Putting Heaven on a Platter
By Domenica Marchetti

The Washington Post
Wednesday, December 27, 2006 

Remember when putting together a cheese platter was as simple as plunking a brick of cheddar on a plate along with a chalky wedge of brie and—ooh, fancy!—a hunk of Port Salut? Simple, yes. But boring.

These days, thanks to Americans' blooming interest, we have access to hundreds of varieties of great artisan cheeses, both imported and domestic: fresh snow-white goat cheeses and oozy, pungent washed-rind cow's milk cheeses; sheep's milk cheeses made by French Benedictine monks in the Pyrenees mountains and by a physician in Virginia's Piedmont region. 

"People today are much more receptive to new cheeses, more daring cheeses," says Valentin Dumitrescu, the cheesemonger at Whole Foods Market in Old Town, which carries about 200 varieties. 

Pop into any one of the growing number of cheese purveyors in the region, from Cowgirl Creamery in Penn Quarter to Cheesetique in Del Ray to the cheese counters at wine shops such as Arrowine in Arlington and Rick's Wine & Gourmet in Alexandria, and your eyes and nose encounter a feast. Cylinders of cave-aged Swiss, some whole and others cut to show off their smooth, butter-colored interiors, share counter space with great wheels and ragged hunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano. In the display cases, fresh goat cheeses beckon in fanciful bell shapes, paprika-dusted pyramids, pepper-encrusted logs and miniature buttons. There is cheese brined in beer and cheese washed in wine; cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves and cheese smoked over hazelnut shells. Cheeses with names such as Purple Haze, Roaring Forties and Lord of the Hundreds.

All of which makes choosing cheese for a platter a rather daunting prospect. The selection of blue cheeses alone  --  how about a sweet, smoky one from Rogue Creamery in Oregon, or perhaps a sliver of a blue Roomkaas Gouda from Holland, or maybe a nugget of Valdeon, a sharp, salty Spanish creation?  --  is enough to send the harried party planner into meltdown.

The good news is that by following some simple guidelines, you can easily cut through the confusion and put together a platter that will please cheese freaks and novices alike. Then, by playing around with those guidelines, you can create endless delicious twists on tradition and introduce your guests to some soft, creamy, crumbly, piquant, pungent wonders.

Know your source, and buy wisely. Most cheese experts recommend looking for a cheese shop, farmers market, gourmet market or grocery store with a good selection and a knowledgeable staff. Find a place that will let you sample the cheese and that cuts and wraps it to order. In general, fresh-cut cheese is of higher quality than pre-packaged. That said, many supermarkets now carry a diverse selection of specialty cheeses. Those are often prepackaged, and some are better in quality than others. Be sure to check the label for an expiration date.

Don't buy more than you need. Hard, low-moisture aged cheeses usually have a longer shelf life than fresh or slightly aged cheese, which is highly perishable and which, with some varieties costing upwards of $20 per pound, can also be expensive. Perry Soulos, the cheese manager at Arrowine in Arlington, recommends 2 to 4 ounces of cheese per person if you are serving it as an appetizer before dinner, 2 ounces per person if you are serving it between dinner and dessert, and about 6 ounces per person if you are serving only cheese with a few accompaniments.

Go for variety, not quantity. With so many great cheeses available, it is tempting to think that more is better. But cheese experts generally recommend serving three to six cheeses on a platter so that they can be properly savored. Choose cheeses with a mix of sizes, shapes, textures and flavors to make a platter that is appealing to the palate and the eye.

For example, a simple, all-purpose platter might include a cheese from each type of milk: cow, goat and sheep. Another option is to focus on flavor, selecting cheeses that range  from mild to strong.

You can build a platter by texture: Include a fresh goat cheese, a soft-ripened cheese such as brie, a semi-hard cheese such as gouda or Gruyere, and a hard, crumbly cheese such as a dry jack or an aged pecorino. Add a blue cheese to round out the selection.

Sue Conley, co-owner of Cowgirl Creamery, a California dairy that opened a cheese shop in Penn Quarter this year, says she prefers to serve blue cheese on its own, as it has a tendency to overpower everything else on the plate. One way to give blue cheese its due, she says, is to serve an all-blue platter.

It's fun to build a platter around a theme: all cheeses from a single country, a single region, even a single cheesemaker. Focus entirely on mountain cheeses or entirely on goat cheeses, but be sure to include a range within your theme. For example, choose three Italian sheep's milk cheeses of varying ages to highlight their different characteristics: a lemony, fresh ricotta salata with a faintly moist, granular texture; a young, smooth, nutty-flavored Tuscan pecorino; and a dry, robustly flavored aged pecorino from Sardinia or Sicily.

Arrange carefully. Cheese is best served on a flat surface that makes cutting easy, such as a wooden cheese board, a marble or granite slab, a large platter or even a glass cake stand or cake plate. If you like, you can line the platter with grape or fig leaves, or with paper leaves, available in some gourmet markets and kitchenware stores. Allow enough room between the cheeses to permit easy cutting. Arrange the cheese on the platter clockwise from mildest to strongest, with the mildest cheese at the 6 o'clock position (or in a straight line if you have a horizontal board).

If possible, have a separate knife or spreader for each cheese. Smallish, round cheeses such as Camembert or Rocchetta should first be cut in half and then into small wedges. Firm cheeses from large wheels should be cut into wedges and arranged on their side for easy slicing. Extra-oozy cheeses that come in a box can be served whole, with a small spoon for scooping.

Be sure to remove the cheese from the refrigerator two hours before serving. Cheese is best served at room temperature, when its aroma, flavor and texture are at their best.

Keep bread and crackers simple. As a rule, you need nothing more than a good-quality fresh, crusty baguette or other artisanal bread to serve with your cheese. Plain, lightly salted crackers are a good alternative, as they won't overshadow the flavor of the cheese. If you want to get creative, try thinly sliced nut bread with fresh cheese such as fromage blanc, olive bread with fresh goat cheese, or rye bread with a nutty, cave-aged Swiss cheese.

Storing: Wrap any leftover cheese in aluminum foil, wax paper or plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator. Ideally, the cheese should be able to breathe a bit but not dry out. In general, harder cheeses will store better and last longer than softer ones. Be sure to use a fresh wrap each time you rewrap the cheese. That will help preserve it.

But really, with such a wonderful variety of cheeses to grace your platter, you probably won't have too many leftovers to worry about. 

SIDEBAR

Why, That Cheese Goes With . . . 

Some cheese aficionados believe that accompaniments such as fruit and nuts are unnecessary and even detract from the flavor of the cheese itself. Others say such garnishes enhance the platter and add a dimension to cheese tasting. Here are suggestions for garnishes that pair well with cheese.

Fresh fruit: Venture beyond apples, pears and grapes to  fresh raspberries, peaches or nectarines (in season) and cantaloupe, especially with cow's milk cheeses.

Dried fruit: Dried apricots, Medjool dates and dried figs  complement big-flavored cheeses such as mountain gorgonzola. Consider serving small wedges or slices of pressed apricot or fig cake, or slivers of membrillo, a paste made from quince that pairs especially well with Spanish cheeses.

Nuts: Toasted almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts  are good matches for cheese, though Sue Conley of Cowgirl Creamery cautions that the tannins in walnuts tend to battle the flavor of cheese.

Honey: All sorts of cheeses go well with honey, including ricotta, labneh (yogurt cheese), blue cheese and aged pecorino. Place a small bowl or ramekin of honey on or next to your cheese platter, with a small honey dipper or spoon for drizzling.

Copyright 2006 The Washington Post