Gifts for the cheese lover: 10 things for a better cheese board
From a proper cheese plane to a jar of Piedmont's cognà, ten gifts for the friend who heads straight for the cheese board, plus homemade seeded crackers.
Every family has one. The person who heads straight for the cheese board at a party, who knows their Gorgonzola dolce from their piccante, and who keeps a separate shelf in the fridge that nobody else is allowed to touch. In our house in Milan it was my nonna, who would cut a sliver of every new cheese with her little knife before she let anyone else near it.
Buying for a cheese lover is easier than it looks. You do not need to guess what they already own. Cheese gets eaten, tools get used every day, and a good jar of something to spoon beside a wedge always finds a home. Here are ten ideas, from a stocking filler to something properly generous.
What to buy
Gifts for the cheese lover
- A proper cheese plane (about 150 kr): The osthyvel is a Norwegian invention and every Scandinavian kitchen has one, but a good heavy one with a sharp blade makes a difference with hard, aged cheeses. Thin, even slices, no tearing.
- A Parmesan almond knife (about 150 kr): The short, stubby, almond-shaped blade Italians use to break Parmigiano Reggiano into rough chunks rather than slice it. The chunks show off the crystals and taste better for it.
- Cheese paper or reusable cheese bags (about 150 kr): Cling film suffocates cheese and makes it sweat. Proper cheese paper lets it breathe without drying out, so the wedge lasts longer and tastes like itself.
- A Microplane grater (about 300 kr): The fine rasp that turns Parmigiano or Grana Padano into a snowy cloud. It also does lemon zest and nutmeg, so it will never sit in a drawer.
- A jar of cognà and a jar of mostarda di Cremona (about 200 kr for the pair): Cognà is Piedmont's thick condiment of grape must cooked down with autumn fruit and nuts, made for aged cheese. Mostarda is candied fruit in a mustard-hot syrup from Lombardy. Together they cover sweet and fiery.
- A serious wedge from a good cheesemonger (about 250 kr): A piece of Castelmagno, the crumbly mountain cheese from the valleys above Cuneo, or a long-aged Västerbottensost for the Swedish side of the table. Ask the counter to wrap it in paper and tie it with string.
- A home cheesemaking kit (about 350 kr): Ricotta and mozzarella kits come with rennet, citric acid, cloth and a thermometer. A lovely project for a dark Sunday, and fresh ricotta still warm is a revelation.
- A heavy oak or olive wood board (about 400 kr): Big enough for three cheeses, bread and a jar, with no plastic and no gimmicks. Wood is kind to knife edges and only gets better with a little oil once a month.
- The Oxford Companion to Cheese (about 600 kr): A huge, serious reference book covering cheeses, techniques and traditions from all over the world. The kind of book they will open to look up one thing and still be reading an hour later.
- A cast-iron fondue pot (about 1,000 kr): For long winter evenings with friends. Use it for Swiss fondue or for Piedmont's fonduta, Fontina melted with milk and egg yolks, with a few shavings of truffle if the season and the budget allow.
Recipe: truffle cheese fondue with poached eggs
Something homemade
My favourite gift for a cheese lover costs very little: a tin of crisp seeded crackers and a jar of my own cognà. I make the cognà at harvest, when there is fresh must from my Barbera grapes, cooked slowly with quince, pears, figs and a handful of hazelnuts until it is dark and spoonable. If you have no vineyard, a good shop-bought jar does the same job.
The crackers are the Swedish fröknäcke, and they are almost impossible to get wrong. Stir together 100 g oat or rye flour, 150 g mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, linseed), 1 teaspoon salt, 50 ml rapeseed oil and 200 ml boiling water. Spread the mixture as thinly as you can between two sheets of baking paper, peel off the top sheet, score into squares and bake at 150°C for about an hour, until completely dry and crisp. Let them cool on the tray, then break them up.
- Keep: in an airtight tin for about two weeks.
- Pack: in a tin lined with baking paper, with the jar tucked in the middle.
- Add: a tag that says which cheeses they suit best. Aged and salty with cognà, soft and fresh with honey.
Bella's tip: If you give cheese, give it the day before you see them, not a week ahead. Tell them to take it out of the fridge an hour before eating. Cold cheese tastes of very little, and that hour is the cheapest upgrade there is.
What to pour with it
A cheese gift begs for a bottle. With Castelmagno and aged Piedmont cheeses I reach for a Barbera or a Nebbiolo from the Langhe. With blue cheese, something sweet. With fresh cheeses, a crisp white such as Arneis. For the full logic of matching, our guide below walks through it.
Guide: food wine pairing
