Your cheese accompaniments

Cafe Society
1

I’m sitting here eating a soft blue cheese and a sharp cheddar sitting on a Highland oat cake. I haven’t had these for years, and I’d forgotten how good a match they were for some cheeses.

I also recently had one of those strange dark sherries - a pedro ximenez - pushed on me to drink with my cheese by a waiter who turned out to know what he was talking about.

What do you eat and drink with a nice piece of cheese? I’ve tried a few things, but I’m looking for new things. Things that go with a cheese course:

Platters
Carrs water crackers (works with pretty much any cheese)
Wafers (over-rated as far as I can tell)
Sourdough (good with soft goat’s cheese and soft rind stinky things)
Fruit bread (softer blues)
Highland oat cakes (mainly sharp, hard cheeses)

Drinks
Port (vintage works nicely, never really been that keen on tawny)
Champagne (sweetish blues)
pedro ximenez sherry (soft rind and other rich cheeses)
sticky (botyris affected) wine (I was surprised how well this stuff went with strongly flavoured blues)
dry red
bitter beer (sharp cheddar)

Side nibbles (never really been sold on these - do people like them, or are they really there to mollify the non cheese eaters?)
walnuts
muscatels
quince paste
pear and rocket (I think you call this ruccola) salad

2

Very crisp red apples are good with blue cheeses or medium or sharp cheddar. Grapes are good, as well. Nice soft brie is good with a baguette or sourdough rounds, wheat wafers, etc. Pepperoni or salami is good with cheddar. Ham and Swiss are naturals. Merlot is good to drink.

But I’d say my favourite combination is the apples and cheese. :slight_smile:

3

I love black grapes with any kind of firm goat cheese. (In particular, Drunken Goat, Murcia al Vino.)

And blue cheese with pears.

And sharp cheddar with a good, firm, tart apple.

As far as crackers and stuff go, meh. I’m a total fiend for fresh bread, with or without cheese.

4

One of my favorite meals is:

-Dark beer–either a smoky porter or a really good stout.
-Fresh, dark homemade bread–100% whole-wheat flour, sweetened with blackstrap molasses.
-Rocquefort cheese.

There’s nothing better on a rainy winter evening.

Daniel

5

Rocket is known as Arugula here in the states.
As for accompaniments for cheeses

Figs and walnuts with chevre (or any soft goat cheese). I have an appetizer I’ll make using toast points made from pumpernickel, spread with fig preserves, then topped with a mixture of chevre, thyme, walnut oil, and finely chopped walnuts. Especially delicious with a Merlot.

Honey and walnuts with brie. That is a dessert all in itself.

I love quince paste with Manchego.

I haven’t had a Highland Oat Cake in years. I’m going to have to look for them at my local import store.

6

With a good bleu cheese or Spanish Manchego I prefer a earthy but subtle Cabernet like Simi, Franciscan or Estancia.

If we’re doing Gruyere, like with Fondue, I prefer a Chardonney by Clos du Val or Chateau St Jean.

7

See now, I can’t tell if you’re serious, or if this is just a very subtle fart joke.

Daniel

8

I love Trader Joe’s 55% reduced fat Celtic cheddar with sundried tomato pesto on their sourdough wheat.

Mmmmmmmm.

9

The fruit suggestions are particularly good. Figs and soft goat’s cheese is wonderful and apples and cheddar, well :smack:. Another that works pretty well is pear and grana padano.