Cheese: before or after dessert?
Endless dilemma: do we have the cheese board first or dessert first? What’s the etiquette? But what you should really be asking yourself is: are we doing it the British way or the French way?
French
Because that’s exactly what explains the difference in order. Look, it goes like this. The French menu style is all about progression. You start with a light course, build up to a spectacular main course and end with something light again. A cheese board isn’t exactly a fresh ending, so you eat the cheese first and then finish with a sweet dessert. You can continue drinking the red wine from your main course or start on a sweet white wine.
British
The British have a completely different philosophy. They seek comfort in the neutralizing effect of cheese. So you eat this right at the end of the evening. The British serve port with their cheese, and that is the last thing you should taste in an evening, so it mustn’t be spoiled by the sweet taste of a dessert afterward.
Cheese-dessert-cheese
We usually eat the cheese board before dessert, because we like something sweet as the finale best. But above all, do whatever you enjoy. And if you linger at the table long enough, you might even manage the ultimate order: cheese-dessert-even more cheese.
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