by Matt Neff, Cheese Coordinator, Willy West
It’s the holiday season and you once again find yourself in…Wisconsin. Staring into the mirror, you are faced with an unavoidable truth: you may very well have to prepare, serve, and even eat a large quantity of cheese, butter, and dairy products in the two months ahead. As you clench your teeth and prepare to do your duty, you wish aloud to no one in particular that you had some sort of roadmap, some sort of inspirational guide, to holiday cheeses.
Then in a blinding flash of red and green light, POOF! The Ghost of Holiday Cheeseboard Futures bedazzles you with a sequined holographic vision of the perfect cheese-related ways to serve and entertain friends, family, and yea, verily, even yourself.
Holiday Cheese Boards, Plates, and Platters
Nothing says “hospitality” and “let’s snack” like an artfully arrayed platter of cheese, bread, crackers, fruit, nuts, olives, and/or charcuterie. From the simplest cheese plate to the most gloriously aircraft-carrier-sized cheeseboard, the sky’s the limit in laying out the spread you want.
Start by assessing the size of your gathering, the tastes of your guests, and how much you’d like to spend. Even just one or two interesting cheeses paired with the right accompaniment can be a delight, whether it’s artisan bread or baguettes, crackers, fruit (e.g. figs, dates, apples), nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans), olives (green, kalamata, Castelvetrano), or meat (prosciutto, salami, pepperoni).
For larger platters with more extensive options, choose cheeses that complement each other in their characteristics—for example, a soft-ripened, French camembert, paired with a semi-firm Swiss Gruyère, a locally made blue and a hard-aged Spanish Manchego. The options all inhabit different flavor and texture profiles and exhibit diverse subtleties of terroir. Ask whether the options offer something for everyone.
A perennial local Co-op holiday favorite for cheeseboards is Pleasant Ridge Reserve, an award-winning Gruyere-style cheese from Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville. Rich and slightly salty with a fruity finish, it’s a raw-milk, aged, semi-firm cheese that is a surefire crowd-pleaser, and it even travels well in luggage.
Hidden Springs Creamery in Westby offers the Wischego, a Wisconsin-made sheep’s milk Manchego in the Spanish style that is nutty and smooth with subtle grassy notes of the Driftless region. Aged and low-moisture, it also can be a traveler’s best friend.
Interested in something a little more out of the ordinary? Quattro Portoni from the north of Italy produces Quadrello di Bufala, a brined, washed-rind cheese made from water buffalo milk. Water buffalo milk has a higher fat content than sheep, goat, or cow’s milk, and the resulting soft-paste cheese is dense, rich, and smoky, with a medium aroma that does not overpower.
Are you dairy-free, or do you have vegan guests? There are plenty of great vegan cheese options for platters and recipes. The art and science of vegan cheesemaking has progressed wonderfully in recent years with the perfection of fermented vegan cheeses by makers such as Miyoko’s Creamery and Nuts for Cheese. Often made from cashews and coconut oil, many of these cheeses are as firm, tangy, and sharp as any good dairy-based cheddar spread, and still melt, slice, and spread beautifully.
Don’t forget to check also if the cheeses you select are vegetarian, for your veggie guests–you can tell by checking if the ingredient list specifies vegetarian or microbial rennet.
Holiday Cheese Balls
The ready-made spreadable cheese ball is ubiquitous at supermarkets during the holidays, but the internet also abounds with recipes for those bold enough to make their own. With some nuts, herbs, dried fruit and a combination of soft cheese and firmer grated cheese, you can make these ahead of time and refrigerate them to wow your guests.
Baked Brie & Oven Warmables
Brie baked in puff pastry or pie crust is an ooey-gooey, just-fancy-enough holiday treat that many people haven’t tried making themselves. Fresh from the oven, warm, melty, and spreadable, it’s a wonderful comfort-food addition to a holiday table. Try Schroeder Kase’s Triple Creme Brie or Caprine Supreme’s La Von Farmhouse Goat Brie for a couple lovely local options.
We’d be downright negligent not to mention Upland Cheese’s Rush Creek Reserve, possibly the most sought after celebrity cheese of the holiday season. Based on the traditional French alpine cheese Vacherin Mont D’Or, it’s a smooth, almost pudding-like delicacy wrapped in spruce bark that is warmed in the oven before serving–the communal fancy sharing-round-the-table cheese par excellence.
Rush Creek Reserve is notoriously popular and sells out quickly, but alternatives exist. Try the Harbison or Mini Harbison from the Cellars at Jasper Hill in Vermont. These spruce-bark wrapped cheeses are made in a similar style to the Rush Creek Reserve.
Fondue
If you’re one of those lucky entertainers who owns a fondue set, you likely already know to pair harder alpine cheeses such as aged Swiss or Gruyère with semisoft favorites such as Fontina, Jack, or a young Gouda. Add a splash of white wine or beer, and then allow your guests to dunk skewers of bread, fruit, and potatoes in the melting pot of cheesy goodness. Carr Valley makes a great Danish-Style Fontina that is highly recommended for fondue. Roelli Cheesehaus also offers the Red Rock, a cheddar tinged with blue that beckons as a more adventurous option for fondue.
Cheesecake & Other Desserts
If you plan to make a cheesecake, with most recipes you’ll find cream cheese and mascarpone are your best friends. However, other options exist: the U.K. cheesemaker Clawson offers some fruity and sweet dessert cheeses that can be incorporated into cheesecake recipes quite easily, like their Blueberry White Stilton and Cranberry Wensleydale.
And what would the holidays in Wisconsin be without a tribute to its proud Norwegian heritage? The Ski Queen Gjetost (pronounced “yay-toast”) is firm, caramel-like and sweet, and is meant to be sliced and eaten warm with bread.
So whether you’re aiming for familiar comfort cheeses or something more adventurous and unusual, the Co-op has a cornucopia of options. Don’t be afraid to reach out to Co-op staff for help in choosing the perfect cheese for your holiday needs.