Camembert
La Cave à Fromage
Camembert St Normandie
250g, £6.90
Oozing, ripe and ready to eat, this is a really luxurious cheese for people who love strong camembert. Fantastic.
★★★★★
Sainsbury's
Taste the Difference French Camembert
250g, £2.35
A bold flavour and good body, but it needs to be ripened a bit.
★★★
Lidl
Le Chene d'Argent French Camembert
250g, £1.39
Nice texture but has a simple, mild flavour. This makes it a good option for camembert and cranberry sandwiches.
★★
Tesco
Finest* Camembert
250g, £2.35
Lacking richness, the weakest flavour of the lot. It would take on other flavours well, so I'd bake it with garlic and thyme.
★★
Cheddar
La Fromagerie
Westcombe Cheddar
21.75/kilo
Has complexity and good acidity. I love the depth of farmyardy, straw flavours.
★★★★
Wholefoods
Exclusive Seaside Cheddar
£13.90/kilo
You can really taste the dairy in this. It's mature, has nice salt crystals within and is perfect for a Christmas cheeseboard.
★★★★
Sainsbury's
Taste the Difference West Country Farmhouse Extra Mature Cheddar
250g, £2.69
A simple style of cheddar and good for anyone who likes milder cheese. I'd use this as an ingredient rather than on a board.
★★★
Waitrose
Westcombe Extra Mature Cheddar
£15.99/kilo
Fruity and light but without much depth or age. A straightforward sandwich cheddar.
★★
Stilton
Tesco
British Blue Stilton
220g, £2.15
Great body and depth of flavour, with the ideal balance of salty and sweet. The perfect amount of blue, too.
★★★★★
Fortnum and Mason
Red Crown Stilton Jar
300g, £30
Creamy, soft and with good body. It's not very traditional to look at but it tastes fantastic – I like the nuttiness.
★★★★
Wholefoods
Colston Bassett
100g, £2.69
Nice distribution of blue. Looks perfect but tastes a bit too sweet and there's an unexpected spiciness.
★★★
Paxton and Whitfield
Cropwell Bishop Stilton
£23/kilo
There's too much blue here – you can taste the mould more than the cheese. There's not a lot of body either. Tastes like a supermarket stilton.
★★
Quince
Brindisa
Membrillo Quince Jam
130g, £3.50
Quite sweet but with the gorgeous grittiness you get from quinces. It has real fruit perfume and acidity at the end.
★★★★
Tesco
Finest* Quince Jelly
155g, £2
Balanced fruit notes – sometimes quince paste can be too sweet but they've levelled this out with good acidity.
★★★
Marks and Spencer
Enedi Quince Paste
120g, £1.49
Bit on the sweet side for me. It has a nice, grainy quince texture but the sugar content is too cloying to really enjoy.
★★
Neal's Yard
Membrillo Spanish Quince Paste
£12.35/kilo
Sweet and gelatinous. It's not fruity enough and looks too set to be appetising. I like the spicy notes though.
★
Cheese crackers
The Co-operative
Truly Irresistible Biscuits for Cheese
300g, £3
A versatile cracker for all cheeses, particularly cheddars and blue varieties. Really nice.
★★★★
Paxton and Whitfield
Original Crackers
150g, £2.95
I like the seasoning here – it's a bit punchier than your average cheese biscuit. Would work well with a washed rind cheese like an epoisses.
★★★★
Waitrose
Essential Waitrose Biscuits for Cheese
300g, £1.79
Has the texture and malty flavour of a rich tea biscuit. Not keen on it as a cheese biscuit – better with a cuppa!
★★★
Sainsbury's
Taste the Difference Cornish Sea Salt & Black Pepper Biscuits
150g, £1.50
An old school, traditional cracker texture with nice pepperiness to taste. Good with any cheese.
★★★
Oatcakes
Waitrose
Duchy Originals from Waitrose Original Oaten Biscuit
150g, £1.99
Excellent balance of sweet and salty, with a nice oaty flavour. I could eat this on its own, let alone with cheese.
★★★★
Harrods
Core Oat Crunch
150g, £6.95
A thin, straightforward oatcake. A perfect canvas for the cheese – bland in the right way.
★★★
Marks and Spencer
Oatcakes
300g, 99p
Lovely biscuity flavour and balanced on the salt front. Would do the job as an oatcake for cheese.
★★★
Lidl
McAllisters Scottish Oatcakes
300g, 79p
The oats come through really well, but I'd like them sweeter. Tastes a bit like it's come from a selection box, like other flavours have been absorbed.
★★
