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.
🇦🇹 Austria and 1 moreTyrolean grey cheeseTiroler Graukäse
A low-fat cow's milk acid-curd quark from the Tyrolean Alps with a moulded rind.Cow · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇹🇷 Turkey and 1 moreBasket cheesesepet peyniri
A fresh, unsalted or lightly salted whey and curd cheese shaped in reed baskets from the Aegean coast.Goat · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇳🇱 NetherlandsRoomano
An aged hard cow's-milk cheese from Friesland with less butterfat than standard Gouda.Cow · Hard · Salty
🇸🇪 Sweden and 1 moreBondostbond-ost
A firm Swedish cow's-milk cheese aged in brine for six to eight weeks.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 5 moreEdamEdammer
A semi-hard Dutch cow's-milk cheese aged in distinctive red wax spheres.Cow · Semi-hard · Nutty
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreBlue cheese
A family of cheeses defined by blue-green mold veins created through deliberate inoculation and piercing.Cow · Semi-soft · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇮🇹 ItalyGrana Padano
A hard, grainy Italian cow's-milk cheese aged for at least nine months in the Po Valley.Cow · Hard · Nutty
🇫🇷 FranceComté
A hard, cooked-pressed cow's milk cheese from eastern France, aged up to three years.Cow · Semi-hard · Nutty
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKashkavalkaşkaval
A semi-hard yellow cheese from cow, sheep, or goat milk, popular across the Balkans and Turkey.Cow · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceFrench NeufchâtelNeufchâtel
A soft, grainy Normandy cow's-milk cheese with a bloomy rind, aged for two months.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇬🇧 United KingdomCaerphilly
A hard, crumbly cow's-milk cheese from South Wales with a mild lemony taste.Cow · Hard · Tangy and lactic
🇳🇴 NorwayGamalostgammelost
A firm, sour Norwegian cheese made from skimmed cow's milk and aged for several weeks.Cow · Semi-hard · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceChaource
A soft-ripened cow's-milk cheese from north-eastern France with a white mould rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreAkkawiجبنة عكاوي
A white brined cow's milk cheese from the Levant named after Acre.Cow · Brined · Salty
🇸🇪 SwedenVästerbottenVästerbottensost
A hard, salty Swedish cow's milk cheese aged at least a year in VästerbottenCow · Hard · Salty
🇧🇷 BrazilMinas cheesequeijo minas
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Brazil with fresh and aged varieties.Cow · Semi-soft · Salty
🇸🇰 Slovakia and 1 moreKorbáčikkorbáčik (Slovak), korbacz (Polish)
A braided string cheese from the Orava region of Slovakia and Poland.Cow · Stretched curd · Salty
🇪🇸 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
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreRumiجبنة رومى
A hard, salty Egyptian cow or buffalo milk cheese with a pungent aroma.Cow · Hard · Salty
🇩🇪 GermanyMilbenkäse
A German quark cheese ripened with living cheese mites in rye flour.Cow · Bloomy rind · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandBerner AlpkäseBerner Hobelkäse
A hard, hole-free Swiss cheese from the Bernese Alps, aged up to two years.Cow · Hard · Salty
🇵🇹 PortugalCheese of PicoQueijo do Pico
A soft, salty cow's-milk cheese from the Azores island of Pico, aged for three weeks.Cow · Salty
🇫🇷 FranceSaint AgurSant Agur
A soft, double-cream French blue cheese with olive-green veins and a mild spicy taste.Cow · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇸🇪 SwedenÄdelost
A pasteurized cow's-milk blue cheese from Sweden with a creamy texture and sharp flavor.Cow · Blue · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇫🇷 FranceTomme des PyrénéesToma de Pirenèus
A rustic pressed cheese from the French Pyrenees, made from cow, sheep or goat milk.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇪🇸 SpainSan Simón da Costa
A pear-shaped, smoked cow's milk cheese from Galicia with a smooth brown rind.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇫🇷 FranceVieux-Boulogne
A soft, beer-washed cow's milk cheese from northern France known for its intense aroma.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇳🇱 NetherlandsBoerenkaas
A Dutch semi-hard raw milk cheese with TSG protection, often spiced and farm-made.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇩🇪 GermanyNieheimer Käse
A sour milk cheese from North Rhine-Westphalia ripened in hops and flavored with caraway.Cow · Hard · Tangy and lactic
🇬🇧 United KingdomStichelton
A raw-milk blue cheese made in Nottinghamshire using traditional unpasteurised methods.Cow · Blue · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreAura
A Finnish cow's-milk blue cheese aged for six or twelve weeks.Cow · Blue · Salty
🇽🇰 Kosovo and 2 moreSharr cheeseDjathë i Sharrit / Шарски сир
A hard, salty cow and sheep milk cheese from the Šar Mountains of Kosovo.Cow · Hard · Salty
🇮🇹 ItalyCaprino
An Italian goat's-milk cheese made in fresh or aged styles across several regions.Goat · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 1 moreMaaslander
A mild Dutch cow's milk Gouda with reduced salt and distinctive striped rinds.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇳🇴 NorwayKraftkar
A Norwegian blue cheese made from cow's milk and cream in Nordmøre.Cow · Blue · Salty
🇨🇦 CanadaFriulano
A rindless Canadian cow's-milk cheese with a salty hazelnut flavour, aged to improve its character.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇨🇦 CanadaDragon's Breath Blue
A soft, wax-coated blue cheese from Nova Scotia with a pungent aroma and briny liquid.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇨🇿 Czech Republic and 1 moreGran Moravia
A hard, long-aged cow's-milk grana-style cheese from the Czech Republic.Cow · Hard · Nutty
🇫🇷 FranceAbbaye de Timadeuc CheeseFourmaj Abati Tinadeuc
A soft, salty cow's-milk cheese made by Trappist monks in Brittany.Cow · Semi-soft · Salty
🇨🇷 Costa Rica and 1 morePalmitoQueso palmito
A Costa Rican stretched-curd cheese shaped like a knotted ball of string cheese.Cow · Fresh · Salty
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tyrolean grey cheese: Jürgele, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Minas cheese: The original uploader was Hellkt at German Wikipedia . ( Original text, Public domain, source
- Caerphilly: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Mahón: Slastic, Public domain, source
- French Neufchâtel: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Friesian Clove: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Akkawi: Paul Joseph, CC BY 2.0, source
- Västerbotten: Nata Uploaded by File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske), CC BY 2.0, source
- Gamalost: Quick fix, CC BY 2.0, source
- Saint Agur: Micah Anderson, Public domain, source
- Rumi: summer photo hobby, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sharr cheese: ThinkTank123, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tomme des Pyrénées: Julie333411, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ädelost: Jorchr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Korbáčik: Mariuszjbie, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Comté: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Edam: Yvwv, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- San Simón da Costa: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Basket cheese: E4024, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Berner Alpkäse: Mike Lehmann, Mike Switzerland 11:02, 19 November 2006 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Milbenkäse: Benutzer:Dundak at de.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Grana Padano: Claudia Castaldi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chaource: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Blue cheese: No machine-readable author provided. Brookie assumed (based on copyrig, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Caprino: Number55, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kashkaval: Nnikolce, Public domain, source
- Cheese of Pico: Adriao, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nieheimer Käse: Tsungam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Stichelton: Jeremy Keith, CC BY 2.0, source
- Aura: Suvi Korhonen, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kraftkar: Bernt Rostad, CC BY 2.0, source
- Friulano: VerifiedCactus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Palmito: LittleT889, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Abbaye de Timadeuc Cheese: Salsero35, CC BY-SA 3.0, source