Gourmet Cheese Gift Baskets

For a friend or family member who loves cheese and to receive unusual gifts as well, a gourmet cheese basket makes is the perfect choice for just about any occasion. An assortment of fine artisan cheeses and accessories is also ideal for a housewarming gift, especially if you include a lot of little extras that the recipients can use in their new kitchen.

Dozens of websites sell gourmet cheese gift sets and baskets full of hand picked artisan cheeses and other food items to accompany them. There are also dozens of cheese of the month clubs that offer monthly shipments of gourmet cheeses. A three to twelve month membership is an awesome gift. These websites and clubs offer great cheeses that most people can't find in their local stores and gourmet shops.

Personal Gourmet Cheese Baskets

If you enjoy adding a personal touch to your gifts, putting together a basket of goodies that you have researched and picked out yourself can make the gift more unique. You can gear it towards the lucky person's personal tastes and add things you know that they can use.

1. You can use a decorative basket or even a colorful bowl for your "delivery system". Another great idea is to use a nice big wooden cutting board. This is a very clever way to display your gift of cheese. If you use a cutting board, you will definitely have to use a shrink-wrap bag to hold your items in place. Most craft stores carry these.

2. Add some goodies to the basket that will go well with cheese. Crackers, bread, or breadsticks are a must. Think about including some fruit spreads or preserves and the little knives to spread them with. Fruit and cheese make a great pair.

3. Another culinary treat that works well with cheese is smoked fish like salmon.

4. How about including a book on cheese with your gift basket. There are a lot of these you can find on line or in your local bookstore. I have one that explains what fruit goes with what cheese and what wines and cheeses pair well together.

5. Some other food ideas to include are things like a log of smoked pepperoni, gourmet olives, and pickled mushrooms.

How to Choose Gourmet Cheeses for a Gift Basket

If you live in a city big enough to have gourmet food stores, you should be able to find some very good cheeses. If not, you can order from one of the many gourmet cheese sellers on line. You can select the cheese for your basket by country, type of milk used, its texture, or its type.

There are many "types" of gourmet cheeses. A few examples are:

· Blue cheese

· Brie

· Cheddars

· Chevres (goat cheeps)

· Smoked

· Extra mile

· Extra soft

A common way to categorize cheese is by grouping them by texture. This makes a lot of sense for people searching for a particular "mouthfeel". Soft, spreadable cheeses have more water (whey) than firmer cheeses. The firmer the cheese, the more whey has been extracted through pressing or aging. Choosing one cheese from each texture category will provide a nice variety.

1. Hard and grating cheeses - These cheeses are probably very familiar to you. They are aged to the point that they take on intense flavors and are full of crunchy crumbles. Most of these are Italian cheeses like Pecorina, Parmesan, and Romano.

2. Semi-hard cheese - Appenzeller is a cheese crafted in Switzerland. This is a yellow cheese with fruity flavor that goes well with fruit.

Asiago cheese from Italy and all of the cheddars fall into the semi-hard category, as well as Gruyere and Swiss cheese, offering a lot of good choices for your gift basket.

3. Semi-soft - Most varieties of jack cheese fall into this texture category as well as Gouda. Jacks and Gouda are easy to find at your local market.

4. Soft - This category consists of the good spreadable cheeses that are great on a fancy cracker or hard bread. Boursin, Brie, Camembert, and goat cheeses fall into this texture category.

I write because I love to help people.
Still curious about Fruit and Cheese Gift Baskets, then check out that link.