20th December 2020

We Brie Kings

A Christmas Cheeseboard from Wine & Rind

As often mentioned here on the Timothy Everest Digest, our second love after tailoring is undoubtedly catering: a favoured, often fevered, topic of conversation from shop floor to workroom to design studio.

As we enter into the season of goodwill and good food, we thought it prudent to get some expert advice on that most British centrepiece of the after-dinner dining table; the cheese board.

Wine & Rind is Tottenham’s first and favourite cheese shop. Specialising in Irish and British cheeses, natural and independent wines, plus other epicurean treats, it’s a favourite stop for any hungry foodie or hungover chef. We enlisted owner Holly Chaves to give us the definitive guide to raising our game when it comes to festive fromage.

Here at Wine & Rind, we advise you keep it classic with your Christmas cheese board. We use the five cheese rule as a guide to finding what you’re after, and as a general rule, you can’t go too wrong by pairing these with a large glass/bottle of Beaujoulais.

A Hard Cheese

Our go-to hard cheese at Wine & Rind is Old Winchester; it’s a Cheddar x Gouda hybrid that doubles up as a veggie parmesan. Crunchy and punchy, it’s just as good on a board as it is grated over pasta.

A soft Cheese

We truffle our Brie in house at Wine & Rind and it’s a real crowd pleaser. It’s a luxe mix of Brillat Savarin (a triple creme cheese from France) and black truffle, sandwiched between two layers of a Baron Bigod, a British Brie from Suffolk. It lasts about 30 seconds on a cheese board and has been known to cause fights over the last bit.

A Goat Cheese

You can go soft or go hard here. We usually go hard. Our favourite is a raw goat’s milk cheese called Corleggy from Co Cavan in Ireland. It’s cloth-bound like a mini Cheddar and brings a unique texture to the board. Not too dissimilar to an aged manchego, just nuttier and “goaty-er”.

A Blue Cheese

It’s not Christmas without Stilton or one of its fun cousins. Young Buck, a raw milk Stilton from Northern Ireland, is our blue of choice all year round, but particularly at Christmas. It’s crumbly and malty and a perfect pal to a mince pie. But if the thought of blue veins puts you off your pudding, Gorgonzola Dolce is creamy and mild – a gateway blue if you like.

A washed rind Cheese

Yuletide is bang in the middle of Vacherin Mont d’Or season and it would be rude not to include it: Mont d’Or is made from the Comte cow’s milk of the Jura during the winter months. Baked and served with ham & pickles, it’s an easy Christmas Day supper, before or after Turkey sandwiches.

@winenrind
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Holcombe Market | Tottenham | N17 9AA