Everyone loves the milky rich taste of brie. This soft-ripened French cheese with its velvety white rind can be eaten as is with crackers or a crusty baguette, but it also adds a touch of decadence to savoury dishes. Show off brie’s oozing, melting glory in baked dishes, savoury bread puddings, or simply wrapped in puff pastry and baked till golden.
A cheese that absolutely deserves to be a part of your cheeseboard is Comté. A mainstay in French households, this ivory-coloured hard mountain cheese tastes like brown butter, roasted nuts, fruit and sweet spices. Protected by a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), this cheese can only be produced in certain areas of the Franche-Comté region. Eat it as a snack or swap it for Cheddar in a mac and cheese or fold through creamy scrambled eggs.
Recipes Inspiration
More ideas from Spinneys
While traditional blue cheeses can be crumbly and salty with an overpowering whiff, Saint Agur is a luxurious double-cream cheese that is smooth and tangy. Its high butterfat ratio helps it melt nicely into sauces, but you can also make savoury shortbread biscuits (sablés) or crumble it into a green salad.
Saint-Marcellin is a small and softly crusted cow’s milk cheese from Lyon that comes in its own little terracotta pot. When ripe, if you break through the thin rind with a cracker, outflows this salty, creamy cheese that’s delicious when baked with vegetables such as asparagus or courgette, in winter salads with dried fruits, or as part of a crudité platter.
More cheese spread than actual cheese, Boursin is a herb and spice flavoured French cream cheese with a buttery and slightly crumbly texture. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s delicious spread over crackers, stuffed into pasta shells, or simply spooned into vol-au-vents with sliced mushrooms and baked for a quick canapé for New Year’s Eve.
