How To Whip Up The Ultimate Cheese Platter

How to create the perfect cheeseboard:

1. Start with the board. Cheese boards are typically assembled on a slate or wooden tray, which may be square, rectangular, or round. But if you don't already own one, don't feel like you need to go out and buy one. Any flat surface will work.
2. Select the cheeses. Try to include a variety of flavours and textures by selecting cheeses from different families e.g. Aged (Aged Cheddar, Gruyere, Gouda), Soft (Brie, Camembert, Goat), Firm (Manchego, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Edam), Blue (Gorgonzola, Roquefort, Stilton)
3. Savoury: add olives, pickles, roasted peppers, artichokes, hummus, tapenades, almonds, cashews, or spicy mustards.
4. Sweet: add seasonal and dried fruits, candied nuts, preserves, quince jelly, honey, chutney, or even chocolate.
5. Offer a variety of breads. Sliced baguette, bread sticks, and a variety of crackers in different shapes, sizes, and flavours.
6. Finish with some garnishes. This is a great way to give your cheese board a seasonal touch. Use native flowers, fresh herbs, or fruits to give your board the look and feel you want.

The best cheeseboard ingredients: 
- 1 wedge brie cheese 
- 1 wedge blue cheese 
- 1 wedge aged cheddar 
- 1 wedge Spanish manchego cheese
- 1 wedge soft goats cheese
- Handful each raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries   
- 2 tablespoons mixed olives 
- 2 tablespoons beetroot dip
- 2 tablespoons sundried tomato dip
- Handful mixed activated roast nuts 
- Handful dried apricots 
- Small square quince jelly
- 2 tablespoons pickled chili peppers
- 1 bar dark chocolate, broken
- 1 avocado, halved
- Handful pistachios
- Handful cherry tomatoes 
- Mixed crackers 
- Native flowers, for decoration 
- Fresh rocket leaves

How to style your cheeseboard
The above ingredients are suggestions but usually I just raid my cupboards and fridge and put a mish mash of everything together. I like to begin with a bed of rocket to add a fresh crunch to every bite. Fresh fruit and flowers are the final touches. 

The truth is everyone likes their cheese a little different. Some like it savoury, some like it sweet, and some like a combination of both. The best cheese boards have something for everyone. Because eating is such a sensory experience, offer up a variety of textures to make the cheese board more interesting. Try to have a combination of creamy, crunchy, crumbly, gooey, and crisp.

Bring cheeses to room temperature before serving in order to bring out their true flavour, and don't forget the knives, spoons, toothpicks, etc.

Whisked Away is a series by food writer and enthusiast Georgia Bateman. Unable to travel like she used to, Georgia is dreaming of places and food from around the world. Her recipes are inspired by these destinations but not intended to be true representations of local dishes.