We are in charge of the cheese - what should I take?

[nowwearefour]

A good variety is my brief! For around 12 people. Good cheese cracker recommendations appreciated too!

[SecretSantaFix]

A decent Brie, Wensleydale with either apricots or cranberries, Stilton, a good strong cheddar, any local specialities?

[CaptainSweatPants]

easier and proably cheaper to buy a cheese board already made up in Tesco

but otherwise

Colston Bassett stilton
wensleydale with cranberries
brie
goats cheese
portsaloo
edam
boursin

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Rick Stein seasalt oatcakes are so, so good - from Waitrose.
Otherwise the M&S Taste the Difference digestives.

[RIZZ0]

My dream cheeseboard would be:

-Definitely a Stilton or Roquefort - standard.

-Something fruity as mentioned.

-A good hard cheese. A strong smoked cheddar maybe.

-Vignotte

-Something eyewateringly strong and stinky just for fun

Biscuit/cracker wise I like a selection.
Sweet wholemeal for the blue cheese (like the little Hovis biscuits). Water biscuits.
Something oaty.
And maybe some charcoal looking ones for interest.

[Dawndonnaagain]

A Roquefort, A good strong Chedder, Comte, Manchego, A roule of some description, Brie, Stilton. A nice selection of biscuits.

[Beckamaw]

A massive whole Edam, and nothing else!

[MmeCinqAnneauxDor]

If you can get Tomme de Savoie - it is really delicious, and Manchego is yummy too.

Oatcakes are a must for cheese board. The Duchy Original ones are v good. Get the mini ones

[ChippyMinton]

Tesco had a couple of good selections - one was finest in a basket with lots of goodies, the other was a 'cake' - stilton, chedar wensleydale with cranberry, and something else on top.

[coffeeinbed]

It's better to have fewer cheeses but in bigger quantities
than a lot of varieties in smaller bits.
I probably would not bother with brie and go for something else runny and smelly.
A young goats cheese, a hard sheeps milk one - Ossau Iraty, something runny and stinky - depends what looks good and a blue one.
also quince paste. simple biscuits, never a selection.

[SuckItAndSee]

one goat's cheese
one hard
one soft
one blue

I'd go for an Innes log, Keen's Cheddar, a vacherin, and some Colston Basset stilton.

Charcoal wafers, bath olives, and oatcakes. some apple chutney.

[coffeeinbed]

That reminds me. Haven't had vacherin yet this season..

[MmeCinqAnneauxDor]

ooooh, and for something really different - make Obatzda and serve with Brezeln

[42notTrendy]

We have so far bought...
Comte
Saint Giles (English version of port salut from Sains, v good)
Brie de Meaux
Pie d'angloys

We will be buying
Stichelton
Or
Long Clawson Stilton (others pale in comparison, don't believe the hype!!)
Lincolnshire Poacher
Waterloo
All of which come from our local farm shop, but I think they are available quite widely.
I may also add a crumbly one such as Wensleydale or a good supermarket cheddar ( seriously strong we like)
Crackers.. Carrs Mellts, hovis and butter puffs and the green boxed crackers from Aldi!!

We LOVE cheese.

[Trills]

Hard
soft
blue
goat

:)

I agree with SuckItAndSee

Better to have a large amount of 4 things than a small amount of 6 things.

[Bunbaker]

Well, for a start, as we make such wonderful cheese in the UK I would just use English/British cheeses. I love all cheeses, but love to be patriotic when it comes to a cheeseboard. Nothing irritates me more when eating out than to be faced with Edam, French Brie and something else not from the UK.

Do you have any local specialities that you can buy? If not I agree with Trills and cover the four basic types.

For biscuits my favourites are Tesco poppy seed thins. I would also add some grapes and celery to the cheeseboard and possibly some chutney.

[RIZZ0]

Trills

Hard. Soft. Blue. Goat. Shall be the new cheeseboard mantra.

[TheGonnagle]

In our house there MUST BE CHEESE!! And there needs to be
Roquefort
Crumbly Gouda
Camembert/Stinking Bishop
A real strong Cheddar
A good goats cheese

I.Love.Cheese.

[Trills]

Of course, goat can be hard or soft, as can blue...

[ASmidgeofMidge]

Snowdonia Black Bomber is an amazing strong cheddar

[nowwearefour]

Wow! So many amazing suggestionsA, thank you
No local ones I know of but I could google it! There just might be

[TheFirstToel]

Wensleydale with cranberries or white stilton with apricots - both fab

[NomNomDePlum]

if it was just for me - a youngish manchego, a good hunk of stilton and some cheddar, whatever looks good at the cheesemongers i know sometimes needs must, but it's much better to buy the cheese off the block rather than a wedge that's been sweated in plastic for days (this is particularly true for blue cheeses, i find). if you don't have a cheesemonger nearby, marks and sparks cheeses seem to survive the packaging process better than some of the other supermarkets, and while you were there you could buy a bit of cornish cruncher, which is pretty tasty.

if i had to share it with other people, i'd add one of those nasty cabbagey soft cheeses, just to be polite.

yes to oatcakes. we have something called ditty's here (ireland) which might be british for all i know - very nice, anyhow.

and i'd recommend you something irish, but i don't like the soggy smelly ones, and it's not the season for cratloe hills, (really delicious hard sheep's cheese from clare, but not really a winter one), and even though you'd have to try hard to find a nicer blue than cashel blue, stilton does seem more seasonal, somehow..

[MsGazelle]

Do you have any cheese shops near you? Because then you can go and ask for advice and they usually let you try everything and you can pretend to be indecisive and have seconds. Mmmmm, cheese.

I always do hard/soft/blue/wildcard (maybe goat or fruit or extra stinky)

[wiltingfast]

Edam? For a cheese board? Not in our house!

I usually get something blue, something creamy/sweet and something harder. So maybe

Stilton/cashel blue
Camembert/brie/
Smoked applewood/comte

If I'm feeling brave - epoisses

Not personally fond of goat

Then carrs water crackers all the way, served with some pear or grapes. Maybe fig jam or quince if I can find some. I don't like crackers that compete with the cheese (proper cheese fiend here)!

[BobCrotchstitch]

It may be too late for this year but these people //www.pong.co.uk are very good.
We sent my DSDad the smelly box and it had to live in the shed it was that bad