Cheeses for cheese boards
Served on its own, sliced or cut at the table, with bread, fruit and something to drink.
A cheese board serves cheese for its own sake, cut at the table and eaten with bread, fruit and something to drink. In France it comes after the main course and before dessert; in Britain and Ireland, often after dessert with a glass of port; in Spain and Italy, as tapas or antipasto. A good board balances styles, milks and strengths, so that each cheese shows off the others.
Building a board
Three to five cheeses are plenty for most tables. A common pattern is one of each kind: a soft bloomy or fresh goat cheese, a firm aged cheese such as Comté or Manchego, a blue, and perhaps a washed rind. Mixing cow's, goat's and sheep's milk adds variety. Allow about 30 to 50 grams of each cheese per person after a meal, and more if the board is the meal. Take the cheeses out of the fridge an hour before serving.
Order and cutting
Taste from mild to strong, so that a blue or a washed rind comes last. Cut each cheese so that everyone gets a fair share of rind and centre: wedges from the middle of a round, long slices along a wedge of hard cheese. An old rule of etiquette says never to cut the point off a wedge of Brie, which leaves the next person with only rind. Use a separate knife for blues and strong cheeses, so their flavour does not travel.
What goes with it
Bread and plain crackers, fresh and dried fruit, nuts, honey and fruit pastes are the usual partners. Spain serves Manchego with membrillo, quince paste; Britain serves Stilton with port; France eats its board with bread and red wine. In India, cheese boards from the country's growing number of artisan dairies set Bandel, Kalimpong and hill-farm cheeses beside chutneys, fresh fruit and roasted nuts.
Worth knowing
- Comté: A firm, nutty anchor for any board
- Brie de Meaux: The classic soft cheese
- Stilton: Blue served with port
- Manchego: Served with quince paste
- Roquefort: Sheep's milk blue for the end of the board
- Crottin de Chavignol: A fresh goat note
- Époisses: A strong washed rind to finish
- Kalimpong cheese: A mild Indian hill cheese
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Cheese boards on EveryCheese
The cheeses written up so far, best known first.
🇺🇸 United StatesBergenost
A triple-cream Norwegian-style butter cheese from New York with green wax.Mixed · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇹 ItalyCastelrosso
A rare semi-hard cow's milk cheese from Piedmont with a gray rind and mild lactic flavor.Cow · Semi-hard · Buttery and creamy
🇦🇱 AlbaniaMishavin
A soft, crumbly Albanian cheese aged in skins and wood from sheep or cow milk.Sheep · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇹 ItalyPecorino
A family of Italian hard sheep's-milk cheeses with protected status.Sheep · Hard · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇹 ItalyBurrata
A fresh Italian cheese with a solid mozzarella pouch filled with cream and stracciatella.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇬🇧 United KingdomCaerphilly
A hard, crumbly cow's-milk cheese from South Wales with a mild lemony taste.Cow · Hard · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceCoulommiers
A soft cow's-milk cheese with a bloomy rind from the Seine-et-Marne department of France.Cow · Bloomy rind · Nutty
🇩🇪 GermanyCambozola
A mild German cow's-milk blue cheese with a creamy texture and white rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇪🇸 SpainIdiazabalIdiazabal gazta
A hard, pressed sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country with a dark rind and optional smoke.Sheep · Hard · Nutty
🇵🇹 PortugalSerra da EstrelaQueijo Serra da Estrela
A soft Portuguese sheep's milk cheese coagulated with thistle and aged for at least a month.Sheep · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceBrie de Meaux
A soft-ripened cow's milk cheese with a white rind from the Brie region of France.Cow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceGaperon
A dome-shaped Auvergne cheese with a white mold rind and garlic-pepper filling.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇪🇸 SpainMahónformatge de Maó / queso de Mahón
A cow's-milk cheese from Menorca that ranges from soft and mild to hard and sharp.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomWensleydale
A medium, crumbly British cheese originally from sheep's milk in North Yorkshire.Cow · Semi-soft · Sweet and caramel
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreStracciatella
A fresh Italian shredded curd cheese mixed with cream, made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceAbbaye de Tamié
A soft cow's-milk cheese aged in the cellars of a Savoyard abbey by monks.Cow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceSaint-PaulinSaint Paulin
A semi-soft French cow's milk cheese with a washed orange rind and buttery flavour.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇪🇸 SpainGamonéuQueso de Gamonéu
A lightly smoked, mixed-milk cheese from the mountains of Asturias with a moulded rind.Mixed · Smoked · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇷 GreeceLadotyri MytilinisΛαδοτύρι Μυτιλήνης
A hard Greek cheese from Lesbos preserved in olive oil since ancient times.Sheep · Hard · Savoury and brothy
🇪🇸 SpainMajorero
A semi-hard goat milk cheese from Fuerteventura with a nutty, buttery taste.Goat · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇬🇪 GeorgiaTeniliტენილი ყველი
A stuffed string cheese from Georgia's Meskheti region, made from sheep's milk and aged in clay pots.Sheep · Stretched curd · Savoury and brothy
🇫🇷 FranceSaint-Félicien
A creamy cow's milk cheese from France with a flower-patterned rindCow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇪🇸 SpainGarrotxa
A semi-soft Catalan goat cheese with a powdery gray rind and earthy flavor.Goat · Semi-soft · Earthy and cellar
🇫🇷 FranceMottin charentais
A cylindrical French soft cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk with a creamy taste.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomStichelton
A raw-milk blue cheese made in Nottinghamshire using traditional unpasteurised methods.Cow · Blue · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceDélice de Bourgogne
A soft triple-cream cow's milk cheese from Burgundy with a bloomy rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceExplorateur
A soft-ripened triple cream cow's milk cheese from France with a squat cylindrical shape.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomDerby
A mild, semi-firm cow's milk cheese from Derbyshire with a buttery taste and smooth texture.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇨🇦 CanadaPikauba
A semi-firm washed-rind cow's milk cheese from Quebec with a buttery taste and orange rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇨🇦 CanadaLe Riopelle de l'Isle
A soft triple-cream cow's milk cheese from Isle-aux-Grues in Quebec.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceCouronne lochoise
A soft, ash-coated goat cheese from the Loire Valley shaped like a ring.Goat · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Brie de Meaux: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gamonéu: Jrfdiaz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Coulommiers: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Caerphilly: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Mahón: Slastic, Public domain, source
- Tenili: Georgian Recipes at Georgia About, CC BY 3.0, source
- Pecorino: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Serra da Estrela: Adriao, Public domain, source
- Majorero: Mumumío ( www.mumumío.com ), CC BY 2.0, source
- Mishavin: Tizilohja25, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bergenost: Jon Sullivan, CC0, source
- Stracciatella: Florixc (original version) ; Off-shell (reprocessed version), CC0, source
- Idiazabal: Xavigivax, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gaperon: Pymouss, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Burrata: Popo le Chien, CC0, source
- Saint-Paulin: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wensleydale: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Cambozola: Jorchr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Abbaye de Tamié: Tangopaso, Public domain, source
- Saint-Félicien: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ladotyri Mytilinis: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Garrotxa: Government of Catalonia, Attribution, source
- Derby: Compro, Public domain, source
- Mottin charentais: Cobber17, CC BY 3.0, source
- Délice de Bourgogne: Beprost, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Stichelton: Jeremy Keith, CC BY 2.0, source
- Pikauba: Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Le Riopelle de l'Isle: Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Couronne lochoise: Thomon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source