From Pool Parties To It’s-Complicated: Here’s How To Pair Your Cheese Board To The Moment

Along with balmy days, summertime brings its fair share of unique situations. Long lunches that flow onto night, sand in mysterious places, and the delicate art of layering sunscreen with your festive makeup look. 

The same goes for summertime snacking—it's not always as straightforward as it seems, and pairing the right spread with each sun-soaked occasion is a precise art form. After all, who hasn’t had a choccy-in-the-car-boot mishap?

So, with our friends at Mainland Cheese, we’ve paired quirky cheese boards with these ultra-specific slices (sorry, we had to) of summertime social plans. 

Soft Launch Season

A hard cheese for a soft-launch Instagram photo. We’re going all out here: this is the board to celebrate that winter fling that stuck around. Importantly, the one who’s about to head into the first round of Christmas lunches.  

A slab of both Mainland Epicure and Mainland Smoked Cheese with charred flatbread will be your base. Add roast veggies, shreds of apple, black olives, toum and pickled onions (relax, you’ll both have onion breath) for a mezze touch. 

Drink-wise, a lemon-based spritz will help you get the couple’s trip to Türkiye across the line. 

Go big on the garlic. Sure, it’s terrific with cheddar, but it's also the perfect way to celebrate locking your new partner down.

Post-Christmas Party Family Celebrations

Look, it happens to the best of us. Simple but punchy, this is a plate to pull together when your eyes can barely open: a wheel of Mainland Special Reserve Chilli & Garlic Brie in the middle (it’ll wake up your senses) with a wreath of crunchy Japanese peanuts and crostini. 

Garnish with green apple slices for some vitamins, alongside fresh figs—a gourmet touch so unexpected that your Aunt won’t be any wiser. 

No-Plans Plans 

For those precious moments (intentional or otherwise) where the brunch group wanders back to your house, or your crew whiles away the day on your deck. 

The trusty fridge staple, Mainland Havarti Cheese, is here to save the day. A little bit goes a long way, and it holds up in the sun. 

Serve it alongside fresh nectarines or seasonal fruits, your choice of cured meat (even one with a hint of spice) and some pickled veggies (pro tip: swing by your local Persian grocer for pretty hot-pink onions or beetroot shreds). 

Simply put: go all out. You’re the creative director of this impromptu Sunday sesh. 

After-Work Potlucks 

If impressing workmates is the name of the game, you’re going to need to show your Bourdainian ability to pair sweet with savoury. 

Take a Mainland Special Reserve Creamy Blue Cheese and Mainland Double Cream Brie as your base, then get gooey with hot honey (a 30-second blitz works fine) and quince paste. 

There’s more sweetness to come. Break up cubes of dark chocolate and slice a pear (a nashi will work well for this) for a not-so-average garnish.

Make sure you show them how it’s done, though—pear slice, blue cheese, quince, chocolate—and thank us later when you can add "designated office foodie" to your email signature. 

Inspired to pull your own otherwordly cheese board together? Head to Mainland Cheese for the full range of items to consider for your next spread.

Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by Mainland Cheese and proudly endorsed by The Urban List. To find out more about who we work with and why read our editorial policy here.

Image: Supplied.