Gourmet cheese is fast becoming one of Australia’s most popular indulgences. People are fast discovering that different varieties of cheese with their distinct flavours and luxurious textures make a fantastic beginning or end to any meal. A cheeseboard can help you discover new tastes as well as appreciate some old favourites.

A cheese platter can be as simple or as extravagant as you like depending on the occasion. Spend a quiet night in with a bottle of wine, a creamy Camembert and some water crackers in front of the television; or prepare a platter for a dinner party with five specialty cheeses, a different wine for each cheese and some well-rehearsed cheese facts to impress your friends with.

How to create the perfect cheeseboard

Hints and tips for easy entertaining:

• Remove the cheese from the fridge an hour before serving so that the flavours and aromas can fully develop.

• Choose a variety of cheeses to give a range of different flavours and textures. • A limited selection of good quality cheese is better than an wide array of lesser cheeses.

• As a guide, allow for 60-90g of cheese per guest.

• The appearance of the cheeseboard is part of the appeal – use a combination of different shapes and sizes. Put the small cheeses in the middle and arrange the hard cheeses around the outside so that they are easier to cut.

• Add some nuts and dried or fresh fruit to complement the flavours and textures of the cheeses. Special seasonal varieties can add interest: try persimmons or nashi pears in winter or nectarines, figs and apricots in summer.

• Be adventurous with the bread and biscuits you serve with a cheese platter. Try soda bread, walnut or olive bread, sourdough bread, and crackers such as fallwasser or cracked pepper. The softer texture of breads often complement soft cheeses more than crunchy crackers.

• Put two or three cheese knives on the cheeseboard so that the different flavours of cheese do not mix through cutting.

• As a rule, soft, fruity wines will highlight the subtle taste of Camembert perfectly; sparkling, aged white wine or chardonnay will help bring out the best in Double Brie; and sweeter wines such as port, Muscat or Tokay will complement the salty finish of most blue cheeses.

• The French serve cheese before dessert while the English tend to finish their meal with cheese – there is no hard and fast rule, so serve it wherever you feel comfortable.

Find out more details about cheese etiquette on Cheesematters.

We love to hear how people are serving and enjoying specialty cheese. If you have a favourite tip or serving suggestion, click here to share your thoughts with us!