milk (cow, goat, sheep, buffalo), by texture or by how it is made. These broad groups are the most useful for beginners.

Fresh cheeses: young, unaged, mild and moist. Mozzarella, ricotta, cottage cheese, cream cheese, feta and fresh goat's cheese. Eat them soon after buying.
Soft-ripened (bloomy rind) cheeses: a white, edible rind and a creamy interior that softens with age. Brie and Camembert are the classics.
Washed-rind cheeses: rinds washed with brine, beer or wine during ageing, giving an orange rind and a strong smell. Often milder than they smell. Époisses and Taleggio are well-known examples.
Semi-hard cheeses: firm but supple, often mild and nutty. Gouda, Edam, Havarti, young Cheddar and many Alpine-style cheeses.
Hard cheeses: aged longer, drier and more intense, sometimes with crunchy crystals. Aged Cheddar, Parmigiano Reggiano, Manchego, Comté and aged Gouda.
Blue cheeses: veined with blue mould, from creamy and mild to sharp and salty. Gorgonzola, Stilton and Roquefort.

Building a cheese board

Variety is the goal. Three to five cheeses is plenty for most gatherings.

Choose different families: for example, one soft, one hard, one blue, and perhaps a goat's cheese or something unusual.
Mix milks and textures, and go from mild to strong.
As a rough guide, many people allow somewhere between 50 and 100 g of cheese per person when it is a starter or after dinner, and more when the board is the meal.
Give each cheese its own knife where possible, especially the blue, so flavours do not mix.
Arrange cheeses clockwise from mildest to strongest, and label them if guests are curious.

What to serve alongside

Bread and crackers: plain ones let the cheese shine.
Fruit: grapes, apple and pear slices, figs, fresh or dried.
Something sweet: honey, quince paste, chutney or fruit jam.
Something salty or sharp: olives, cornichons, cured meats.
Nuts: walnuts, almonds or pecans.

Pairing ideas

There are no strict rules, but two principles help: match intensity, and contrast or complement.

Fresh goat's cheese with honey or a crisp white wine.
Brie or Camembert with apple, pear or fruity sparkling drinks.
Aged Cheddar with apple, chutney or a hoppy beer.
Blue cheese with honey, figs, walnuts or a sweet dessert wine; the sweetness balances the salt.
Hard Alpine cheeses with grapes and nuts.

Non-alcoholic pairings work just as well: apple juice, tea, and sparkling drinks all have their place.

Serving temperature

Cold mutes flavour and stiffens texture. Take cheese out of the fridge a while before serving, usually somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour depending on the size of the piece and how warm the room is, keeping it covered. Fresh cheeses need less time; do not leave any cheese sitting out for hours.

Storing cheese

Wrap cheese in cheese paper or baking paper, then loosely in a bag or container. Cling film suffocates it and can make it taste of plastic, though it is fine for short periods.
Store in the warmest part of the fridge, such as the vegetable drawer or a door compartment that is not too cold.
Keep blue and strong-smelling cheeses wrapped well and apart from milder ones.
Rewrap in fresh paper each time you cut some.
Fresh cheeses in brine, such as feta and mozzarella, stay in their liquid.
A small spot of mould on a hard cheese can usually be cut away generously; soft and fresh cheeses with unexpected mould should be thrown away. Pregnant people and anyone with a weakened immune system should check official food safety guidance on which cheeses to avoid.

How to keep learning

Ask for a taste at the counter; good cheesemongers expect it.
Try one new cheese each week from a family you have not tried.
Taste the same type at different ages, such as young and aged Gouda.

What is your favourite cheese, and what would you put on your perfect board? Share your picks and questions in the comments.