When building a cheese plate, creating a balanced, complementary spread is all about variety. Aim for a range of textures (runny, soft, semi-firm, hard), flavors (mild, stinky, creamy, and salty), milk types (sheep's milk, cow's milk, goat milk, or a blend), and colors, and look for condiments that enhance the flavors of the cheese—not overpower them. After spending an afternoon with our friends at Murray's Cheese tasting cheeses and accompaniments, we've curated four unique arrays with entertaining in mind, each plate with at least three cheeses and a unique condiment. Follow our lead, or mix and match to create your own ideal plate.
Bold Pairings: Sweet, Savory, Spicy
For this cheese plate, we started with an adventurous accompaniment that's perfect for the holidays: Virginia Chutney Company Spicy Plum Chutney. This complex flavor—spicy, garlicky, tart, and fruity—doesn't play well with everything, but we found a range of great cheeses that are up to the challenge. Aiming for a punched-up version of the classic pairing of cream cheese and jelly, we tried several soft goat cheeses, two of which really stood out: Creamy Haystack Mountain Haystack Peak (top left), from the foothills of the Rockies in Colorado, has notes of mushrooms and damp earth, while fern-wrapped River's Edge Siltcoos (bottom right) has a cleaner, more classic chévre flavor and chalkier texture—and both look stunning on the plate. For something that stands up to the chutney's assertive bite with an equally bold counterpoint, we loved the supremely salty and pungent Colston Basset Stilton (top right), a melt-in-your-mouth butter bomb of savory flavor, and Twin Maple Farm Hudson Red (bottom left), a pungent, barn yardy washed rind cow's milk cheese from Ghent, New York.Haystack Mountain Haystack Peak, $18.99 each at Murrayscheese.com
River's Edge Siltcoos, call Murray's Cheese at 888/692-4339 for pricing and availability
Colston Basset Stilton, $28.99/lb at Murrayscheese.com
Twin Maple Farm Hudson Red, $29.99/lb at Murrayscheese.com
Virginia Plum Company Spicy Plum Chutney, $9.99 each at Murrayscheese.com
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Janet in AZ
More surprising is "Harvest Song Walnut Preserves (center)" when we definitly have olives in the center...