I like to do five. One firm, one soft and creamy, one goat, one stinky, and one blue.

Firm: manchego, parano, reggano, pecorino... Or make this one the safe cheese, like cheddar, gouda, or swiss. (Emmenthaler is nice.)

Soft and creamy: brie, triple creme, camembert.

Goat: Humboldt fog, a goat bucheron (I'm not sure if all bucheron is goat, or if it's ordinarily cow, but you can find some bucheron that's made of goat), Monocacy ash, a soft-rind goat rolled in herbs, or just a small chevre log

Stinky: Tallegio, grayson, or the like. Or, go really extreme with something like epoisses (this one is so runny you have to serve it with a spoon, and so stinky you only want to do it with advanced cheese lovers. It's also $$$, but so good.)

Blue: Gorgonzola, Stilton, or ask your cheese vendor--there are so many different kinds. One of them is sweet, creamy, AND blue--Cambozola. Mmmm.

I like to do a variety of bread crisps/crackers, some fig jam, some fruit like grapes or strawberries, and some almonds scattered around the board.


If you're not into the stinky or blue categories, you can substitute some of the safe cheeses from the first category.

PPs have given you some really great suggestions.

Depending on how much you want to spend and how fancy you want it to be, you can also stop by the cheese counter at Whole Foods for a full tutorial.

I like to do an aged gouda (like Whole Food's Robusto), a nice blue (like a Danish or Maytag), a really creamy soft cow's cheese, and a something outside the box (a cheese with herbs or fruit, a goat with ash, etc.). Definitely think of pairings as well - fruit, jelly, honey, nuts, etc. A simple sliced baguette is all you need for "crackers."

Anonymous wrote:Hey-o to my cheese platter twin at 15:09

Hey-o!

Good accompaniments include dried fruit (apricots, mango), nuts (Marcona almonds or candied pecans from TJs), fig jam, quince paste, honey. Grapes are a little basic these days but it might depend on your audience.

I like Manchego, maytag blue, and a soft cheese. You can also do an Italian mix.

Sheep, goat and a cow. Crackers (maybe gluten free nut thins, too), baguette, grapes/berries, nuts, quince paste, cornichons.

Hey-o to my cheese platter twin at 15:09

A Brie or a Camembert

A nice blue

Something safe, like an English cheddar

I like to include a honey or jelly for people to eat with the Brie- peach jelly is nice if you can find a good one.

Water crackers, baguette, grapes

Basically you want at the very least a hard and soft cheese. These can be found in pretty much at any grocery store and are good:

Dubliner Cheese
http://kerrygoldusa.com/products/cheese/dubliner-cheese/

Le Chatelain brie or camembert:
http://www.greatcheese.com/cheese/le-chatelain.php

You could try adding a blue cheese or goat cheese or a semi soft cheese like a gouda or havarti. Carrs water crackers are pretty standard. If anyone has a gluten intolerance, consider getting an Asian rice cracker.

Also consider supplementing with:
Salami: http://www.applegate.com/products/natural-genoa-salami/

And bunches of grapes; cut the stems so they are small bunches not just huge ones.

i know very little about cheese but would like to bring a platter to a family potluck. Any suggestions on what should go or pair with?