No summer is complete without a big bowl of beautiful salad in the centre of the table. Ingredients are lovingly thrown together - whatever's growing in the garden, whatever's left in the fridge. The humble salad is a beautiful messy gathering of the season's greatest gifts. But which salad leaves pair well with our cheese?
When pairing cheese with anything you have two options: harmonious or contrasting. It’s good to consider what flavour principles you’re looking for to balance the salad and the cheese; bitter, salt, sharp, umami, vegetal. It’s all there to play with, and you should have fun with it!
The cheese at the rind will taste drastically different to the cheese at the nose. Try grating the cheese close to the rind to add a dash of complexity to the salad leaves.
Try our Goat’s Cheese & Grilled Nectarine Salad for a zesty, vibrant and sweet summer salad, or our Oak Smoked Goat's Cheese, Wild Blackberry & Fig Salad for a more earthy and smoky flavours.
QUICKE'S MATURE CLOTHBOUND CHEDDAR
Great for adding an umami core to a mixed salad. Melt from the grass fed fats binding flavour together. Can stand up to bitter, vegetal and oniony salad leaves. Match mature with rocket or marigold.
QUICKE'S VINTAGE CLOTHBOUND CHEDDAR
Its complex caramel notes make it the perfect pair for mustard leaves, garlic leaves and wild garlic flowers, chive flowers, chicory, grown out lettuce and endive.
GOATS MILK CLOTHBOUND CHEESE
A delicate and aromatic cheese like this is good to pair with other aromatics: fennel, and marjoram, nutty flavoured leaves like salsify, scorzonera, as well as rose with almond notes of sweet woodruff.
DEVONSHIRE RED CLOTHBOUND CHEESE
Simpler flavours of sharp, lemony and buttery calls for simple matches. Amazing with oyster plant, salad burnet and borage flower.
OAK SMOKED CLOTHBOUND CHEDDAR
Our Oak Smoked cheddar adds a delicious gentle smoky note to a mixed salad. With its subtle balance of flavour, this cheese can handle some big chunky flavours. Tuck in with par-cel, mustards and nasturtium.
Mary lovingly tends to her salad leaves all year, picking salad leaves and edible flowers every morning before they are washed and bagged to sell in The Cheese Box. If you’re interested in growing your own salad leaves, Mary has shared her best growing tips and favourite salad leaves to grow.
We love to see how you’re incorporating our cheeses into your summer picnics and barbecues. Whether shaved into salads or melted in a burger, show us your Quicke’s barbecue creations by tagging us @quickescheese.
