How to Gild Your Cheese Lily 🧀🌷
Pizzaz for your boards
Hi readers!
Today we’re going to do a deep dive on an important — often unsung — part of making exceptional cheese boards: the accompaniments.
I’m not talking about charcuterie — though I’m sure a few odes to charcuterie will be forthcoming in this space.
What I’m talking about are the seemingly superfluous accoutrements — the things that add critical texture, sweetness, color, and acid to your board and make the cheeses sing.
First, let’s start with the crackers.
I always use crackers rather than bread. Not because I don’t love freshly baked baguette, but because I think you need that cracker crunch for textural contrast with softer cheeses.
There are tons of excellent crackers out there, and I’m sure you have your favorites.
Here are mine:
Trader Joe’s Pita Bite Crackers — I don’t have enough good things to say about these crackers. They’re perfectly salted, perfectly sized, and have a satisfying crunch.1 Everything I want in an everyday cracker.
Trader Joe’s Crisps — If you’re looking for a tasty cracker with a little extra oomph, these flavored crisps will do the trick. These crunchy/chewy crackers come in two flavors year round: Raisin Rosemary and Fig and Olive. There are also seasonal flavors throughout the year.
PRO TIP: Trader Joe’s has awesome and inexpensive crackers, whatever it is you’re looking for.2 Their cheese selection is also excellent for the price.3
Rustic Bakery Artisan Crisps — The Cadillac of crisps with exciting and subtle flavors. I’ve tasted all three4 — we used to carry them at the shop — and they are all knockouts. These crisps are so good you don’t need cheese. I could serve these plain with tea and feel properly English.
Top Seedz Crackers — If you’re looking for a gluten free cracker, these are the best ones I’ve found. These seeded crackers are INSANE. Crunchy but not tooth breaking5, light and crisp, satisfying, and full of flavor.
After your crackers, spreads are the easiest way to dress up your board — anything you can smear on the cheese to enhance the flavor. This includes everything from jams to honey to mustard.
Every good board should have at least one. You’ll be a rock star if you have one sweet and one savory.
Jam — When in doubt, throw some jam on there. Whatever you have in the fridge will do. Fig jam is classic and the best seller at my shop. One of my favorites is sour cherry. I’ve also used leftover cranberry sauce.
Try orange marmalade if you like a little bitterness and you’re feeling adventurous. Spread Mmms, a small woman owned company based in Brooklyn, has a wonderful savory orange marmalade that we sell at the shop.
Chutney — If you want to go upscale, use chutney instead of jam.6 I learned this trick from the Hilariously Grumpy Frenchman at La Fromagerie — and I can’t tell you how many jars of spicy plum chutney we sold out of that restaurant after people tasted it on the boards. The contrasting notes of sweet and savory really make cheese sing.
Le Bon Magot has some wonderful flavors — one of my favorites is the Spiced Raisin Marmalata with ras al-hanout7 and smoked cinnamon. It tastes like Moroccan Christmas.8
Mustard — You can never go wrong with a good Dijon mustard — and the one at Trader Joe’s is excellent. I’m also a big fan of Colman’s English mustard if you like a mustard that clears your sinuses. Mustard is a must on boards that include meats.
Honey — Honey works particularly well with blue cheese and strong, savory, hard aged cheeses like Manchego. We carry a whipped lemon honey by Savannah Bee Company that is easy to spread and brings an uplifting citrus note.
Olive Tapenade — Adds a bit of earthy umami to your board. If you have tapenade, I’d skip olives as a nibble. But if you’re an olive fanatic, go crazy. Spread Mmms has a fabu olive tapenade, btw.
Now for the nibbles. These should interplay with your spreads. Try to keep a mix of sweet and savory, crunchy and chewy. This is also where you can add some color.
Dried fruit — Dried cherries and cranberries are delicious, but the dried fruit that will make your board sing? Apricots.9 There’s something about their sweet sharpness that is a perfect contrast with cheese, and they’re also a great palate cleanser.
Pickles — Cornichons are that classic pop of acid and crunch, and you can never go wrong with what the French do. If you’re feeling adventurous, try some other pickled veggies like green beans, carrots, or cauliflower.
Nuts — Salted Marcona almonds are always a winner, but anything salty and nutty will work. A board with blue cheese is screaming for pecans.
Olives — Sicilian Castelvetrano olives are my favorites. I love the bright green color, firm flesh, and the brine isn’t terribly salty. These olives have very little bitterness and a mild, rich flavor. I’ll confess — I’m a green olive person. I don’t mind black olives in moderation, but I’ll choose a green olive every time.
Fresh fruit — apples and pears are my go tos — clean and crisp to cleanse the palate. In the summer I use Rainier cherries if I’m feeling fancy — because Rainier cherries are my favorite. I also have an olive dish that doubles as my cherry bowl10. I bought it at the cheese shop in England that started my career in cheese.
Happy memories every time I use it.
Did you miss my Kickass List of Crowd Pleasing Cheese? Read it here!
And now for my favorite accompaniment with cheese:
Snuggling with mom. He demands to put his leg over my arm so I rub his belly 😂
That’s it for today, but exciting things are coming, y’all. I have ideas for cool video content that I’ll be offering soon — including cheese board tips — and a new feature called Virginia Snapshots, where I’ll take you on tours of some of my favorite spots in my stunning little corner of the world.
I’m grateful that so many of you are interested in a cheese monger telling her story.
Thanks for reading! Until next time, cheese (and cat!) lovers!
Curd Culture is a reader supported publication. Thank you for supporting my dream of using my cheese experience to make a difference on two issues I care about: sustainable family farming and animal welfare.
My only beef with the classic water cracker is that they get a little gummy once they are in your mouth. I’m a crunch fiend.
Southerners, when you try their Cornbread Crisps you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.
I’m planning on doing a TJ’s cheese guide in the near future.
The flavors are: Apricot, Pistachio, and Brandy — Citrus, Ginger, and Thyme — and my favorite: Cherry, Cacao Nib, and Almond.
My biggest problem with Mary’s Gone Crackers.
The orange marmalade I reference above is so savory as to be chutney-like.
A North African spice blend
I hope you thought of the Christmas episode of The Office when you read that.
Another of the Grumpy Frenchman’s tricks.
Because of the pits
Wow, what a lot of great ideas! Totally agree about crackers and cheese.