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Composing the Cheese Plate: Recipes, Pairings, and Platings for the Inventive Cheese Course
A complete introduction to everything you need to know about designing and plating beautiful cheese boards.
Cheese need not stand alone! Composing the Cheese Plate isn't just another cheese book -- it's a gateway into the wonderful world of pairing and plating your favorite cheeses with dozens of sweet and savory condiments. Fromager Brian Keyser and pastry chef Leigh Friend provide inventive recipes that go way beyond the average crackers and jam. Instead, think chutneys, pestos, purees, whole grain mustards, fruit curds, nut brittles, pickles, honeys, and more!
Included are 70 recipes for cheese accompaniments and the philosophy behind pairing flavors, notes on affinage, seasonality, and presentation, a cheese cutting guide, cheese and condiment pairing guides, and everything you'd ever want to know about cheese so you can create impressive, unique cheese boards for your next party or gathering.
Cheese need not stand alone! Composing the Cheese Plate isn't just another cheese book -- it's a gateway into the wonderful world of pairing and plating your favorite cheeses with dozens of sweet and savory condiments. Fromager Brian Keyser and pastry chef Leigh Friend provide inventive recipes that go way beyond the average crackers and jam. Instead, think chutneys, pestos, purees, whole grain mustards, fruit curds, nut brittles, pickles, honeys, and more!
Included are 70 recipes for cheese accompaniments and the philosophy behind pairing flavors, notes on affinage, seasonality, and presentation, a cheese cutting guide, cheese and condiment pairing guides, and everything you'd ever want to know about cheese so you can create impressive, unique cheese boards for your next party or gathering.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published September 13, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 25, 2025
This book approaches the assembly of a artful cheese board from a different angle by encouraging people to make their own diverse accompaniments and avoid standard store-bought jam and cracker pairings. Specific cheeses are recommended, as well as more general pairings; this info is included with recipes and is even clearer in charts at the back of the book.
Really, I found the charts in the back to be the most relevant for my future use, because unfortunately, most of the recipes are just not the kind of thing I would make. I did find two recipes for nuts, though, (Bourbon Walnuts and Buttered Pecans) that I'd love to try. I also found many of the cheeses they suggest to be unattainable for people in America unless they live near a good metropolitan area cheese shop. I mean, I've tried almost 2,000 cheeses (which I chronicle), but there were a surprising number I hadn't even heard of before. In a few cases, though, that may be because the cheese is sadly no longer available (the book was published in 2016).
The hardcover book is full color and most of the recipes and cheeses are photographed, though I noted at least one section photograph where items were mislabeled. I also wish that the order in which the recipes are introduced in the section was repeated as the order in which the recipes are actually listed.
This is a book that will be most effectively used by someone who is a hardcore entertainer who wants to make as much as possible from scratch, and lives near a high-end cheesemonger. I fit neither of those categories, alas, but I'll still keep the book for the more generalized info it offers--and those nut recipes. Also, it's a just plain pretty book. Someone could also use it for a coffee table.
Really, I found the charts in the back to be the most relevant for my future use, because unfortunately, most of the recipes are just not the kind of thing I would make. I did find two recipes for nuts, though, (Bourbon Walnuts and Buttered Pecans) that I'd love to try. I also found many of the cheeses they suggest to be unattainable for people in America unless they live near a good metropolitan area cheese shop. I mean, I've tried almost 2,000 cheeses (which I chronicle), but there were a surprising number I hadn't even heard of before. In a few cases, though, that may be because the cheese is sadly no longer available (the book was published in 2016).
The hardcover book is full color and most of the recipes and cheeses are photographed, though I noted at least one section photograph where items were mislabeled. I also wish that the order in which the recipes are introduced in the section was repeated as the order in which the recipes are actually listed.
This is a book that will be most effectively used by someone who is a hardcore entertainer who wants to make as much as possible from scratch, and lives near a high-end cheesemonger. I fit neither of those categories, alas, but I'll still keep the book for the more generalized info it offers--and those nut recipes. Also, it's a just plain pretty book. Someone could also use it for a coffee table.
March 28, 2017
This book needed a much better proofreader. Don't trust the numbering of the photos!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews