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.
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreFetaφέτα
A crumbly Greek brined cheese made from sheep and goat milk.Sheep · Brined · Tangy and lactic
🇬🇧 United KingdomStinking Bishop
A washed-rind cow's-milk cheese from Gloucestershire, ripened in perry.Cow · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇾🇪 YemenYemeni cheeseجبنة تعز
A smoked semi-hard sheep or goat milk cheese from Taiz Governorate in Yemen.Sheep · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇺🇸 United StatesMorcella
A Minnesota sheep-milk cheese coated with morel mushrooms and aged in autumn.Sheep · Semi-soft · Earthy and cellar
🇺🇸 United StatesLiederkranz
A pungent American smear-ripened cow's milk cheese created in 1891 as a Limburger variant.Cow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇺🇸 United StatesBergenost
A triple-cream Norwegian-style butter cheese from New York with green wax.Mixed · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇪 GeorgiaDambalkhachoდამბალხაჭო
A pungent, semi-soft Georgian cheese aged in clay pots with sour buttermilk curdsCow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇮🇪 IrelandGubbeen
A washed-rind semi-soft cow's milk cheese from County Cork, Ireland.Cow · Semi-soft · Mushroomy
🇮🇪 IrelandSt Tola
Handmade goat's milk cheese from Inagh, County Clare, ranging from fresh logs to aged wheels.Goat · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 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
🇮🇹 ItalyTaleggiotalegg, taegg or taècc
A semi-soft washed-rind cow's milk cheese from Lombardy with a pinkish rind and fruity tang.Cow · Semi-soft
🇫🇷 FranceBleu de Gex
A mild French blue cheese from the Jura mountains made with raw cow's milk.Cow · Semi-soft
🇫🇷 FrancePort Salut
A mild semi-soft cow's milk cheese with an orange rind, made in France since the nineteenth century.Cow · Semi-soft
🇫🇷 FranceTomme de Savoie
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from the French Alps with a thick rind.Cow · Semi-soft
🇫🇷 FranceBleu de Bresse
A creamy French blue cheese from the Bresse region, aged for a few weeks.Cow · Blue · Earthy and cellar
🇪🇸 SpainTorta del CasarTorta del Casal
A creamy sheep's milk cheese from Extremadura, coagulated with cardoon and aged for at least two months.Sheep · Semi-soft · Salty
🇧🇷 BrazilMinas cheesequeijo minas
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Brazil with fresh and aged varieties.Cow · Semi-soft · 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomWensleydale
A medium, crumbly British cheese originally from sheep's milk in North Yorkshire.Cow · Semi-soft · Sweet and caramel
🇫🇷 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
🇫🇷 FranceChabichou
A cylindrical French goat cheese with a natural rind, aged for two to three weeks.Goat · Semi-soft · Tangy and lactic
🇵🇹 PortugalCastelo BrancoQueijo de Castelo Branco
A soft Portuguese cheese from the Beira Baixa district, made with goat or sheep milk.Mixed · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇵🇹 PortugalSerpa cheeseQueijo Serpa
A semi-soft, washed-rind sheep's milk cheese from Portugal's Alentejo region.Sheep · Semi-soft
🇪🇸 SpainValdeónQueso de Valdeón
A Spanish blue cheese from León wrapped in sycamore or chestnut leavesCow · Semi-soft · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇫🇷 FranceAisy cendré
A washed-rind cow's-milk cheese rolled in wood ash and aged for two weeks.Cow · Washed rind · Smoky
🇪🇸 SpainGarrotxa
A semi-soft Catalan goat cheese with a powdery gray rind and earthy flavor.Goat · Semi-soft · Earthy and cellar
🇮🇹 ItalyCasciotta d'Urbino
A semi-soft Italian cheese from the Marche region made with sheep and cow milk.Mixed · Semi-soft
🇨🇦 CanadaOka
A semi-soft washed-rind cow's milk cheese from Quebec with a copper-orange rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇮🇹 ItalyBastardo del Grappa
A semi-fat cow's milk cheese from the Veneto foothills with a soft crumbly texture.Cow · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇧 United KingdomTintern
A soft, blended cow's milk Cheddar flavoured with chives and shallots, wrapped in lime green wax.Cow · Semi-soft · Herbal and grassy
🇬🇧 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
🇮🇹 ItalyBela Badia
A soft cow's-milk cheese from the Puster Valley with small irregular holes.Cow · Semi-soft · Milky and fresh
🇬🇧 United KingdomBeenleigh Blue
A thin-rinded, foil-wrapped English sheep's-milk blue with a sweet, crumbly texture.Sheep · Blue · Sweet and caramel
🇨🇦 CanadaLe Douanier
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese with a wash-rinsed rind and a central edible line from Quebec.Cow · Semi-soft · Nutty
🇫🇷 FranceAbbaye de Timadeuc CheeseFourmaj Abati Tinadeuc
A soft, salty cow's-milk cheese made by Trappist monks in Brittany.Cow · Semi-soft · Salty
🇮🇹 ItalySottocenere al tartufo
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Venice with an ash rind and black truffle slices.Cow · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreThe Laughing CowLa vache qui rit
A pasteurized processed cheese spread sold in individual wedges since 1921.Cow · Processed
🇬🇧 United KingdomStinking Bishop
A washed-rind Gloucestershire cheese ripened in perry from the Stinking Bishop pear.Cow · Washed 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.
- Minas cheese: The original uploader was Hellkt at German Wikipedia . ( Original text, Public domain, source
- Mahón: Slastic, Public domain, source
- Bleu de Bresse: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Akkawi: Paul Joseph, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tomme de Savoie: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Oka: User Y6y6y6 on en.wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Castelo Branco: Adriao, Public domain, source
- Tintern: Dave Crosby, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Chabichou: Mark Baker, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aisy cendré: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feta: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Valdeón: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Gubbeen: The original uploader was Y6y6y6 at English Wikipedia .. The author is, Public domain, source
- St Tola: HighKing, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Stinking Bishop: Gilgongo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dambalkhacho: ბექა ბაიაშვილი (Beqabai), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bergenost: Jon Sullivan, CC0, source
- Torta del Casar: MollySVH, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bleu de Gex: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Taleggio: FakirNL, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Blue cheese: No machine-readable author provided. Brookie assumed (based on copyrig, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint-Paulin: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wensleydale: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Abbaye de Tamié: Tangopaso, Public domain, source
- Garrotxa: Government of Catalonia, Attribution, source
- Derby: Compro, Public domain, source
- Bastardo del Grappa: Krenakarore, Public domain, source
- Pikauba: Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bela Badia: Boboseiptu, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Port Salut: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Abbaye de Timadeuc Cheese: Salsero35, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sottocenere al tartufo: F. D. Richards, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- The Laughing Cow: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0, source
- Stinking Bishop: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source