Garnish

This is important; cheese garnish. It’s your cheese so you can do whatever you like, but I think a lot pair unfavorably. But this is my site and I take the liberty to promote what I think are good or less good pairings. If you agree, disagree or have other suggestions, please feel free to comment below. It is important to take into consideration when you serve some sort of garnish with the cheese, the wine that pairs well with the cheese does not necessarily pairs just as well with cheese and garnish in combination. Of course this depends on how fine tuned your palate is.

Vegetables

There is no raw vegetables on my cheese plate. Some prefer to serve some red paprika or celery, but I don’t. Not that it is harmful to the cheese, but it will kill any wines served with the cheese. That being said, a slice of good country bread, farm butter and a thick slice of for example Emmentaler with a ring of red paprika on top is very good. But pair it with a cup of tea.

Bread and Crackers

Bread rather than crackers. Crackers are often very salty and the cheese has more than enough salt as it is. Country bread, French baguette or fruit or walnut bread all pair well with cheese and wine.

Jams and marmelades

My favorite is fig jam or marmelade. Walnuts and sliced pear contributes positively to the experience. Black cherry jam is wonderful with firm cheeses, and especially the ones from the Pyrenees. If there are other types you want to try out, feel free to do that. Not strawberry or raspberry jams though. Quince marmalade is popular in Spain.

Fruits

A mature pear, but not too soft. Figs if you can find good and ripe ones. In Norway where I reside, it is hard to find good ones. Fresh dates, they just pair exceptionally well, especially if the cheese is on the firm side, well matured and with a touch of saltiness. Date syrup or Silan in Hebrew is very good as well. A Jewish or Arabic store will probably shelf it.

Nuts

Walnuts and Pecans. Natural of course, no salt. However, careful with walnuts and sharp cheeses, they may clash.

What about grapes?

Best as wine in my opinion, but does not do much harm. Make sure they’re seedless though.

Honey

Oh honey honey.. Liquid honey from acacia fits more or less any cheese.

Charcuterie

Pairs very well with mountain cheese. Italian salami, some Spanish cured ham or a paté de campagne. If you serve cheese as part of a meal, do not mix with charcuterie.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to Top