Pigeon Cottage Kitchen

Over the Christmas and New Year period, there’s nothing I love more than a reason to serve some top notch cheese and all the trimmings. I prefer wooden boards as it makes it easier to cut and display the cheese. We bought this lovely ‘Grandfather Pig’ board from Emmetts in Peasenhall a couple of years back and it’s worked very hard since! It looks great as a centrepiece on the dining table or as part of a party buffet.

I like to pre-cut some of the cheese as it makes it easier for people to help themselves as well as it looking more attractive. The snowflake cut on this whole Brie looks particularly Christmassy. It’s very easy. Just make clean cuts into the cheese with a large bladed knife firstly into quarters and then each quarter in half. You now have eight pieces. Cut each eighth twice at the bottom to make a pair of triangles and hey presto, you have a beautiful snowflake design.

A little bit of greenery nestled between the cheeses such as sprigs of rosemary or holly stops the board from looking quite so ‘beige’. Adding little bunches of red grapes, batons of celery, quartered fresh figs, walnuts and dates help to cut the richness of the cheese and adds texture. Big jars of chutney or hot honey can look a bit clumsy so I like to decant just one or two into little ramekins around the board. Add a generous basket of crackers on the side so everyone gets to graze with their favourites.

When it comes to choosing the cheese, go with your favourites but you can mix it up a little. Three or four generous pieces work better than lots of smaller ones. On the Pigeon Cottage table there must always be a blue like a Stilton, Stichelton or a Barkham Blue, a well-flavoured Cheddar or Lincolnshire Poacher, a ripe runny Brie-style cheese like Baron Bigod or Waterloo, something soft and spreadable like a Boursin and a ‘speciality’ cheese like Suffolk Gold, Black Bomber or Red Storm.

It’s very important to store your cheese properly to make sure that it’s in optimum condition when you’re ready to serve. When you get it home, store your cheeses in a cool, dry place or at the bottom of the fridge, ideally wrapped in waxed paper as this allows the cheese to breathe.Take the cheese out of the fridge an hour or so before you’re due to serve it to allow it to come up to room temperature. This will help improve its flavour quite dramatically.

Matching your cheese with the right drinks makes a real difference too. Port is a classic of course but a red wine from the region your cheese came from, especially if it’s French, works pretty well too. Sweet wine with a blue cheese like, let’s say a Sauternes with Roquefort, can be a real delight.

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