If you're anything like me - Christmas is the season for cheese.
We have a beautiful range of British farmhouse cheese to allow you to channel your inner cheesemonger and carefully curate a cheeseboard Santa himself would envy.
How to do it? Well here's what we've put together...
Step One - Let's start building with Blue
Begin with the king of English blues, the crumbly, mellow Colston Bassett Stilton, handmade in the Leicestershire village of the same name for over a century. This rich, complex blue cheese balances the sharp kick of the blue with creamy, buttery paste. A wonderfully balanced cheese.
The creamy texture and toasted walnut finish pair wonderfully with aged port and fig chutney or honey.
Step Two - Let's go for the hard cheese.
Next to the Stilton, a good olf-fashioned hard cheese. Lincolnshire Poacher. Made with raw milk to traditional methods and aged for 18 months. It's a cross between a traditional West Country cheddar and an alpine Comte or Gruyere - with deep lingering nutty flavours.
The rich, complex flavour stands up to hearty Christmas beers, charcuterie, and fruity chutneys.
Step Three - Now for the creamy.
Now the real crowd-pleaser: the luscious, buttery Tunworth - the cheese Raymond Blanc calls the "world's best camembert". It is a true winter treat - rich, untuous with truffley mushroom notes. Pair with sparkling wines, grapes, or caramelized onion jam for a truly indulgent experience.
Step Four - Go for something a bit different.
Now a wildcard, Gubbeen. A washed rind Irish cheese, with deep, savoury, almost meaty notes. Complex and interesting, but won't scare your grandma! Made in west Cork, it's the only cheese the Ferguson family make.
Gubben is bold enough to pair with bitter IPAs or stouts but also delicious with lighter red wines.
Step Five - Up the Ante
Feeling adventurous? Amp up the intensity with decadent St Cera. It starts life at Fen Farm Dairy in Suffolk as St Jude, a small rinded soft cheese, but Neals Yard wash the cheeses in brine and mature them until they become collapsing, oozy, wobbly cheeses only kept together by a small wooden box!
With a wrinkled rind and liquid centre, St Cera excels alongside fruit chutneys, pickles, and bold perry or cider pairings.
Step Five - Add a goat's cheese
Finally, end on a gentle sweet note with Little Lilly, a velvety French-style goat cheese from Somerset that even goat cheese sceptics will love. A brie like cheese with creamy interior that balances lactic tang with honeyed undertones.
Made from a single herd, this chèvre spreads like butter and pairs with crusty bread, oatcakes, or crackers and gentle whites or rosés.
How to serve
When serving your Christmas cheese assortment at home, allow the cheeses to come to room temperature before assembling for fuller aroma and flavour. Provide one knife per cheese styles.
Offer a selection of crackers, breads, nuts, seeds, chutneys, fruit pastes, cured meats, fig cake or fruity panettone to complement and contrast with the cheeses.
Pair with British artisan beers or ciders and organic, natural wines. Discuss the unique characteristics of each cheese variety and experiment with unconventional pairings to keep things fun and festive.
If that is too much trouble to do yourself, why not pre-order your Christmas cheese from us?!
Avoid the last-minute cheese shop dash and delight guests with a bespoke selection of Britain's finest. Order you Christmas cheese here.