I'm not sure what types of cheeses, crackers, sausages are needed for a holiday spread. What types of cheeses and sausages are acceptable use for this type of thing? What will give me a decent variety? Would it be better to have a cheese spread instead of the traditional sliced cheese?
Cheese – How to make a cheese, sausage, cracker spread
cheesesausages
Related Solutions
There's a lot of different cheese cutting implements ... so it's probably better to discuss advantages / disadvantages by type.
Wire mounted to a cutting board : Useful for really soft cheeses like chèvre and brie, but I'm not really a fan as you have to clean out the little groove, and it takes up a lot of room for something with only a few uses (it also works for cutting logs of refrigerated cookie dough). If you're cutting a log of chèvre, you get a similar cut by looping it with dental floss and pulling, and it'll deform the log less. Also works well with medium firm cheeses.
Wire mounted on a handle with a roller : Works on semi-soft to medium firmness cheeses (or cheese food); anything that'll hold its shape in a block (even Velveta), but not what you'd consider a 'hard' cheese. There's less drag than a knife, and you can get consistent thickness slices (some are adjustable, some you just change the angle of the handle relative to the block to get a thinner slice) ... but they have the problem that the roller can get gunked up, and if the block's wider than the cutter, you'll have to take a knife to the block first.
Cheese Plane : (looks kinda spatula-ish, with a slicing slot in it). Works best for medium firm cheeses; easy to clean, you get consistent thickness slices (although, only one thickness), and it can be a little faster than using a knife if you're trying for really thin slices. (if you need thicker slices, you'd have to double or triple up, removing any speed advantage). It actually can be used on something wider than the slot if the cheese isn't too firm. And, in a pinch, it can also double as a vegetable peeler, as I've learned from a friend.
When we start getting to "cheese knife", there's a few different things that the term might be referring to:
- a spreading knife : rounded tip, used for serving soft cheeses, but can still cut firmer stuff.
- knives with a fork on the front; may also have holes through the blade so the cheese will release rather than dragging; used for serving medium firm cheeses.
- a spade : short, wide, pointed tip (actually looks like the spade on a deck of cards) : used for prying off chunks of hard cheeses.
I've seen other ones that look more like chisels; I've never used them. I'd assume they'd be best for medium-firm cheeses that aren't in too large of a block.
Personally, I typically use this cheap 'micro-serated' paring knife that I think I got two in a pack at a dollar store about 15 years ago. It's horrible for cutting just about everything else, but it's amazing for most cheeses; it might be that the teeth aren't really aligned well anymore, but it keeps the cheese from dragging along the blade, so I can get really clean slices quite quickly; it works okay for everything but really hard cheeses (good point, but not wide enough to get a flake off, really soft cheeses (see the dental floss comment above), or really crumbly cheeses.
The other answers refer to products that are cheese-flavored fudges or cream cheeses blending with cocoa.
Your question seems like it is asking about making a cocoa flavored cheese from scratch.
I have not tried chocolate in particular but I have been experimenting with flavoring cheese (and tofu) and have some data points that might be helpful.
I have not had much success with flavoring the milk before it is curdled. The curdling and pressing process is designed to force out water and water soluble compounds. I would expect much of the cocoa dissolved in the milk to be wasted. Additionally, I wouldn't expect store-bought chocolate milk to work very well because of all the additional sweeteners, emulsifiers, and thickeners that are included. I don't know how it would behave when making cheese but I wouldn't be surprised if they got in the way of forming a good curd.
I have had more success with adding dry flavorings to the curd after it is drained and before it is pressed into the final shape. This is the same time that the salt is added. Some water is still pressed out and so some flavor is lost but much less than in earlier stages.
I am still experimenting with how much dry flavoring can be added before the curd doesn't set properly. The cheese becomes more fragile the more ingredients interfere with the milk proteins.
An easy way to start would be with a simple paneer or queso fresco. Simply heat up milk, stir in some acid (lemon juice, vinegar, citric acid, etc), let the milk protein precipitate out, strain it, mix in salt and some cocoa powder, and let the mass drain in a cloth until it is the consistency that you want.
Best Answer
Ironically, the kind of sausage you want is called a summer sausage. There are many varieties as the term really just refers to a sausage that doesn't need to be refrigerated. You might be able to find a few different kinds to give you some variety.
As for cheeses, you can sort of go with whatever you'd like. Generally with sausage you'll see stuff like jack, cheddar, havarti or swiss. With crackers you might see a cheeseball which is usually a blend of cream cheese and a cheese like cheddar.