All about the baby cheeses: how to curate a festive cheeseboard to remember
What should I serve on my Christmas cheeseboard?David, via emailIt will come as no surprise that Mathew Carver, founder of Pick & Cheese, The Cheese Barge and Rind, eats a lot of cheese, so in an effort to keep his festive selection interesting, he usually focuses on a specific area or region: “Last year, for instance, I spent Christmas in Scotland and served only local cheese,” Wales is up later this month,“I’m a creature of habit and tend always to go back to the cheeses I love, so this strategy makes me try new ones,” he explains – plus there’s nothing to stop you slipping in a classic such as comté in there too, because, well, Christmas,Unless you’re going for “the baller move” of just serving one glorious cheese, Bronwen Percival, technical director of Neal’s Yard Dairy, would punt for three or four “handsome wedges, rather than slivers of too many options”,After all, few have “the time or attention for a board that needs a lot of explaining”.
The trick is to find a balance between styles.“The perfect five would be a hard, a soft, a blue, a sheep and a goat’s,” says Carver, who factors in 50-60g of each cheese per person.“The general consensus is 30-40g, but at Christmas you need more than you can fathomably eat.”As to what those cheeses are, Percival would champion classic regional cheeses that “have languished on the margins for too long”.First up, Stonebeck Wensleydale: “It’s incredibly creamy with a flavour that unfolds long after you’ve eaten it,” she says.
“It will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about Wensleydale.” Next up, Appleby’s cheshire, which, Percival notes, is “succulent and mineral, with a gentle crumble and citrus brightness.A big wedge with salted cultured butter and crackers is the perfect cheese course.” Just add a glass of port or kombucha.Mrs Kirkham’s lancashire, meanwhile, would be a dream on Christmas Eve with gingerbread or gingersnaps, Percival adds.
Carter, however, is very partial to a sheep’s cheese: “There’s not an awful lot of sheep’s milk cheese made in the UK,” he says, “but Wakebridge [made in Derby] is similar to a lancashire or cheddar, and it’s got a nice sweetness to it.”But don’t stop there: you then need to accessorise, Percival says.That might be a plum and red onion chutney, a drizzle of good honey, or some spiced poached quinces, plus those all-important crackers (her go-tos are sourdough and oatcakes).Carter, on the other hand, prefers “something that’s a bit out of the box”.Think a not-too-strong goat’s cheese with rose Turkish delight, say, kimchi with stilton or garlic with brie.
“Roast some garlic, then mix it with a bit of honey to make a paste,That, or a simple parsnip puree, would be really nice with a soft, bloomy rind cheese,”While it’s arguably always the right time for cheese, Percival often goes early,“In the US, where I’m from, cheese often appears before the meal,It’s something to nibble with a glass of something fizzy, and its job is to whet the appetite, not finish the meal.
” Even so, Carter is firmly in the post-dessert cheeseboard camp: “I like to finish Christmas dinner at about 4pm, eat chocolate for a few hours, then have cheese and port around 6pm.And then that’s Christmas Day done.”Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com
My cultural awakening: The Lehman Trilogy helped me to live with my sight loss
I began to notice my sight deteriorating in my 40s, but not just in the way that you expect it to with age. I had night blindness and blind spots in my field of view. At 44, I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye condition that causes the retina cells to die. I had always been a very visually oriented person: I was a practising architect, and someone who loved to read, draw, go to the cinema and visit art exhibitions. So when black text disappeared on a glaring white page, films became impossible to follow and artworks only took shape once explained to me, I questioned who I would be without my vision
The Guide #221: Endless ticket queues, AI slop and ALL CAPS agony
It’s time for a big old moan. Next week’s newsletter will be a roundup of our favourite culture of the year, a bit of an annual Guide tradition by now, and something that’s great fun to put together.But do you know what’s even more fun? Complaining about things. So, this week’s Guide is devoted to cultural gripes, big and small, of 2025. Here’s what had us seething this year
From Eleanor the Great to Emily in Paris: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Eleanor the GreatOut nowJune Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, which premiered at Cannes and tells the tale of the eponymous Eleanor, a senior citizen recently relocated to New York, who strikes up a friendship with a 19-year old – and then stumbles her way into pretending to be a Holocaust survivor.LurkerOut nowA hit at Sundance, this is the story of a lowly retail employee who happens to strike up a friendship with a rising pop star, becoming the Boswell to his Johnson, if Boswell was part of a pop star’s entourage. But the path of friendship with a famous person never did run smooth, and the uneven power dynamic soon prompts some desperate manoeuvring in this psychological thriller.Ella McCayOut nowEmma Mackey stars in the latest from James L Brooks (his first since 2010), a political comedy about an idealistic thirtysomething working in government and preparing to step into the shoes of her mentor, Governor Bill (Albert Brooks). Jamie Lee Curtis co-stars as Ella’s aunt
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‘Like lipstick on a fabulous gorilla’: the Barbican’s many gaudy glow-ups and the one to top them all
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Barbican to close its doors for a year for multimillion-pound renovation
The Barbican will close its doors for 12 months from June 2028 as it undergoes a multimillion-pound renovation that its leaders say will secure its future.The arts organisation’s Beech Street cinemas will remain open but its theatre, music venue, conservatory and visual arts galleries are set to shutter as the overhaul of the 43-year-old building begins in the lead-up to its 50th anniversary in 2032.The main Barbican site will close its doors in June 2028 and reopen in June 2029, but some disruption will happen before that as the foyer, lakeside area and internal control room are all renovated.The conservatory, which is open only for a few hours at the weekend and currently has netting to stop falling glass, will close earlier, in 2027.Philippa Simpson, the director of buildings and renewal at the Barbican, said the work could not be completed while the site was open to the public as it would be too dangerous, but that it was essential to secure the site’s future
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