The brief was simple. Find out what British cheesemakers recommend as the best pairing for their cheeses and see if a crack team of cheesemongers can find a better match. Patrick McGuigan and his expert panel chose nine British cheeses and tried them with two accompaniments each. One from the maker and one from a monger. The best pairing wins.
British cheese traditionalists might want to sit down before we break the following news: you don’t always have to serve cheese with chutney and crackers.
From grazing platters strewn with exotic fruits and edible flowers to chefs creating weird and wonderful condiments, the rules on what you can serve with cheese are being ripped up and rethought by a new generation of cheese lovers.
Pick & Cheese in London is a prime example. Set up by Mathew Carver in 2019, the restaurant is home to the world’s first conveyor belt of cheese.
This wondrous revolving belt is laden with plates of British cheese paired with cutting edge accompaniments that go far beyond the traditional. Think Cornish Gouda with clotted cream fudge, Cenarth Brie with chilli jam or Stilton with kimchi.
It’s the perfect venue to explore what makes the perfect cheese pairing, but before we start our experts get into a discussion about what makes a great match.
“I’m looking for an accompaniment that makes the cheese taste better,” says Stephen Fleming of George & Joseph in Leeds. “I want it to amplify the characteristics of the cheese or take it in a different direction.”
Pick & Cheese general manager Hero Hirsh agrees: “You’re looking for an experience that is greater than the sum of its parts. So both the cheese and the accompaniment taste better together.”
Complementary and contrasting flavours and textures are a good starting point, says Mathew Carver. “Goats’ cheese often has a herbaceous flavour, so anything with rosemary or thyme will work with it. A crunchy accompaniment with a soft cheese is also a nice contrast. It’s why rosemary shortbread with goats’ cheese is lovely.”
Lucy Hunt, who runs LucyCheese, also argues that ratios are important. “Getting the right amount to go with the cheese so it doesn’t overpower the flavour, but you can also still taste the accompaniment is key. I sometimes serve cheese with just a few shavings of dark chocolate, rather than whole pieces because you only want a little of that bitter-sweet flavour.”
With these thoughts fresh in our mind, and plates of British cheese trundling along the conveyor belt behind us, we start our tasting.
Baron Bigod
Cheesemaker’s choice: Honeycomb & balsamic vinegar
Cheesemonger’s choice: White chocolate
They eat their Baron Bigod a bit differently in Suffolk. At least cheesemaker Jonny Crickmore does. He recommends popping a hunk of honeycomb on his gooey, Brie-style cheese so that it slowly sinks into the paste. He then adds a few drops of syrupy balsamic.
Our cheese experts are intrigued by the advice and immediately warm to the combination. “This does take the cheese to a new level,” says Carver. ”The balsamic adds a real kick, which cuts through the cheese and the honey.”
Fleming’s idea of serving white chocolate with the cheese is less successful. The chunks of chocolate are deemed too waxy against the soft cheese, although thin shavings worked better.
“There’s a silky, glossy mouthfeel to white chocolate that is quite similar to the texture of Baron,” he says.
Hirsh finds the vegetal notes of the cheese too much for the creamy chocolate. “They have different melting points, so the chocolate struggles to make its mark.”
WINNER: Baron Bigod and honeycomb & balsamic vinegar
Pyghtle
Cheesemaker’s choice: Dried mango
Cheesemonger’s choice: Turkish Delight
Emily Tydeman, owner of Broughton Hall Dairy in Suffolk, started making her log-shaped, raw sheep’s milk cheese in 2023, and is adamant that dried mango pieces, specifically from Forest Feast, are the ultimate pairing for the creamy cheese (pronounced ‘Pie-tul’).
Our experts, however, have other views. “There’s a yielding quality to the cheese, but the mango pieces are quite leathery,” says Hirsh. “Texture-wise it’s a bit uncomfortable.”
Fleming agrees: “I’m losing most of the flavour of the cheese. There’s a lot of chewing required for the mango, but the cheese just melts away.”
