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Serious Eats Gift Guide: For Cheese Lovers

Posted by Jamie Forrest, December 11, 2007 at 9:00 AM

The holidays are a great time to serve cheese at all of the 46 parties you're planning to host, but it's also a great excuse to give cheesy gifts to all the curd nerds in your life. And it doesn't just have to be a cheese of the month membership either. Here's our guide to the best in cheese-related holiday gifts, which range in price from ridiculously affordable to stunningly opulent. (Prices don't include shipping unless otherwise noted.)

Swissmar Cheese Knives

Cheese knives certainly aren't an obligatory accessory, but they sure are a nice luxury--especially the ones made for soft cheeses as in the image above. As you can see, the blade has big holes in it that help to prevent the cheese from sticking (less surface area = less sticking). I'm the type of person who would never buy a cheese knife for myself, but love to get them as gifts. There are many different brands, but I have the ones by Swissmar and I find them to be well-made despite their low price tag. $12 at Amazon.com

30-Minute Mozzarella and Ricotta Kit

For the curious cheese aficionado, New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. sells a great kit for beginners to try their hands at making mozzarella and ricotta cheese at home. The kit can be used to make up to 30 pounds of cheese and contains everything you need (except the milk). It also comes with recipes for pizza dough and Italian bread, in case you want to put your creations to the melty use. $24.95 at Cheesemaking.com

Artisanal Gougères

Yesterday Robyn posted a recipe for French cheese and bacon puffs, but let's face it--it can be pretty challenging to make pastries at home. And depending on the results you might not want to give them as a gift. Here's an alternative. If you've never tried these unbelievable gougères from Picholine Chef Terrance Brennan, you must! They are available in his restaurants of course, but now you can mail-order a box of 60 from the Artisanal website. Pop them in the oven to warm, and you have a flaky, delicious ready-made hors-d'oeuvre. They come in three flavors: classic (made with gruyère), smoked salmon and dill, and cheddar with bacon. $45 to $55 for 60 pieces, at ArtisanalCheese.com

Steve Jenkins' 'Cheese Primer'

Give the gift of knowledge! This seminal book from legendary Fairway Market cheesemonger Steve Jenkins is still the first place any cheese lover should turn for insightful, passionate, opinionated advice (all in gorgeous black and white of course). I've read this thing cover to cover, dog-eared almost every page, and still find new bits of wisdom every time I open it. If you buy your copy at Fairway itself, it'll have Steve's autograph on the inside cover. $11.53, at Amazon

The Daniel Boulud Cheese Selection

This is a new item this year from Murray's, but I've tried all the cheeses included in the box and they are all seriously amazing. In addition to Boulud's cookbook Braise, as well as a four-ounce portion of his renowned smoked salmon, you will also receive three pounds of six incredible French cheeses:

• Crottin de Picadine: simlar to Crottin de Chavingnol, this Crottin is a bit more unctuous than its more famous cousin, but just as tangy delicious
• St. Marcellin: oozy, cow's milk goodness shipped in a crock to prevent spillage on its trans-Atlantic trip
• Provençal Tomme du Berger: made with the mixed raw milk of goats and sheep, it's a wonderfully rich and buttery washed-rind cheese
• Abbaye de Tamié: a Trappist-style cow's milk cheese, similar to Reblochon, made in the Rhône-Alpes, with an earthy, mushroomy flavor
• Jura Comté: Gruyère's French cousin, this firm raw cow's milk cheese will be intensely nutty with fruity notes reminiscent of Alpine meadows
• Persillé du Beaujolais: persillé means "parsley" in French and refers to the gorgeous blue-green veins that course through the paste of this super-sweet cow's milk blue

$200, at MurraysCheese.com

About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.

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Tags: cheese, gift guides, gifts, Holiday Gift Guides, holiday gift guides, holidays