No weekend barbecue or girls’ night would be complete without the ubiquitous cheese board. There’s an art to curating the perfect spread but the oft neglected choice of crackers can make all the difference between taking your cheese board from good, to great. Have a crack at these pairings you may not have considered, and thank us later.
Chevre with Water Crackers
When you have a cheese as sharp and intense as a goat cheese, it’s best not to compete too much. Goats cheese, without any accompaniments, is best served with a plain water cracker.
Cheddar cheese with fancy fig crackers
Really good cheddar cheese, particularly clothbound, will have a distinct bitter quality that really needs balance. This is where those fancy fruit crackers really shine. They’re equally bold in flavour so make a great pair.
Blue cheese with Malt-o-Milk
Blue cheese famously goes well with a bit of malty sweetness. It’s why blue and beer go so well together (seriously, try it) so with a strong blue, opt for the caramelly malty goodness of a Malt-o-Milk. It may be a little unusual and your instincts might be telling you to pop the kettle on but trust us. The salty, umami packed blue cheese is sublime with the likes of the Malt-o-Milk.
Manchego and parmesan with Ritz crackers
If you’ve got yourself a nice, aged manchego or parmesan you’ll find there are tiny crystals of salt within. Those crunchy little morsels are gold to a caseophile – that is, a lover of cheese – and are complimented perfectly by the buttery crumble of a Ritz cracker.
Gouda with Red Rock Deli chilli and garlic crackers
Gouda and many other Alpine-style cheeses, especially those made with raw milk, will have a distinct floral sweetness. What do we know goes well with sweet? Spice! This is one of the few occasions where the warm hum of chilli is encouraged on a cheese board. Don’t blow your socks off with heat as it will destroy the flavour of the cheese but a little heat does a long way here.
Washed rind with soft baguette
Anyone with a nose will understand that washed rinds are polarising. They range from aromatic to down right whiffy. As such, a little taming of the beast is required. The sweet, squidgy baguette with a smelly washed rind takes the edge off without competing.
Brie or camembert with mini toasts
Brie and camembert can be angelic and subtle or eye-wateringly strong, the one thing they all have in common though is fat. Brie and camembert are truly the chunky babies of the cheese world and that sort of richness is best served with crunch. Enter, the wildly underrated tiny toast.
