Sweet dreams are made of cheese
Cheese, crackers, olives – oh my. Is it even Christmas if you don’t have an epic cheeseboard? Creating the perfect selection is easy with our step-by-step guide. Or if hot cheese is more to your liking, we have some great options for sharing, too. It’s time to get dipping, dunking, nibbling and spreading.
Your Christmas cheeseboard
1. Mix up the cheese: Select a range of cheeses to make sure you have something to suit everyone. Aim to have a mix of soft and hard, including one blue cheese. For our spread, we’ve chosen a festive Wensleydale and winter fruits snowflake that’s bursting with golden raisins and cranberries; an indulgent Truffle Cheddar; a Cropwell Bishop Mature Stilton®, which is a rich and sharp blue cheese; and an ultra-creamy, flavour-packed Brie de Meaux.
2. Slice it right: Cut block cheeses, such as cheddar, in a range of ways, including rectangles or wedges, or cut them into cubes for bite-size portions. Creamy and soft or semi-soft cheeses, such as brie, can be kept whole or cut into wedges.
3. Don’t forget the chutneys: Caramelised Red Onion Chutney,, is great with hard cheeses like a mature cheddar or a soft and creamy goat’s cheese. Fruity chutneys, like our Festive Chutney,, or fruit paste such as Damson and Juniper Fruit for Cheese, are ideal for matching with soft cheeses such as brie or blue cheese.
4. Fill the gaps: Spread your cheese out on a platter or board and fill the gaps with accompaniments such as olives, dates, nuts, crusty bread and crackers – try our Collection Biscuits for Cheese Carton,. Make sure there’s something to go with cheese type, mixing and matching sweet, salty, and crunchy flavours and textures.
5. Add seasonal touches: For an extra festive feel, add a selection of garnishes such as seasonal fruit. Grapes, apples and figs work well with a range of cheeses from strong to creamy. You can also decorate the board with fresh herbs – aromatic rosemary looks great.
The hot take on cheese
If you’re having friends over for wine and nibbles, our Garlic Butter Twist with Camembert, is a gloriously gooey festive treat. A whole French camembert cheese is wrapped in a rich and indulgent bread that’s made with garlic butter. Tear off a piece and dunk it in the creamy, melted cheese centre for a little bite of heaven. Alternatively, serve a baked camembert, such as baking camembert with chorizo, with crusty bread – or choose the Collection Swiss fondue, for an impressive centrepiece.
Gifts for cheese lovers
How about these cheesy treats? New this year, our Collection Val de Loire camembert baker with camembert cheese contains a full-flavoured, rich and creamy camembert in a stylish ceramic baker, or there’s our Wookey Hole cave-aged cheddar , a handmade farmhouse cheddar matured in Somerset caves. It’s the perfect addition to a cheeseboard with Collection British honey selection made by the busy bees on our British M&S Select Farms. Can’t decide what cheese to gift? The Collection ultimate cheese lover’s gift will fit the bill, a superb selection of the best British and continental cheeses.
