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The pre-New Year’s bustle and troubles cover, perhaps, everyone and everyone, and especially the hostesses, who spend their days thinking about treats and thinking over the New Year’s menu to the smallest detail. It so happened that cheese became one of the favorite foods on the festive table. And the cheese plate on the New Year’s table should be given special attention.
The very tradition of putting a so-called cheese plate on the table originated in France, and came to Russia relatively recently, but managed to take root. Now in many cafes and restaurants you can find this item on the menu, but it is not at all difficult to assemble your ideal cheese plate at home, the main thing is to take into account a few simple rules.
How to choose cheese for a cheese platter
When choosing cheese, you should rely on the main menu and the alcoholic drinks that you intend to serve. For example, a rich red wine goes well with hard, salty cheeses such as smoked cheddar or gouda. While it is better to choose brie or camembert for rosé or light red wine. Well, goat or cream cheese is suitable for white.
When buying cheese for slicing, you should make sure of its quality. Labeling on the packaging of AOC, PDO, DOP cheese, as a rule, guarantees high quality. And if you buy cheese in the market from private traders, you can always ask to try it. At home, the cheese should be distributed in containers with lids and placed in the refrigerator. Each type of cheese will need a separate container. The cheese plate should have a rich selection of cheese. As a rule, it is formed from five or more varieties of noble gourmet cheese, otherwise it is just slicing. The ideal cheese platter should contain the following varieties:
- Fresh goat cheese;
- Brie or Camembert (you can do both);
- Semi-soft cheese made from cow’s milk;
- Roquefort or Gorgonzola blue cheese;
- Any hard cheese (several varieties are possible).
What and how to serve cheese
A cheese plate is not always served on a classic porcelain plate. For serving, you can use boards of a round and rectangular shape made of noble wood species, hard types of cheese look especially brutal on them. In the center of the board, you can put a special plate on a thin leg for soft types of cheese. There are a lot of design and presentation options, here the flight of imagination is not limited. When designing a cheese plate, it is important that it be in harmony with the design of the New Year’s table as a whole. When putting cheese on a plate, you should pay attention to the fact that different types of cheese, ideally, should not come into contact with each other.
Cheese is a very delicate product and easily absorbs the tastes and aromas of foreign products. Cheese on a plate is laid out from softer varieties to more intense, or from the edges to the center – where on the edge there is a hard cheese with a rich taste. This rule is stereotyped, the question of aesthetics should still be in the first place.
How to cut cheese for a cheese platter
The taste of the cheese largely depends on the correct cutting, so the cheese must be cut correctly. There is a special knife for each variety, but at home you can get by with a special knife for cheese with small and large waves. Round cheese is cut into segments, and all others are cut into cubes or sticks. You can also cut the cheese into thin slices and roll it up. Mozzarella is served in balls or cut into triangles. It all depends on the original shape of the cheese. Slicing is considered ideal when there is a crust, edge and core in one piece.
When making a cheese plate for a children’s table, when cutting cheese, you can use culinary molds and cut various animals, stars and Christmas trees from pieces of hard cheese.
Cheese plate addition
When serving and decorating the cheese platter, don’t forget about the additions to the cheese. Cheese is always tasted with something. It is impossible to imagine a cheese platter without fruits, nuts and sauces. For each type of cheese there is a specific list of fruits with which it is combined; for the French, this is a whole science and art. Pears, kiwi, pineapple and grapes can be present on the cheese plate itself and serve as decorative functions or separate one type of cheese from another, or they can be laid out on a separate dish.
It is also worth purchasing several types of nuts, for example, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts and almonds, as well as honey – it should be liquid so that it is convenient to dip cheese in it. Nuts and honey can be served with almost all types of hard and semi-hard cheese. This also applies to olives and olives.
Various jams and sauces can take their rightful place next to the cheese plate. It is worth paying attention to the balsamic cream sauce and apricot jams. And, of course, you shouldn’t forget about bread lovers. There must be bread, crackers or biscuits on the table. A cheese platter is a versatile appetizer and will be perfect for any occasion, not just on New Year’s Eve.
In order for you and your guests to feel comfortable, there must be at least one type of cheese that is well known to everyone on the plate. When decorating, do not forget about stylish little things: you can make a branded label for each type of cheese and attach it to a skewer, so guests will quickly remember which cheese they liked the most. And of course, don’t forget about the accompanying food and sauces.
With a little effort and imagination, your unique cheese platter will delight all guests.