How to Make a Cheese Plate

Say cheese and smile because we’ve simplified putting a cohesive, creative cheese plate together for you! Here are some basic guidelines to follow so you can impress your guests and feel confident when going to pick out your cheeses.

1. Decide how many guests you are feeding you can estimate 2 ounces of cheese per cheese per person to make sure you have enough

2. Pick a theme. You can pick your cheeses based on region such as all french cheeses, all United States cheeses or different milks such as cow, goat and sheep.

3. Textures are important. Pick different textured cheeses so that you have variation on your plate. Maybe one hard, one firm, one soft and so on. This makes your cheese plate more interesting.

4. Never overcrowd your plate or platter. You don’t want guests trying to get to a cheese and then sticking a knuckle in another cheese.

5. Try offering a different knife with each cheese.

6. Choose plain crackers because you want your cheeses to be the star of the show and always use a good amount of crackers so that your guests have more to fill up on rather than all the expensive cheese.

7.  Serve your cheeses at room temperature. This is good because you can prepare your plate about one hour and set it out.

Most importantly get creative and have fun! There really is no wrong way to put together a cheese tray. Use seasonal ingredients for garnishes such as nuts, dried fruit and herbs. Grapes are really beautiful and colorful. You can even use orchids or various edible flowers, which add another visually pleasing element.

Good Luck!