A slice of good advice to make the most of your Christmas cheese board

Try a cheese advent calendar

That’s the message from successful entrepreneur Edward Hancock, who won funding for his online cheese box company cheesegeek.com from Dragons’ Den Steven Bartlett earlier this year.

The 39 year-old is now determined to make cheese fun as well as delicious, writes Ruth Brindle.

Edward said: “How often do we end up just plumping for Stilton in a pot, some Brie and a punchy mature cheddar that your dad and grandad love but makes your face sting?

King Stone Dairy Gloucestershire makes some mouth-watering cheeses

“Not only that but we also unimaginatively plop the cheese on a wooden board from the 1970s, complemented with grapes and some chutney granny made years ago that you feel compelled to eat as she watches on like a hawk.

Edward explained: “Here are the basics. “Number one, we want the cheese to taste amazing, of course!

“Secondly, we want the cheese to look amazing as well, so to achieve this we need a good variety and balance of colours, shapes, textures and flavours.

“I always try to encourage customers to go for less varieties of cheese and larger pieces.”

Why not try the goldie cheese box?

Edward continued: “I would say five is the absolute max which allows for a balanced variety.

“Any more than that and the cheese will lose its presence on the board, plus the pieces will be too small to go around!

“Seasonality is also a huge consideration. People tend to be really aware of seasonal fruit and vegetables, but not so aware of how seasonal cheese is.

“This explains why I don’t eat goat’s milk cheese at Christmas. Spring is the best time,” added Edward.

Try The Myrrhie cheese box

Having met Edward at a private tasting event, I can vouch for the fact he genuinely loves cheese, his enthusiasm for his subject having helped drive the business.

The former fund manager founded the company in 2017 from his mum’s utility room.

Edward jokes that her whole house “smelled of cheese” but says she was happy to put up with that and work for…

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