Celebrate Passover with a Cheese Board

Passover Cheese Board photo credit Lynda Balslev

If you observe Passover, don’t forget to add a cheese board to your celebratory feast. Passover is the seven-day holiday of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The first night is observed with a family meal or Seder which honors the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. The ritual includes retelling of the story, while drinking four cups of wine and eating symbolic food and matzah. Matzah is unleavened bread that Jews eat in place of regular leavened bread during Passover in memory of their ancestors who fled Egypt without the time to allow their bread to rise.

Kosher Cheese

On a Passover cheese board, use Matzah in place of bread or crackers. For those who keep Kosher, the source of the cheese is important, too. Kosher cheese is widely available. For a cheese to be considered Kosher, its milk must be taken from a kosher animal, and it should be produced with kosher equipment under rabbinical supervision. Keeping kosher also means not mixing meat and milk, although the time between eating the two is not specified and as the Seder meal is several hours long, eating cheese may or may not be an issue. Also a cheese board is fine if the Passover Seder features a vegetarian meal. Since Passover is observed for 7 days, this board is terrific anytime during the week.

Kosher for Passover

Passover cheeses photo credit Cheese Guy

Kosher for Passover (KFP) is another level certification. “The two major differences [between kosher and KFP cheeses] are the use of special KFP cultures and rennet for Passover,” explains Brent Delman, founder of The Cheese Guy, which specializes in kosher cheese products. “Regular kosher cultures can be manufactured with materials and on equipment that are issues for being made KFP,” he continues. “Although this applies to all cheese cultures, the most obvious case is that of bleu cheese penicillin culture, which comes from bread mold.”

Rennet is an enzyme used by cheesemakers to coagulate cheese. It’s commonly produced with wheat glucose, which presents a Passover problem. For this reason, special KFP rennet is required for Passover cheese. “Other additives that are used in some specific cheeses, such as vinegars, can also be problematic,” says Delman, as some vinegars are made from fermented alcohol derived from grains. Read more about kosher cheese.

Kosher Wines

A Passover meal is not complete without wine. Drinking four cups of wine throughout the dinner is part of the ritual, and wine makes a great pairing with cheese, as well. Kosher wines are more than the sweet and syrupy Manischewitz wine of yore. “Fine kosher wines are made the same way that fine non-kosher wines are made,” says Jay Buchsbaum, VP of Wine Education at Royal Wine Corp., the largest manufacturer, importer and exporter of Kosher wines and spirits with over 400 Kosher for Passover wines. “There is no kosher winemaking ‘technique,’” he adds. “What’s required for the wine to be considered kosher, is that the wine be handled only by Sabbath-observant Jews.” Any kosher-for-Passover wine will have a “P” symbol or “Kosher for Passover” next to the kosher certification on the label.

Board Tips

Look to the holiday ritual and symbols for your cheeseboard inspiration. Decorate with fruit and herbs that reflect the Passover plate, such as apples and walnuts to reflect haroset, the sweet paste of fruit and nuts. Accompany with other symbolic ingredients such as dried figs, oranges, and honey, and decorate with bitter greens such as parsley sprigs and chicories.

Choose a selection of 3 to 4 cheeses, with a variety of textures and strengths. Include cheeses that are embellished with celebratory touches, such as a honey infused log of fresh goat cheese for sweetness and a wine infused sheep cheese. Balance out the board with an earthy, bloomy brie-style cheese and a semi-hard nutty cheese such as a Tilsit.

Wine Pairings

Carmel Black Cabernet Sauvignon and Domaine Joost De Villebois Sauvignon Blanc

Choose a white French Sancerre, such as Domaine Joost De Villebois's Sauvignon Blanc, to pair with fresh goat cheese and bloomy cheese. This kosher wine is straw in color, with green reflections. On the nose, it has aromas of citrus blossom, lime peel, as well as hints of stone fruit and minerals.

Pair a rich Cabernet Sauvignon with sharp, earthy, and nutty cheeses. Carmel Black Cabernet Sauvignon Galilee 2021, produced in Galilee, Israel, offers a full-bodied velvety wine with flavors of ripe red fruits that linger through a medium finish.