Think you’re already nailing the platter? These two experts tell us how to hit cheese perfection.

Can you ever really go wrong when serving cheese to friends? We say no – unless they’re all vegan or lactose intolerant, perhaps. There’s something about a cheese board that gets people excited, particularly as we don’t tend to buy special cheese for ourselves. As an almost universally loved offering, it’s pretty hard to mess up a cheese platter, but there are still a few ways you can lift your game. And who better to share their tips than a couple of siblings who truly know their stuff?

Ellie and Sam Studd are cheese experts, certified cheese professionals and authors (their book The Best Things in Life are Cheese is brilliant). They’re following in the footsteps of their dad Will, who has worked with artisan and farmhouse cheeses for decades. That means the pair grew up in “a household that stunk of cheese”, holidays were spent visiting cheesemakers overseas, and, at times, they’d lug backpacks full of cheese to their teachers – especially right before school reports came out. While Ellie was a paediatric nurse for 10 years and Sam worked in hospitality, even dabbling in cheesemaking (“Turns out it’s hard work and you have to stand in the one spot!”), they couldn’t resist the pull.

Today, the siblings work together with Will and are more passionate than ever about cheese. “For me, a lot of it’s about telling a story, and the relationships I’ve forged that have been long-lasting,” Sam says. “It’s an ethos and a story that needs to be told that’s in danger of being eradicated through commodification.” Ellie agrees these artisan stories are important, also adding that cheese is simply a wonderful thing. “Cheese for us is a joyful celebration,” she says. “Suck in the joy, I say!”

So, next time you’re in charge of the cheese board, follow these expert tips from Ellie and Sam to create the ultimate spread.

Cutting into cheese on a plate sitting next to grapes and crackers

1. Less is more

“Five bad cheeses aren’t as good as one good one,” Sam says. That means always opting for the best quality option and not overwhelming people with too much choice. Sam says it can also be helpful to consider what you’re trying to achieve with your cheese board. “Do you want people to congregate around it and talk about it? Or are they going to hit it and quit it and run? And what kind of friends do you have coming around? Are they people you want to spend money on?” In short, customise your board to suit the people and occasion.

2. The rule of odd numbers

Odd numbers of cheese work well on a board, according to Ellie. Stick with just one “rockstar cheese” or go for three or five – these quantities tend to look and work best. Ellie likes to arrange them diagonally, too. And when choosing cheese styles, it’s important to consider texture. “It’s nice to have something soft and gooey, then something harder and crumbly, and maybe end with a washed rind,” Ellie says. “Take guests on a journey from mild to wild.” And while it’s tempting to push the boundaries with each cheese, the duo says it's always good to have a crowd-pleaser in the mix. “Then people won’t feel intimidated,” Ellie says.

3. Serve (most) cheese at room temperature

A key factor when serving cheeses is to allow them to come up to room temperature. This is true for most styles except the big-flavoured blue cheeses – only pull out your blues when you’re ready to serve them. Where you live and its climate will determine when it will be best to take your cheese out of the fridge, but, generally, one to two hours before guests arrive is ideal. “That way, your cheese is going to taste at its optimum, and you’ll get its true flavour expression,” Ellie says.

4. Get the cheese started

One of Sam’s pet peeves when serving cheeses is when people don’t cut them correctly. His solution? Make a “suggestive cut” in each one when laying them out so people can follow your lead. That includes cutting circular cheeses like you would a cake so everybody gets an even share. This can also help to encourage people to dig in because sometimes a beautiful cheese will sit untouched, with guests too polite or intimidated to cut into it. One knife per cheese is recommended, and a skeleton knife is the ultimate choice, according to Ellie.

5. Theme your selections

It’s easy to choose various styles of cheese for your board, but you can also pick a different idea or theme to bring it all together. Sam suggests you could go for all-Aussie cheeses, or all French, or maybe all hard styles. Seasonality is another solid approach. In summer, fresh cheeses like burrata are ideal, and they might be served with tomatoes and cucumber, for example. Washed rind cheeses, on the other hand, are great in autumn. “Get creative with the seasons!” Ellie says.

Two people enjoying a cheese board with a glass of wine

6. What to serve with it – and how

Heaving grazing tables may look great on socials – those ones loaded up with cheese, nuts, fruit, cured meats and more – but the duo says to pare it back. “Don’t be afraid of negative space,” Ellie says. “Once you’re cramming it in, you’re spending way more money trying to fill it, and the flavours often don’t go.” The Studds like to place ideal accompaniments next to the relevant cheese to encourage the best combos. That might include a washed rind with cornichons, blue cheese with sweet, sticky elements like honey or jam, and even aged gouda with dark chocolate – a surprisingly great match. Texture is important, too. “Soft and slippery cheese needs crunch – go for nuts or even raw veggies,” Ellie says. And sometimes, they like to place bread and crackers away from the board so people are more likely to try the cheese on its own and fully appreciate the flavours.

7. The best drink matches

It’s not always about wine when the siblings pair drinks to cheese, especially that traditional choice of a big red with bold styles like cheddar. “Those sharp flavours and big tannins don’t often go together,” Sam says. “Beer, whisky and sake can be way easier to pair – and way more fun.” Some of their favourite matches include single malt whisky with gouda or cheddar, roquefort or blue with sake and mead, and cider with camembert. Still, they admit there are some age-old classic wine pairings for good reason. Dessert wine with blue cheese always works, just like Champagne with a creamy pick like Brillat-Savarin. “High-fat cheeses and Champagne are a match made in heaven,” Sam says. “If we had to go with one no-brainer, that would be it.”

Cheese and accompaniments piled up on a plate

8. Packaging counts

As the Studds say, cheese is a living, breathing organism, so it’s important to choose the right packaging. Wooden boxes, wax paper and perforated plastic all get the tick of approval because they allow the cheese inside to breathe. If you do buy a hard cheese that’s been cryovaced or wrapped in tight plastic, Sam suggests first scraping it with the back of a knife because it can otherwise distort the flavour. “Imagine if you Glad-Wrapped your arm for the day and what it would be like at the end of it – really gross and stinky,” he says. Those wooden boxes can also help your platter arrangement – turn them upside down and place the cheese on top to add some height to your layout.

9. When to serve the cheese

When is the ideal time to serve a cheese board? Should it come out before, during or after the meal? Ellie loves to fill her guests up with cheese. “I’d rather cook less for dinner than have everyone say they’re so full,” she says. “And if you have a rocking cheese board and guests arrive and they’re like ‘wow’, then I think that’s a real joy and celebration.” A cheese board can also make a great talking point, Sam says. It can break through the small talk, so a great cheese selection can be helpful to have out when guests arrive. Ellie also likes to make cheese the main event by grilling halloumi in front of guests. “You really can’t stuff it up,” she says. “Just fry it up and drizzle it with lemon juice or honey – it’s hot and everyone loves it.”

10. Get to know your cheesemonger

There are so many artisan cheeses out there, all made with love and generations of know-how, so it’s worth chatting to your local cheesemonger or the cheesemaker at your nearest farmers’ markets to hear what’s on offer. Learning first-hand about a cheese’s origins, how it’s made and the history behind it is a lot like visiting a cellar door and leaving with a deeper connection to the wines. “People say cheese is so expensive, but it’s less than a bottle of wine,” Ellie says. “We really need to change the lens of it – these are cheeses made with so much care, created from animals that are well looked after, and we need to tell that story.”

The Best Things in Life are Cheese by Ellie and Sam Studd is available in all good book stores (Plum, $44.99).