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Next: 25 Dec 2026

Christmas and the Stilton board

The British Christmas cheeseboard: Stilton with port, Cheddar, and in Yorkshire a slice of Wensleydale with Christmas cake.

La obra representa el momento en que el Niño Jesús , que aparece desnudo y sostenido por su madre, la Virgen María , fue adorado por los pastores de Belén.
Photo: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cheeses for Christmas and the Stilton board

In Britain, Christmas is the season of the cheeseboard, and Stilton is its centre. The blue cheese is made only in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, and a large share of the year's production is sold in December, often as a whole small round to be scooped out over the holidays with port. Mature Cheddar, Red Leicester and a soft cheese complete most boards, served after Christmas lunch or on Boxing Day. In Yorkshire the custom is to eat Christmas cake with a slice of crumbly Wensleydale, and a local saying holds that cake without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze.

The cheeses

WensleydaleCrumbly Yorkshire cheese eaten with Christmas cake.Red LeicesterThe orange cheese that brings colour to the board.

Also part of it, and being written: Stilton cheese (The blue cheese of the British Christmas table, eaten with port.), Cheddar cheese (A mature farmhouse Cheddar on most boards.).

More cheeses used for Christmas and the Stilton board

🇳🇱 Netherlands and 5 moreEdamEdammer A semi-hard Dutch cow's-milk cheese aged in distinctive red wax spheres.Cow · Semi-hard · Nutty 🇸🇪 SwedenVästerbottenVästerbottensost A hard, salty Swedish cow's milk cheese aged at least a year in VästerbottenCow · Hard · Salty 🇬🇧 United KingdomSage Derby A semi-hard cow's milk cheese from England with a mottled green rind and sage flavour.Cow · Semi-hard · Herbal and grassy
About this page

Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Christmas" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven cheeses you may not know, the cheese days of the week ahead, and one dish explained step by step.