What to serve at a cheese tasting? [closed]

Question

I'm arranging a cheese tasting for 10 adults in a few weeks, mostly hard Italian cheeses, and I'm wondering what to serve with it? I want the taste of the cheese to come through, but I also want people to taste the cheese as they would eat it normally, too.

Some thoughts I've had (mostly traditional cheese accompaniments): tart apples, dried fruit (apricots), prosciutto

Most of us are not big wine drinkers, so I'm not too concerned about that. If there is something non-alcoholic drink-wise to recommend, though, that would be good.

In case it is relevant, the cheeses I'm thinking of bringing are: Provolone (domestic & imported), Parmigiano-Reggiano plus a domestic Paremsan, Pecorino Romano plus Locatelli (not sure if there's a difference), Asiago, Piave and maybe a 1-year-old and 3-year-old Cabot.

Answer 1

Usually a cheese tasting would have more variety in terms of texture and flavour and you'd progress from the mild to the stronger. However, if your goal is to compare a lot of similar cheeses to contrast with each other, you'll need to have more palate cleansing and balancing in between each cheese.

A lot of the cheeses that you're considering are aged ones, which tend to be quite sharp and salty. For the harder/saltier cheeses, acidic accompaniments will be important. Things like granny smith apples and tomatoes would be ideal. Something juicy and thirst quenching like melon (or the tomato) would also be important to include. Proscuitto, while yummy, would probably just add more sharp saltiness to an already overwhelmed palate.

As for dried fruits, another classic for cheese courses is dates since the sweetness makes a nice contrast. You might want to consider including something like a raisin bread as well as crackers for serving the cheeses. Chutney is delicious on crackers with cheese and could help balance the fact that most hard cheeses are eaten as a garnish more than on their own (e.g. on a salad, on pasta, etc). However, this might interfere with the "tasting" atmosphere you're aiming for.

If you want to pair with something non-alcoholic, a sparkling water is probably a good place to start since the fizz will be refreshing and the water won't introduce any other flavours to the palate.

Answer 2

Perhaps digestive biscuits/oatmeal biscuits, what would be called Graham crackers in America, as something to hold under the cheese. These would give a good base without being too salty.

The idea of fresh fruit is a good one, as the cheeses are hard and mostly quite salty/umami. I would add fresh figs (if you can get them) to your list. I'm not sure about dried fruit, as you're likely to get quite thirsty anyway.

You could also try fresh spinach leaves. The slight bitterness and fresh flavour will be a good counterpoint to the cheese. You could perhaps prepare a bowl of fresh spinach with a little light dressing to go with it, where guests could make little "sandwiches" with cracker, cheese and a leaf or two. If the dressing has a little Balsamic vinegar in it, the astrigency will also help to balance the flavours out.

To go in yet another direction, I think that a sun-dried-tomato paste or olive tapenade would not go amiss with the cheeses mentioned.

As for drinks, you proably want something pallette-cleansing. I can't think of anything other than sparkling water, or perhaps a light herbal tea of some sort.

Answer 3

Seen the cheeses you are planning to serve, and the central place they should take, nothing should distract from them. So, bread of course, no toast. Maybe thin slaces of hard apple or grapes. In the south of france it is common to put a tiny bit of olive oil on cheese, particuraly goat cheeses, which improves the mouth-feeling. Of course, it should be a very light oil. Walnuts enhance the taste of cheese. I personnallythink that honey or tapanade are way too much, and would destroy the pure taste of the cheese. Sure, honey with goat cheese as desert is fine, but that is not what you are planning.

Here in France, they serve you nothing with the cheese. You can have bread. In Italy, well, they dont eat cheese like that, as far as I know. Certaintly not for desert. I myself am from Gouda, and that cheese does well with a pickle or some mustard...but I would never do that to a parmesan.

So, I would serve bread, maybe a sourdough, and nothing else. Next step would be walnut and grapes, and I would certainly stop there.

Drinks, well, I think red wine always bitters against the acidity of cheese..i prefer a half-sweet white wine myself (chardonnay combines perfectly, because of the buttery tones), or port wine..red port can handle cheese. Non alcoholic, errrrr tricky. Water with a slice of lemon would be my first option, but maybe a not too sweet cider or a very sweet cider (mirroring the white wine and port wine)? Grape juice?