If you have the right tools, everything is easier, but do you often look at the tools and wonder why? Why a board, or marble, or slate? What is this knife for vs. that knife. I've done a little research and lets look at the tools for cheese.
A cheese board should be easy to clean and you should be able to cut cheeses safely on them. The wooden board is standard and makes for a nice presentation.
Marble and slate boards can be cooled in the refrigerator and set out with cool cheese on them. They allow the cheese to gently arrive at room temperature and not become overheated.
Serving:
Small cheeses are often served whole, and several larger cheeses are often served as rounds like this:
Brillant Savarin, a triple-cream, bloomy rind cheese is served whole. The top layer of rind is removed to reveal the buttery inside and butter knives are provided for each guest. Large, rounds slices of stilton are often served this way, with the middle broken up into chunks for easy nibbling. Brie is often wrapped and baked in phyllo dough,then opened from the top to reveal the creamy warm center.
Rectangular blocks of cheese should be cut and sliced along the narrower and shorter side.
Triangular blocks of cheese should be cut along the long side, preserving their shape.
Square blocks of cheese should be cut on one side, or cut into two large rectangles or triangles and then cut according to above rules.
Small crottins or Chevrots, or small wheels of cheese, should be cut as you would a piece of cake.
Your guests may be shy about cutting into a semi-soft or semi-hard piece of cheese. If you like, you can cut these cheeses into small, little bite size squares, that can be easily picked up with the fork or a tooth pick.
Now that we know how to cut it, what do we use to cut it?
Now that we know how to cut it, what do we use to cut it?
This is a cheese plane that shaves the cheese off semi-soft cheeses. It is my least favorite. It can only be used on small pieces of cheese and then it is hard to gauge the thickness of your cut. The wire quickly becomes loose. I'm sure there are some people who have mastered this and love it, but not me.
I want to show your the middle knife here, the cheese plane. It is my absolute favorite for cutting some slices of semi-soft cheese. Uniform, sharp and sturdy.
The first knife is for soft cheeses. The holes keep the soft cheese from sticking to the knife and making it impossible to cut.
The second knife is for semi-soft cheese (like cheddar) and the tip acts like a fork for picking up the cheese.
The last knife is for hard cheese like parmesan. You need a short, stable, and sharp blade with a sturdy handle.
I feel like this is the standard set that you see all around, you probably have this if someone knows you like cheese and has bought you a gift.
- Each knife has a specially designed stainless-steel blade:
- a curved spreader for soft cheeses, (the fourth knife)
- a semiheart-shaped blade for hard cheeses, (the last knife)
- a wide blade for semihard cheeses and (the second knife)
- a thin blade for semisoft cheeses.(the third knife)
- Knife set also includes a fork for serving cheese. (First)
- Sorry, too lazy to retype and put in order...and it made these little bullet points for me.
I like to combine the cheese board and accompaniments with the charcuterie. More variety, more flavors and it becomes a meal if you want.
While grocery shopping the other day, the Boar's Head rep was at the store. She had out several samples and my daughter and I tried them all. We came home with their Italian Dry Sausage and the Chipolte Gouda Cheese. They are wonderful together. The cheese has a nice heat to it and it is very flavorful.
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