The holiday cheese platter

There is nothing better than a great platter of Italian cheeses for some holiday fine dining. You can serve it as appetizer, starter or at the end of a meal, but in this case, you will have to scale back.

I always wonder why we should restrain ourselves, when we have some many excellent products at our fingertips. Therefore, today we will take a look at some ideas for a well-stocked cheese platter that will be hard to forget.

And let’s be honest – it is easy to impress your guests with a cheese platter without having to toil away in the kitchen. None will judge you by your cooking skills, but rather by your cheese selection and arrangement.

Follow these tips for guaranteed success and remember to comply with the Golden Rule of the Foodie: choosing only prime-quality products.

Classic cheese platter

The great classics of the Italian cheesemaking craft. As per tradition, you should try to pick a cheese from as many regions as possible, in order to offer to our guests a culinary journey all around the Italian peninsula.

You should pick at least 5 cheeses; we will see later on how to properly arrange them. In order to have a wide range, there should be at least one soft cheese, one semi-ripened cheese (semi-hard), one aged cheese (hard), one blue cheese and one non-cow cheese.

What is the classic cheese platter of my dreams? PDO Quartirolo Lombardo, PDO Caciocavallo Silano, PDO Parmigiano Reggiano Riserva, PDO mild Gorgonzola, PDO Fiore Sardo. These great cheeses take us on a trip around Lombardy, Basilicata, Emilia Romagna and Sardinia.

Original cheese platter

You can let your creativity run wild and serve original products to amaze your guests. An interesting feature of cheese that you can look into is the affinage, the art of aging cheese. If you’re looking for exceptional, original cheeses that are made by using unique processing techniques, Andrea Magi - affineur, researcher and inventor of truly unique cheeses - is the right person for you.

You can serve a cheese platter of Pecorino cheeses with a strong personality, including the Drunken Pecorino cheese aged under grape pomace, Aromatico refined with juniper, laurel, rosemary, sage and wild fennel and Meravigliao, a Pecorino that aged in oak barrels with roasted cocoa beans and powder.

And then there is the incredible Ulivastro which was refined in big terracotta jars covered with olive leaves and branches, Piccantino with chilli pepper and Tuberino with truffle shavings.

Flavour combinations

Ok, I think that we have picked enough cheeses. Remember that a proper cheese platter should also always include some pairings, at least one per cheese kind.

Here you can find some ideas to pair Italian cheeses with other excellent products. Because details truly make all the difference in fine dining.

Honey, jams and Mostarda

The combo cheese and honey has become a classic, but it is harder to get it right than it might seem. People make the mistake of thinking that all honey is equal, but each type of honey actually has a unique and unmistakable flavour.

For a holiday dinner, we would suggest avoiding the most common types of honey and aiming for original flavours and scents instead. An example would be chestnut honey which has a strong, bitterish taste and pairs ideally with aged goat cheeses. Linden honey has a minty scent and a fragrant flavour and pairs perfectly well with PDO Castelmagno d’Alpeggio cheese.

The same goes for jams. In this case, we need to pay attention to the flavour balance, too. Some great flavour combination ideas are: pear jam with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grape jam with semi-ripened Pecorino cheese, orange marmalade and Gorgonzola cheese.

Fruit Mostarda complicates things a little bit, since you also need to take into account the spiciness. Do you need some help? Slightly sour Mostardas, such as lemon Mostarda, pair with fatty cheeses with a full flavour, such as Asiago cheese; sweeter Mostardas, such as those with wild strawberries, figs or quinces, pair with cheeses with pungent flavours, such as Provolone del Monaco cheese, aged Pecorino cheese and Taleggio cheese.

Bread

Always serve some bread with your cheese platter, ideally different kinds of bread: at least one wholegrain bread, and perhaps one with seeds, with walnuts or olives, crunchy flatbreads and some strips of soft focaccia bread. Serving a wide range of bread, including some original bread types, is always the best choice.

For a truly impeccable cheese platter, also add some fresh veggies or veggies packed in oil or some dried fruit or fresh fruit only if it’s in season.

Please don’t overdo it, though! Having a wide range is good, but do not mix too many products. The star of the cheese platter should be Italian cheeses, and other products should complement them and not overshadow them. As a general rule, prepare one or two flavour combinations for each cheese, not counting bread.

A little extra 

Since it is the holidays and we take food very seriously, here are some additional tips for your cheese platter.

Cutting boards and small bowls

Where do you serve everything? Do you have a beautiful serving tray? Perhaps not a wooden one; I mean they look very rustic, but they are not the best option for the holidays. It would be best to serve cheese on a slate tray or, even better, on a beautiful, handmade, ceramic tray.

And what about small bowls? Please do not put plastic bowls next to our marvellous cheeses – never and especially not during the holidays! Always pick ceramic bowls!

Cutting and arranging cheeses

Cheeses should be arranged, and eaten, in a clockwise direction from the freshest and softest ones to the most aged and hardest ones.

And they should be cut as follows: Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano cheeses should be cut in shavings, Pecorino and goat cheeses should be sliced, all the other ones (Fontina, Caciocavallo, Gorgonzola and so on) should be cut in triangular wedges. Non-edible rind should be removed.

At the right temperature!

That is to say, how to avoid ruining a masterpiece. Temperature is fundamental and the cold jeopardises the flavour and scent of cheese. Therefore, always serve your cheeses at room temperature.

We know that cooking and setting the table for family and friends can be stressful during the holidays. So, prepare a great Italian cheese platter and you will be sure to please everyone!