Christmas cheese pairings with Lisa Goodchild, The Cotswold Cheese Co.

What tweaks do you make to your cheese selection as Christmas approaches?
We have some Christmas favourites that appear in the counter from December. They are Brie de Meaux with Truffles, Blu 61 and Jonathan Crump’s Single Gloucester with Truffle. We still carry the same offering but a lot more of it! In addition, we will have Petit Langrès and an abundance of Colston Bassett Stilton. Vacherin Mont d’Or is in season so we always stock up as it’s always a big hit between Christmas and the New Year.

Do you bring in any additional seasonal cheeseboard products?
To accompany all these cheeses we source a fabulous Panforte from Sienna. This is showcased alongside our cheeses and is a big hit. The aroma from it is pure Christmas.

Do requests/questions from customers change around Christmas?
Our regulars always pre-order, as they don’t want to miss out! We also try and source any special request cheeses that our customers want for Christmas. We find that the main question asked is how long will the cheese last – our advice is always to leave it, if possible until the week before Christmas, to buy. Also, quantities change, everyone wants bigger pieces!

Do you share advice with customers around how to present/care for their cheeses during the festive season?
We do share some advice, the main piece being if you are catering for a large group over a few days, don’t put all your cheese out on the first day. Portion up, that way it won’t look like a dog’s dinner and deteriorate. Also, sometimes less is more; buy three big pieces of cheese rather than five small ones and decorate your board with nuts and fruit or panforte. My final piece of advice is to store in the warmest part of the fridge (salad drawer), this keeps it better and also stops prying eyes at midnight wanting a nibble!

Do you make any changes to your cheese displays around Christmas?
Every chiller is rammed with cheese! This is the month when nothing else matters. Our online cheese shop is incredibly busy so we have to cater space for that too.

Christmas content supported by Woolcool – the pioneers of sustainable temperature-controlled packaging.