TMI: I’m lactose intolerant, but that hasn’t ever stopped me from eating cheese. Whole milk? Yes. Cheese? Not a chance.
That’s why when Curdbox sent me their January box, I couldn’t wait to dig in. Inside the curated box of treats were two hard cheeses and one soft cheese. There was also a pack of cheese biscuits, mini sweet peppers and cherry fig jam that blew my mind.
Immediately, I was a fan of the Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. The crumbly saltiness was a familiar taste in my mouth. The Mini Harbison, a soft cheese wrapped in spruce bark, scared me. I don’t usually eat a lot of soft cheeses so I was unsure if I should spread it, cut it or melt it. And the Kaltbach Cave-Aged Emmental made me think about wine tastings. At first taste, it wasn’t for me. But like a dry wine, you can enhance the flavor to your liking by adding layers of other flavors.
That’s why I decided to create a Valentine’s Day-Inspired graze board with my Curdbox.
In additions to the selections in my Curdbox, the graze board included the following:
- apple slices
- hard salami
- Kalamata olives
- chocolate-covered peanut clusters
- heart-shaped chocolate pretzels topped with sprinkles
- unsalted almonds
- fig and olive crisps
As someone who doesn’t like to give into fear, I decided to melt the Mini Harbison. I used the savory cheese biscuits as a vehicle for the gooey cheese before topping it with salami. To counter the dryness of the Kaltbach Cave-Aged Emmental cheese, I paired it with fig and olive crisps. But not before dipping them into the cherry fig jam. That’s when something exciting happened in my mouth. I don’t know if it was the crunch of the crisps, the velvet-like quality of the cheese or the sweetness of the jam. But there was a salty-sweet explosion erupting on my tongue and I more than enjoyed it. Again, the cheddar was a familiar taste so I paired the cheese nuggets with all the things on the graze board.
Of course, I paired my graze board with a red blend wine with subtle notes of oak and cherries. With three artisanal cheeses, a bottle of wine and and a smorgasbord (or graze board) of food items, it was the perfect date for me and my love.
