prepare your weapons

At Ivy’s Reserve, we firmly believe it’s what’s inside that counts, and that our cheese can be appreciated in almost any context. All the same, there’s no denying that serving it properly can enhance the experience, not just with other foods as accompaniments but also in the realm of accessories.

As we’re approaching Christmas, it’s the perfect time to think of making a bit of a show. Treating yourself to a few well-chosen cheese accessories is a great way to make the festive cheeseboard a bit special, particularly since you’ll find yourself appreciating them all year round. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of a few cheese tools that we think our grandmother Ivy would have approved. If you’re already well-stocked in this department, remember that they’d also make a great gift for the cheeselovers in your life.

First, there’s the cheeseboard. While most of us grab the biggest breadboard, having a dedicated item is a real treat. These come in a world of shapes and sizes, but the classic material is wood: solid, rustic, natural and ready to age with elegance over a lifetime. The question, though, is which wood to go for. Most experts suggest you avoid anything porous, as that will tend to be a harder clean and allow bacteria to lodge in the wood as smells. That means no soft woods, and also no oak, as that’s surprisingly porous; stick instead to beech, walnut, maple or anything hard. A good bargain option is bamboo, which is tough enough for the job and easy to find.

If you don’t fancy wood, popular alternatives are slate and marble, both ideal for keeping your cheese cooler on a hot day, but altogether more of a statement. Slate gives a modern feel and won’t absorb flavours, while marble may be elegant but is surprisingly hard to clean and an unfriendly surface to cut onto.

Once you’ve settled on a board, you need some tools. If you’re after just one knife, then the versatile Hard Cheese Knife (also known as a truckle knife or often just a “cheese knife”) is your starting point. Usually wide-bladed in a trapezium shape, with a curved tip ending in two spikes, it will take you through most medium to hard cheeses and allows you to spear and serve too. If you’re accompanying your Cheddar with some blue or brie, you’ll also need its sister the Soft Cheese Knife: similarly shaped but with holes along its body, this one will give you a variety of flavours without the sticking.

When dealing with an aged Cheddar like Ivy’s Reserve Vintage, putting the end of the Hard Cheese Knife in and twisting is often the best way, since it allows the natural crumble to do the work. If you’re after neater slices, however, go for a Cheese Cleaver. Looking just like a mini version of a meat cleaver, this will bring precision to your slicing, and is also handy with very hard cheeses such as Parmesan. It’s also an unusual and fun gift for a cheeselover, guaranteed to be a conversation-starter when the board comes out.

Also handy is a Cheese Fork, for distribution only, which makes for a tidier and less cross-flavoured board. Cheesemongers might also recommend a double-handled cheese cutter or even a wire. While these feel more suited to the kitchen than the dining table, they’re available in domestic versions, with handheld cheese wires as well as ones built into boards, guillotine-style, all of them adding a bit of theatre to the cheese course.

Finally, there’s storage. As we become ever more appreciative of food, cheese has happily made its way out of the fridge, and into more traditional storage items such as cloches, dishes and stores. As any cheese-lover knows, it should never be served cold, so even if you’re not ready to turn your back on refrigeration (which still has its uses, for longer-term storage), these are great for bringing your selection up to room temperature before service.

Most traditional is the ceramic cheese dish, preferably in the classic wedge shape. As well as providing the big reveal moment when the lid is removed, these usually double as a cheeseboard as well as keeping your Cheddar cool, contained and away from other flavours. Currently making a revival is the cloche or dome, particular in glass. Like the dish, these will preserve over short periods and often come with a marble base that doubles for service. A third option, for that country-kitchen look that’s halfway between nostalgia and practicality, is a Kilner Cheese Store. These hark back to the charming Victorian larder look, but have an ingenious modern silicone seal that can be removed if you want your cheese to breathe, as well as a ceramic base that turns them into a mini board. In the style of grandmother Ivy herself, they’re quietly stylish but also supremely effective.