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.
🇫🇷 FranceBleu de Gex
A mild French blue cheese from the Jura mountains made with raw cow's milk.Cow · Semi-soft
🇫🇷 FranceFourme d'AmbertForma d'Embèrt
A narrow cylindrical blue cheese from the Auvergne region of France.Cow · Semi-hard · Savoury and brothy
🇩🇪 GermanyCambozola
A mild German cow's-milk blue cheese with a creamy texture and white rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceFourme de MontbrisonFôrma de Montbréson
A mild, cylindrical cow's-milk blue cheese from the Forez mountains of France.Cow · Blue
🇫🇷 FranceBleu des CaussesBlau dels Causses
A raw cow's milk blue cheese aged in the limestone caves of southern France.Cow · Blue · Savoury and brothy
🇫🇷 FranceBleu de Bresse
A creamy French blue cheese from the Bresse region, aged for a few weeks.Cow · Blue · Earthy and cellar
🇬🇧 United KingdomShropshire Blue
A pasteurised cow's milk blue cheese with an orange rind and sharp flavour.Cow · Blue · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇫🇷 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
🇪🇸 SpainValdeónQueso de Valdeón
A Spanish blue cheese from León wrapped in sycamore or chestnut leavesCow · Semi-soft · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇬🇧 United KingdomDorset Blue Vinny
A hard, crumbly cow's-milk blue cheese from Dorset with a strong taste and protected status.Cow · Hard · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇬🇧 United KingdomBuxton Blue
A cylindrical English cow's-milk blue cheese with russet veining, made under PDO rules.Cow · Blue · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇧 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
🇮🇹 ItalyDolcelatte
A mild, sweet Italian blue cheese made from cow's milk with a soft texture.Cow · Bloomy rind · Sweet and caramel
🇳🇴 NorwayKraftkar
A Norwegian blue cheese made from cow's milk and cream in Nordmøre.Cow · Blue · Salty
🇬🇧 United KingdomLymeswold cheese
A short-lived English soft blue cheese with a white rind, made from cow's milk.Cow · Bloomy rind · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇧 United KingdomOxford Blue
A soft, creamy English blue cheese with spicy and chocolate notes, made in Oxfordshire.Cow · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dorset Blue Vinny: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Shropshire Blue: Benoît Prieur, CC0, source
- Bleu de Bresse: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint Agur: Micah Anderson, Public domain, source
- Fourme de Montbrison: Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ädelost: Jorchr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Valdeón: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Bleu de Gex: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fourme d'Ambert: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bleu des Causses: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cambozola: Jorchr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dolcelatte: Richard Rutter, CC BY 2.0, 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
- Lymeswold cheese: Eirian Evans, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Oxford Blue: Amanda Slater, CC BY-SA 2.0, source