Cheese Board Quartet

Cheese Board Quartet. Three fruit pairings and a honey mustard that complete any board.

Four jars from Easton Reed, curated for cheese: Cranberry, Raspberry and Peach Fine Pairing, plus Sweet Honey Mustard. No gift box, no breakfast jam, no barbecue sauce.

A good cheese board needs three things besides cheese: something sweet, something tart, and something spicy. Usually, this means fig mustard, a spoonful of jam, and cornichons—and each is a compromise. This set solves the problem with four jars made specifically for the job.

Three fruits, three characters

The Cranberry Fine Pairing is the tartest of the three: 43 percent cranberry, ginger and cinnamon, sharp and clean in the jar, with a tartness that holds its own. It goes with robust hard cheese and anything left over from roasting. The Raspberry Fine Pairing is the dark one: 54 percent raspberry, caramelized onion, balsamic vinegar—heartily reduced, not a dessert. It pairs with blue cheese and aged goat cheese. The Peach Fine Pairing is the mild one: 51 percent peach, maple syrup and thyme, no vinegar, no onion. It goes with soft cheese and Brie, where the other two would be too loud.

The mustard that doesn't sting the nose

The Sweet Honey Mustard combines 40 percent mustard with 10 percent honey. The heat lingers on the palate without stinging the nose—that's why it works on the board even for guests who avoid Dijon. With mountain cheese, ham, and pretzels on the side.

How to build the board

Four cheeses, four jars, one spoonful from each jar. Cranberry with the hard cheese, Raspberry with the blue cheese, Peach with the soft cheese, and the mustard with the ham. Everything cold, straight from the jar—nothing needs to be heated or stirred. One board won't use up the whole contents; once opened, the jars should be stored in the refrigerator.

Our tip: Take the jars out of the refrigerator half an hour before serving. Cold fruit preserves taste flatter than they really are.

What the set is not intended for

It is not a breakfast set. The Fine Pairings are reduced with savory ingredients—they look out of place on a buttered roll. And it comes without packaging: four jars, just as they stand on the shelf individually. If you need a gift box, you'll have to pack it yourself.

Four jars that complete a board—and that are just as good on their own afterward.