14-12-2009
Matt Tebbutt: my perfect Christmas cheese board
** Enter our Christmas Cheeseboad competition.
Click here for details. **
As Christmas Day approaches, TV chef Matt Tebbutt is urging Christmas cooks not to forget about a key part of the perfect Christmas lunch – the cheese course.
Matt, who co-presents Market Kitchen on Good Food TV and Saturday Kitchen on BBC2, loves cheese and believes it is the grand finale to the perfect Christmas Day feast.
"Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a great cheese plate," says Matt, who runs the acclaimed Foxhunter restaurant near Abergavenny.
"Choose between three and five cheeses – anymore will overwhelm the palate," he advises. "Choose one firm cheese such as cheddar, one soft cheese and one blue veined cheese to give a variety of tastes and textures."
Here is Matt’s perfect cheese plate for the very best Christmas dinner this year:
Collier’s Powerful Welsh Cheddar
"This cheese has a rich and spicy taste, with a deliciously crumbly texture. Good salt
quantity gives it a satisfying crunch in the mouth. A pasteurised cheese that can stand alongside some of the finest Cheddars that Britain produces.”
Stichelton Blue
“What Stilton used to taste like. It is an unpasteurised cheese from Nottingham near the Sherwood Forest. Hand crafted, with a buttery texture and a punchy taste.”
Vacherin
“Presented in a wooden box, this French cheese continues to ripen wrapped in a spruce band which permeates the cheese. Meltingly soft and pungent, this unpasteurised cows’ milk cheese must be served from its box either at room temperature or is indeed very good warmed through the oven.”
If you can’t find Vacherin, you can also use another Camembert-type cheese in a box.
Cothi Valley Goats’ Cheese
“Produced in Carmarthenshire, the cheese is still handmade in small quantities. Slight acidity, deliciously ripe taste and creamy texture.”
“I would serve these fantastic cheeses with warm walnut toast and homemade chutney. Wash it down with a bottle of Tawny or vintage port,” adds Matt.
Matt’s tips for the perfect cheeseboard:
- Choose between three and five different cheeses
- Choose one firm, one soft and one blue veined
- Allow about 70g of cheese per person
- Take cheeses out of the fridge two hours before serving to allow to come up to room temperature
- Remove all wrapping but leave on the rinds
- Serve with one knife per cheese
www.collierscheese.com
www.stichelton.co.uk
www.goats-cheese-online.co.uk
Christmas Cheeseboard Competition
Tell us what three cheeses you'd place alongside Collier's Powerful Welsh Cheddar on your cheeseboard for a chance to win a Collier's slate cheeseboard. Enter via Twitter (
@collierscheese), through the Collier's
Facebook page or by emailing
colliersminer@fayrefield.com
Closing date for entries 24th December 2009. Winning entry selected at random.
