An eye-catching cheeseboard consisting of a selection of tasty,
speciality cheeses and accompaniments is a great way to round off a meal or add
appeal to a Christmas buffet.
We’re lucky enough to have development chef Robbie Gleave from event
caterer Heritage Portfolio in Edinburgh give us some advice on how to use the
latest trends in Christmas menus…
The top
trends for speciality cheeses are cheese wedding cakes and cheese boards as
replacement desserts.
Cheese
wedding cakes are becoming a standard item on wedding menus in Scotland. The last one we made was a 10 kilo cake
constructed of a strong Mull cheddar, a Strathdon Blue, a crumbly Cairnsmore goats cheese and a
Clava (a Scottish cheese, similar to Brie).
We dressed it with figs and dates to fit with the theme of the wedding
and it rivalled any traditional wedding cake!
But,
cheese vs cake is not just restricted to weddings. There’s been a big demand
for cheese as a replacement for desserts across all our event catering, whether
its buffets or sit-down meals.
To
create the perfect balance on a cheeseboard, I’d recommend four key staples; a
hard cheese such as cheddar or Leerdammer, a soft cheese such as a rustic brie, boursin or Soignon Petit Ste Maure
goat’s cheese, a blue such as the delicious
Roquefort or gorgonzola and a ‘wild card’ such as the Stinking Bishop to
add individuality to the board. Having
said that, the cheese should complement the rest of the meal, so serve heavier
cheeses after a light meal and light cheeses after a heavier meal.
When it
comes to serving, opt for wooden boards, roof slates and preserving jars or jam
jars for home-made chutneys. Nuts and
drizzled honey for some cheeses work well and grapes that have been blast
chilled in the freezer, complement the flavour of the cheese as well as adding
visual interest to the dish.
Think
about the quality of your biscuits…do they do the cheese justice? We make a lot of our biscuits by hand and use
chopped herbs, nori seaweed, sesame and onion seeds to complement the flavours
of our selected cheeses.
With
such a wide variety of flavours and speciality cheese around, it’s possible to
create a show-stopper of a dish. With all this at your fingertips, who needs
dessert?
To find out more about Robbie Gleave and his
event catering, visit
www.heritageportfolio.co.uk
