Serves 30 as part of a big spread · buy — no cooking
🌱 Tom: no🛡️ Paddy: partial
Not vegan — dairy throughout, so nothing here for Tom. For Paddy: the cheeses themselves are fine, just leave off the mixed nuts and double-check crackers for sesame.
Aim for 4–5 cheeses and roughly 60–70g of cheese per person total, so about 1.8–2.2kg all up. A mix of textures and styles reads better than a lot of similar cheeses.
INGREDIENTS
A soft, rinded cheese — brie or camembert (2 wheels)
A firm, nutty cheese — manchego or a good aged cheddar (500g)
A blue cheese — gorgonzola dolce or a mild Roquefort (250g)
A goat's cheese log, plain or ash-coated (2 x 150g)
Accompaniments: quince paste or fig jam, honeycomb, mixed nuts, dried fruit, a couple of crisp crackers, and extra grapes
Note — Take the cheese out of the fridge about an hour before guests arrive. For Paddy, set the mixed nuts in their own bowl (not scattered on the board) and pick a plain water cracker if you can find one — a lot of cracker brands include sesame.