Meze Cheese Board a Trois...

For my Monday series on Meze recipes I want to talk about a basic foundation needed in any Mediterranean inspired food spread - Cheese....

Cheese a Trois l-R - P'tit Basque, Asiago with Rosemary, Manchego

A cheese board always makes such a beautiful addition. For a recent Meze party I did, I used three wonderful cheeses... the first one I used was Manchego. This sheep's milk cheese from Spain is firm, has a sweet nuttiness along with occasional aromas of pineapple and a savory piquancy; one of my favorite cheeses.

For the descriptions of the next two cheeses and more fun pictures... JUMP!!!

The next cheese on the board was a Rosemary Asiago...

In the middle - Rosemary Asiago

I love Asiago, especially fresh versions. Asiago cheeses are from Italy and are reminiscent to Parmigiano. They can be fresh and soft and therefore much milder and creamier, or they can be aged and dry and much more robust. The one I used had rosemary pressed into its rind giving it that wonderful herbal flavor that only rosemary can give.

The third cheese on the plate was a P'tit Basque...

This is a sheep's milk cheese from France. P'tit Basque is soft, creamy and has aromas of brown butter and caramel, with flavors that are subtly sweet, combined with a touch of saltiness. It is much softer than Spain's sheep's milk cheese - Manchego, but has a similar basket weave rind.

All three of these cheeses (Spanish, Italian, French) were wonderful with crisp dry white wines, but would have worked just as well with a dry rose, or light fruity red. I also like to add dried fruit to my cheese boards and fun crackers and flat-breads.  I added dried Calimyrna Figs to this board... LOVE MY FIGS and Calimyrnas are worth discovering!!!

For my base I used Leslie Stowe"s Rain Coast Crisps. Leslie Stowe is from Vancouver, BC and she has a really cool boutique culinary shop. I discovered her shop when I lived in Vancouver and managed Major The Gourmet Catering - we used Lesley Stowe's Crisps all the time for our catered events.

Her crackers became so popular in her shop that she started a much larger production and distribution program... you can get these at most fine food stores... I get mine from Jensen's Market in Palm Springs.

Make sure you mark this as item #1 in your Meze design. For item #2 I'm planning Zucchini Fritters...

Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Fritters will be my first step-by-step Meze method post I have planned for this series... STAY-TUNED!