Which cheese you choose depends on the time of year (different cheeses are at their best at different times of the year) and what you are planning to do with it.

A good cheeseboard should contain a hard cheese (such as cheddar), a soft cheese (such as brie or Camembert), a blue cheese (such as Stilton, Roquefort or Shropshire blue), a goats cheese and maybe a cream cheese.

For a stunning Christmas dinner party centre, you can bake a whole Vacherin or Camembert and use vegetables, bread sticks and baby pickled onions for dipping.

Use Gruyere or a milder Swiss cheese for making fondue.

Goats cheese goes well fresh in salads or baked in tarts and quiches.

Cheddar is a must in macaroni cheese or cauliflower cheese. Red Leicester makes a good stand-in for Monterey Jack in quesadillas. It also goes well in chilli and cheese pretzels.

Grilled Halloumi makes a fine dinner party starter and cannot be beaten in a fiery salad with chick peas, chili, onion and tomatoes.

Fresh mozzarella cheese, partnered with warm ripe tomatoes, fresh basil leaves and top notch olive oil makes an inspired summer lunch.

And feta cheese can enhance all manner of fresh Greek and Cypriot salads - again, more a summer cheese for me.

So think of the time of year, the dish you are preparing and, most of all, your personal taste. There's a cheese for any occasion, so you can't really go wrong.

Learn more about this author, Sue Marchant.
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