National Geographic Traveller (UK) - Food

Create the perfect cheese board

From a French goat’s cheese coated in ash to a Spanish blue wrapped in sycamore leaves, our cheeseboar­d features Europe’s finest

When creating a cheeseboar­d, it’s best to have a mixture of styles. So says Hero Hirsh, head of retail at Paxton & Whitfield, the 223-year-old cheesemong­er that has shops in London, Bath and Stratford-upon-avon. Hero believes it’s best to choose a variety of hard, blue, washed rind and soft cheeses, covering a range of milks — cow’s, goat’s, ewe’s, buffalo’s — and age profiles. The cheeses should ideally be served simply, alongside plain crackers. If you want to be creative, you can put together themed boards, based on a country of origin or milk type. Always remember that cheeses should be served at room temperatur­e rather than fridge-cold, as they’ll be at their most expressive this way.

See right for Hero’s fantasy cheeseboar­d. paxtonandw­hitfield.co.uk

UK

1 Westcombe Cheddar

A raw milk farmhouse cheddar produced in Somerset by Tom Carver. The West Country is cheddar’s historic home and this flavourful example shows what a fine cheese it can be. While not the strongest or tangiest, it has a pleasing complexity — buttery and earthy, with a great length of flavour. westcombed­airy.com

UK

2 Baron Bigod

This is a bloomy rind farmhouse cheese made with raw milk in the style of brie. It’s best when it retains a textured core, surrounded by a silky ooziness. The combinatio­n of textures and flavours — the buttery paste and the mushroom-y rind — is part of Baron Bigod’s appeal. fenfarmdai­ry.co.uk

FRANCE

3 Langres

A washed rind, soft cheese, langres is produced in the Champagne region using milk from Montbeliar­de cows, as per Protected Designatio­n of Origin (PDO) rules. Made using a small amount of rennet, it has a fresh, citrussy core, while the mould on the rind creates savoury, meaty flavours. It’s strikingly textured, with a distinctiv­e dip on the top.

FRANCE

4 Selles-sur-cher

This is a fresh goat’s milk cheese from the Loire Valley, the epicentre of French goat cheese production. The local hay has a distinct flavour that’s imparted to the cheese through the milk, while the ash coating encourages a natural rind to form. Fine-textured and fudgy, the cheese has bright lemon peel notes when young and walnut notes when older.

ITALY

5 Moliterno with truffle

A rich-tasting ewe’s milk cheese from Sardinia, a region noted for its pecorino (sheep’s milk) cheeses, moliterno is aged for two months before being marbled with black truffle paste and further aged. The texture is supple and the paste is nutty and fruity, contrastin­g with the luxurious truffle veining.

SPAIN

6 Valdeón

Produced in the Valdeón valley, in the Picos de Europa mountains, this characterf­ul blue is wrapped in sycamore leaves. It’s made using both cow’s and goat’s milk, the ratio of milks used varying with the seasons. Aged for two to four months, it has a bold, spicy flavour and a yielding texture.

SWITZERLAN­D

7 Gruyère Premier Cru

While gruyère is often sold young, the Premier Cru variety is matured for at least a year. The higher age profile delivers an intensity and complexity of flavours, with both a meatiness and a sweet nuttiness. Tyrosine crystals add an appealing texture.

IRELAND

8 Crozier Blue

This fabulously complex blue cheese is made from Friesland ewe’s milk in Tipperary by the producers of Cashel Blue. Similar to roquefort, it has a soft, creamy, almost spreadable texture, with a touch of crumblines­s. The butterscot­ch sweetness of the paste contrasts with the feisty savourines­s of the blue veining.