Great British Food - Christmas 2025

AL P I NE ST Y L E From gruyére to comté and taleggio, Alpine cheeses are all the rage this year. Don’t forget about British alternatives like lincolnshire poacher, mayfield, summer field and Mrs Wells alpine. These are all so versatile, bringing tonnes of flavour to a cheeseboard, but also melting beautifully. Pairings: Alpine cheeses err towards nutty, sweet flavour profiles. Ideal matches include candied orange peel, floral set honeys, toasted hazelnuts or almonds, and dried apricots. Drink: A light red such as a Gamay or Pinot Noir, or an Alsace-style wine like Gewurztraminer are brilliant partners for these cheeses. TRUF F L E CHE ESE Truffle has found its way into so many cheeses – and we’re here for them all! You’ll discover truffled cheddars, soft cheeses, infused truckles, blues and (our favourite) bries layered with silky, unctuous truffled mascarpone. For us, having one of these in your Christmas cheese wheelhouse is a must. Pairings: Bring out the bold bosky nature of truffle with pickled mushrooms, pickled garlic, umami black garlic relishes, and herb-infused honey. Drink: It’s got to be Champagne, darling! Or English bubbles, of course. Letitbreathe Take your cheese out of the fridge at least an hour before you want to eat it to allow all the nuanced flavours to shine through. BR I E - S T YL E CHE ESE What is Christmas without a wooden parcel of brie? It’s become a festive must-have for lots of us, and rightly so. It’s absolutely gorgeous. There are plenty of British-made bries to sample too. Pairings: The classic way of serving brie is to pierce it with a sharp knife and stud it with slivers of garlic before baking. In winter, we like to bake it au natural, before topping with roasted pears, candied walnuts and truffled honey. If it’s going on the cheeseboard, bring the cheese to room temperature two to three hours before serving to allow its middle to gently ooze, and serve with roasted figs, fig chutney, toasted nuts or even pieces of broken real honeycomb. Drink: Bubbles cut through the richness of brie style cheeses, but it also marries perry, mead, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Barbera. A fun pairing for Christmas is chilled sparkling red. Makeyourown ‘fruit cheese’ Bring the cheeseboard to life by making a fruit cheese using plums, quince or figs. Weight out 1kg of fruit, wash it carefully, remove stones (plums) and place in a large pan. Just cover with water, bring to the boil, then simmer until very soft. Blitz in a food processor and pass through a sieve. Weigh the puree and add it to a pan with an equal amount of sugar. Bring to the boil, then simmer (stirring all the time) for an hour or so until very very thick. Decant into little glass butter dishes, seal with waxed paper and allow to cool before wrapping. Store in the fridge for up to three months. It’s divine with blue cheese. greatbr i t i shfoodawards.com 88 FEATURE | CHRI STMAS CHEESE