Last weekend, I held a dinner party where I had folks from all over the world. Typically, I like to have some semblance of a theme to my parties: all beef, Greek, fondue, hors d’oeuvres, etc. This time, I opted to make everyone feel at home by doing a cheese platter where everyone’s nationality was celebrated.

Cheese by Country

I featured the following:

• Canadian Cheddar – from Quebec, my hometown
• Dutch Aged Gouda – aged 5 years, crumbly and perfect for my guy
• Danish Havarti – creamy and nutty
• Swedish Vasterbotten – parmesan-like but softer and milder
• English / Isle of Man – Manx Cheddar Cheese
• USA (NY) – soft, creamy brie
• USA (Wisconsin) – Dunbarton Blue – THE perfect blue
• USA (New Jersey) – Sheep’s milk ricotta from fabulous Valley Shepherd Creamery

Using my computer, I made tiny flags to represent each country’s flag that I glued to a toothpick. I could then easy identify which cheese was from which country.

The result – everyone felt at home, comfortable and able to share stories of his/her country, food and traditions.

Please share your neat party ideas!