Mathew Carver has another suggestion. Turkish Delight with goats’ cheese is a favourite at Pick & Cheese. “I think the perfumed, floral flavours will work in a similar way with a lactic sheep’s cheese,” he says.
Hunt agrees: “The rose flavour brings out something floral in the cheese.”
WINNER: Pyghtle and Turkish Delight
Ticklemore
Cheesemaker’s choice: Fig chutney
Cheesemonger’s choice: Morello cherry jam
Part Caerphilly and part Brie, Ticklemore is made from pasteurised goats’ milk by Sharpham Cheese in Devon. Owner Greg Parsons recommends “anything fig based” as a match, especially the dairy’s own-brand Caramelised Fig & Pinot Noir Chutney.
We try the crumbly white cheese, which has a fudgey breakdown, with The Bay Tree’s Sticky Figgy Chutney, but there’s a strong caramelised onion note to the condiment that clashes with the cheese’s lactic notes.
Hunt’s suggestion of morello cherry jam (ours is from Harvey Nichols) has our experts lost for words as they taste, before they all start to voice their approval. “I’m getting afternoon tea vibes here,” says Fleming. “It’s like clotted cream and jam.”
Hunt compares the match to a fruity milkshake. “It reminds me of a cherry drop, which brings out a milky sweetness, like caramel, in the cheese. I love it.”
WINNER: Ticklemore and morello cherry jam
Kirkham’s Lancashire
Cheesemaker’s choice: Eccles Cake
Cheesemonger’s choice: Salty liquorice
Kirkham’s Lancashire served with an Eccles cake has been a stalwart of the menu at famous London restaurant St John for 30 years, so it seemed the obvious place to start.
The Eccles from St John’s Covent Garden bakery didn’t disappoint. Crisp flakey puff pastry filled with dense, sticky currants seasoned with nutmeg and all-spice. It’s an intense partner for the fluffy, buttery charms of Kirkham’s Lancashire.
“It’s the most supreme Eccles cake I’ve ever tasted,” says Hirsh, while Carver says that he is going to buy one for his lunch straight after the tasting.
Ratios are important in this match, adds Hunt, who says the richness of the Eccles cake requires a hefty wedge of cheese. “You want 2:1 cheese to Eccles cake.”
The alternative pairing of salty liquorice, proposed by Fleming, unfortunately stands no chance. “I was hoping the salty flavour would pick up on the salty, savoury flavour in the cheese,” he says.
“Yes, but this is too salty,” says Carver. “I quite like the treacle flavour with the cheese, but it’s too salty and chewy.”
WINNER: Kirkham’s Lancashire and Eccles Cake
Cornish Kern
Cheesemaker’s choice: Honey & apple
Cheesemonger’s choice: Date molasses
Otto Mead, son of Lynher Dairies owner Catherine Mead, is a purist when it comes to the Alpine-style Cornish Kern. A good English apple and a drizzle of honey is all he wants for the sweet, nutty cow’s milk cheese.
Our experts tend to agree. “I’m getting a kind of sticky toffee apple effect, but not as sweet, which I’m really enjoying,” says Hunt. “Kern is so compact and dense, but the juicy apple helps balance it out.
Hirsh has reservations, however. “It’s not bringing out enough of the nuttiness of the cheese.”
She proposes a dash of date molasses from Odysea instead. “One of my favourite wine pairings with Kern is a Tawny port, so I wanted an accompaniment that brings those nutty, butterscotch notes,” she says. “This date molasses is like liquid sticky toffee pudding.”
Carver is convinced: “The sweetness is really complementary, but there’s bitterness that keeps it in balance,” he says, as Fleming and Hunt nod in unison.
WINNER: Cornish Kern and date molasses
Ashcombe
Cheesemaker’s choice: Saucisson & cocktail onions
Cheesemonger’s choice: Salted crisps
We try Lucy Hunt’s suggested pairing first, which is unusual to say the least. Piper’s Anglesey Sea Salt potato crisps are doled out to our experts, who start crunching away with slices of the Morbier-style cheese, made by King Stone Dairy in Gloucestershire.
