Make your Cheeseboard Match Heaven

If I had a match for you? “…I could…” yeah, you know the line, multiple variations to complete this sentence.

It’s a classic line, and so is the match of cracked pepper and fennel seed biscuits with Parmigiano-Reggiano, sliced pears – and a glass of red. I enjoy a small cheese platter after main course – and it does make lots of sense to serve the cheese then, with dessert as the final act. All too often people offer dessert, then cheese – but when you think about it, you’re probably still finishing off the red, and the palate is still in ‘savoury’ mode.

Far better, then, to serve dessert last of all, with perhaps a tokay on these cooler nights – mmm, fruity puddings, warm, gooey and comforting.

Other best ‘matches’ to try are port with stilton, a washed rind cheese with riesling or perhaps a pinot noir, an aged cheddar with a fruit and nut bread with an intense red wine – a big bold cheese needs a none-too-shy wine. Very often a white wine will be a better match for any of the blue cheeses. Of course, apart from slithers of dried pear, dried muscatels and a handful of lightly roasted walnuts, will complete the cheese platter. Less is more, if you get my drift.

Most importantly in my view, the cheese should be served at room temperature so that you can fully appreciate the character of the cheese. Generally, 2-3 different cheeses are all you need on a cheese board – perhaps a mix of hard, soft and blue. I’m not a fan of strawberries, or slithers of apple as a garnish – I just don’t think the flavours go together. Instead slightly under-ripe fresh pear, or celery will provide the ‘palate cleanser’ role in between tasting the different cheeses. A mature, sharp tasty cheese goes very well with a dense fruit bread – indeed fruit cake also makes a great combination.

Almost every cuisine has its trademark cheeses – think French brie and camembert, Italian mozzarella and ricotta, Dutch emmenthal and Swiss gruyere, Indian paneer. The vast array of Australian made cheese on offer now is a reflection of the many waves of migration that have introduced us to all manner of artisan washed rind, white mould, fresh cheeses, ash coated logs or pyramids – the choice is sometimes mind boggling.

In and around our region we have some truly wonderful cheese makers – sublime goats cheese from the Bellarine Peninsula, marinated fetta and blissful blues from Meredith.

Whilst I do prefer slices of good, sour dough bread to accompany cheese, rather than crackers, these fennel biscuits make a welcome change. They are very simple to make in a food processor. Delicious with parmigiano and pears – a match made in heaven, as they say! Plain, store bought water crackers are perfect in their role as being the ‘carrier’ of the cheese. You don’t want too many conflicting flavours – let the cheese speak out solo!