How to make a cheese board fit for a queen

Among the many stories shared in memory of Queen Elizabeth II was the titbit former British prime minister Theresa May shared about a picnic with the queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where the monarch died last week, that tickled my interest.

Describing the picnic, May said: “The hamper came from the castle and we all mucked in to put the food and drinks on the table. I picked up some cheese, put it on a plate and was transferring it to the table when the cheese fell on the floor. 

“I had a split-second decision to make. I picked up the cheese, put it on the plate and put it on the table, and turned around to see my every move had been watched very carefully by Her Majesty. I looked at her, she looked at me and she just smiled. And the cheese remained at the table.”

It is well known the late queen favoured more simple tastes when it came to food but enjoyed cheddar cheese. An English brand, Cathedral City cheddar, was a favourite from Paxton & Whitfield Cheesemongers in London, which holds the Royal Warrants granted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Of course the English press picked up on May’s story. They approached the cheesemongers, who took the opportunity to share tips for creating a cheese board “fit for royalty”.

Fit for royalty cheese board:

• Allow 80g to 100g of cheese per person.
• Add panache to the cheeseboard by selecting three or four cheeses with different styles, flavours and textures.
• Their suggestion is a hard cheese, a soft cheese and a blue cheese — a cheddar (Cathedral City no doubt), a chèvre (a fresh goat cheese) and a blue English Stilton.
• The cheesemongers recommend removing the cheese from the fridge an hour before serving for optimum flavour. They recommend providing a different knife for each cheese to keep the flavours separated.
• Beyond a standard cheese board the cheesemongers suggest elevating it by turning it into a “grazing board” with freshly baked bread, a selection of charcuterie (cured meats), nuts and pickles. In SA we’d include some dried and fresh fruit, fig preserve and a chutney.

Local cheesemonger Brian Dick of Cheese Gourmet in Linden, Johannesburg shared his suggestions for local replacements for the English cheeses recommended by Paxton & Whitfield: 

• For a soft cheese Dick suggests a well-ripened local camembert. There are many excellent ones to choose from. I recommend making a choice from many excellent camemberts made by two farm cheesemakers, namely Belnori in Gauteng and  Dalewood Fromage situated just outside Franschhoek.

• For the hard cheese category Dick recommends an award-winning Huguenot, a well matured cheddar-style of cheese, creamy with a bite and made by Dalewood Fromage.

• For a soft cheese Dick suggests a local Havarti, a rich and creamy cheese made by Klein River Farm in Stanford in Western Cape.

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