“The idea for this came from raclette with potatoes,” explains Hunt. “I thought the smooth texture of Ashcombe would work well with the crunchy crisps.”
“This combines really well in the mouth,” says Hirsh. “I’m really enjoying the textures.”
“I really like it too,” says Carver. “It reminds me of crisps in a cheese sandwich.”
By contrast the saucisson and pickled onion combo feels too complicated, says Hirsh. “Ashcombe is so meaty in flavour anyway that it feels like it’s too much,” she says. “I’m not sure the texture works that well either. The saucisson is too chewy.”
WINNER: Ashcombe and salted crisps
Pitchfork Cheddar
Cheesemaker’s Choice: Kimchi
Cheesemonger’s Choice: Piccalilli
Both matches are popular. Rosebud Preserves Piccalilli, suggested by Hirsh, is a hit. “Show me a better Piccalilli,” she says, banging the table.
Fleming agrees: “It’s a classic combination and the piccalilli is not too sharp. The texture works really well too.”
Valdasz Kimchi is also really popular with our experts. This was recommended by Todd Trethowan, co-owner of Trethowan Brothers, who makes Pitchfork in Somerset. He also makes his own kimchi and says matching it with his savoury, nutty raw milk cheddar is one of his favourite snacks.
“It’s amazing how different the cheddar is with the kimchi,” says Carver. “There are more salty and brothy notes in the cheese which is really delicious. The spice adds another layer too.”
In the end the vote is close, but the Piccalilli pips it.
WINNER: Pitchfork and Piccalilli
Golden Cenarth
Cheesemaker’s choice: Tomato salsa
Cheesemonger’s choice: Bacon jam
This pungent washed rind cheese from Wales proves a sticky cheese in more ways than one. Cheesemaker Carwyn Adams at Caws Cenarth in Carmarthenshire recommends grilling slices of the soft cow’s milk cheese on toast with tomatoes and Worcestershire Sauce.
However, an executive decision is made to adapt this idea with a chipotle tomato salsa as an accompaniment, thereby keeping the tomato idea, but adding smokey chilli notes.
It’s a bad decision by the panel. The Gran Luchito salsa is too watery and not flavourful enough to cope with the powerful cheese.
Mathew Carver’s idea of a few dabs of bacon jam, made by Eat17, is a much better idea. The meaty spread emphasises the savoury depths of the rind. “Bacon jam leans into the beefy, smokey notes of these kinds of cheeses,” he says.
“There is a real beef burger flavour with this combination,” says Hunt. “Lots of meaty flavours and then the cheese comes back at the end a bit like a cheeseburger.”
WINNER: Golden Cenarth and bacon jam
Lanark Blue
Cheesemaker’s choice: Poached pears
Cheesemonger’s choice: Mango chutney
Cheesemaker Selina Cairns of Erringtons in Scotland serves her famous sheep’s milk blue with poached pears and gingerbread in her farm shop café.
We run with the poached pears element in an effort to accentuate the fruity, almost boozy notes of the cheese. But our pears are steeped in a syrup with spices and vanilla and they overpower the cheese slightly.
“I would have preferred just a simple poached pear, because that fruity sweetness is lovely with the salty blue, but the vanilla gets in the way,” says Hirsh.
Hunt thinks it tastes a little like a frangipane tart and Fleming liked the grainy texture of the pear with the crumbly blue.
Even more popular is a spoonful of fragrant Geeta’s Mango Chutney, recommended by Hirsh, which adds contrasting sweetness to the savoury cheese, but also complements its spicy character.
“This is really unique pairing, like a big warm hug,” says Fleming.
WINNER: Lanark Blue and mango chutney
Top 3 pairings:
1. Ticklemore and morello cherry jam
2. Cornish Kern and date molasses
3. Ashcombe and salted crisps
This article first appeared in Good Cheese Magazine 2024-2025
