With Christmas fast approaching, it’s high time to start thinking about the menu of our festive meals! There is no better time to offer the classic, but no less appreciated cheese platter than during Christmas dinner or New Year’s Eve. Since it is sometimes difficult to think outside the box to compose this cheese platter, we offer some ideas in this article.
Choice of cheese platter
To start, you must choose the tray with which you will serve your cheeses. Avoid using metal trays, especially those made of stainless steel or silver, as these materials tend to distort the taste of the cheese. So prefer those made of wood, ceramic, porcelain, wicker, or even better, slate so that your cheeses retain all their flavors. Special mention on the slate, with which you can write the name of each cheese!
Next, you’ll need to choose a platter large enough to hold all the cheeses you’ll be serving, without them touching each other. You can coat your tray with a cloth, garnish with small suitable accompaniments and cover everything with a glass cheese bell to take care of the presentation.
What type of tray for a Christmas meal?
Then you have to think about how many cheeses per person for a platter you have to offer. You can plan between 50 and 250 g per person, depending on whether it is a tasting or a cheese meal. In general at Christmas, the meal is copious: the cheese arriving at the end of the service, it is possible that some guests are less hungry and are satisfied with small portions. Note that the Le Petit brand offers you many tips on this subject!
As the composition of the platter can be a real headache, we offer a few assortments of cheeses:
The classic assortment
A cheese assortment platter must contain at least 3 varieties of cheese, including the essential Camembert, highly appreciated for its soft paste and bloomy rind. Vary the texture, with a blue-veined cheese such as Roquefort for example, and another with a pressed paste (Emmental, Comté, etc.). Note that you can provide more varieties if you want, especially for a festive meal.
Some online shops make it easier for you to compose your assortment by suggesting cheeses based on the number of your guests, the occasion and your tastes in this area.
The thematic board
Setting a theme can be a great idea for making your cheese platter, and a clever way to introduce your guests to new cheeses. For example, you can present a tray with 3 or 5 varieties of cheese from the same family, from the same French region or even from a country.
The layout of the cheeses on the platter
The arrangement of the cheese must also be the subject of particular attention to take care of the presentation of your cheese platter, not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also in terms of taste. To do this, place them in a circle or in a line, from the lightest to the strongest in taste.
Make sure that the hardest cheeses to cut are at the edge of the tray for easier cutting, and place the fresh cheeses in their packaging outside the tray. This will make serving easier, and prevent flavors from mixing.
