Ready for cheese and ???

Is there anyone out there who has never eaten cheese and pineapple on a stick?

They are a staple of both adults and kids parties everywhere.

Whether you serve them just standing up on their ends, or stuck into a foil covered potato to make the ubiquitous ‘hedgehog’, everyone will think they are tragically tacky, but that won’t stop them from eating their own body weight in them.

Reinvention

Of course there is nothing wrong with good old fashioned chunks of cheddar with chunks of pineapple, but sometimes it’s good to have a change

First off, you could just add something extra to your cheese/pineapple combo. You might like to add a small picked onion, or a cocktail cherry, or a cherry tomato.

Sometimes though, you want to go even further than that, and just say ‘bugger tradition’. Be bold, keep the stick, but change the cheese to a different variety, and drop the pineapple completely. There are an almost endless range of possibilities, but here are a few ideas for reinventing this fiesta classic.

Suggestions

Mahon and membrillo

Mahon is a classic Spanish cheese, so why not pair it up with something else hugely spanish. Membrillo (quince paste) is hugely popular in Spain, and you can buy it pretty easily in the rest of Europe as well.

Membrillo can be quite sweet, so in order not to overpower the cheese, make your cheese cubes double the size of your membrillo ones. Also, be careful to pick a paste that is thicker and more jelly like, so that you can cut it.

Parmigiano and sundried tomato

A nice firm chunk or Parmigiano Reggiano (or other similar hard cheese), skewered together with a sundried tomato not only looks great, but gives you a taste explosion as your teeth hit it.

Gorgonzola and pear

It’s a classic combination, gorgonzola or something similar just works with pear, the flavours fit together like pieces of a jigsaw, and it makes you smile as you pop it into your mouth.

Wensleydale and apricot

Dried apricots will work the best for this, simply because they are easier to work with and because they won’t leak juice all over the cheese and make the whole thing messy and soggy.

A nice cube of wenslydale with half a dried apricot makes a very summery feeling cheese on a stick.

Goats cheese and bacon

Little pieces of very crisp bacon sharing a stick with a nice firm goats cheese. Yum!

There is really nothing else to say about it, the ration of bacon/cheese will depend on the intensity of the goats cheese and the saltiness of the bacon. You will have to have a play around with it.

Stilton and port jelly

I love stilton, especially when it is good and ripe and smells like my old socks.

If you can find a port jelly in the shop then that’s great, if not you can easily make one with nothing more than port and gelatine.

Or, you could always do stilton and apple.