New and unique cheese board pairing ideas
You don’t have to limit cheese board ideas to pairing grapes and cheddar. Experts share some unique pairings, guaranteed to up your grazing board game. (Photo: Getty)
We all know the tried-and-true cheese board pairings. Grapes, red wine, crackers and charcuterie are time-tested accompaniments to cheeses from cheddar to blue. There’s nothing wrong with these basic combinations but they can get boring. Need some fresh ideas? There’s a method to create perfect pairings on your cheese board that are not only delicious, but will also make your table more interesting and leave an impression on your guests.
Sydney Willcox, a former cheesemonger and cheese educator who works for Restaurant Associates, says there are three ways to create cheese pairings that go beyond the basics. “A good pairing will take the flavors of each food and maximize that times ten,” says Willcox. “You will get so much more complexity out of a good pairing than you would with a single item.”
Julia Birnbaum, a cheesemonger and founder of Philly Cheese School, explains that “a good pairing creates something greater than the sum of its parts.”
“In other words” she says, “it isn’t just about eating two or more tasty products together; it’s about combining flavors in a way which elevates each one to do something new and different than it would do alone.”
The first way to make a good pairing, according to Willcox, is to focus on oppositions, like sweet and salty. “With opposition, the dominant flavors of each food can take a backseat allowing the more subtle flavors to shine through,” she explains. “Contrast is a key pairing concept in both flavor and texture — a creamy cheese is wonderful with a crunchy cracker, and harder cheeses are better with chewy bread.”
Another way to find something that pairs well with a cheese is to look at what goes in harmony with the cheese’s flavor. “When it comes to pairing in harmony, look for a distinctive flavor note in the cheese and match that note like for like,”…
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