Our Cheesemonger Leah is expecting her first bundle of joy this summer, and she wanted to share her favorite pregnancy-safe cheese board selections. This is by no means an exhaustive list and may not be right for every pregnancy, but by listening to your body and your healthcare practitioner, you can enjoy snacking on a beautifully delicious cheeseboard without stressing the details.
Cheese can be a wonderful addition to your pregnancy snacking due to the high levels of calcium and protein. I have {maybe selfishly} tried to beef-up TGS’s stock of pasteurized cheeses since becoming pregnant, and I’d like to share some favorites + accompaniments with you so that the cheese board of your dreams is still a possibility…even while growing baby!
There might be a lot of delicious foods we must postpone eating while we’re pregnant, but there are actually a good number of cheeses that are safe for baby (and that number is constantly growing)! The pregnancy do-not-eat list from places like the CDC and other reputable health and government organizations is mostly full of foods that have a high potential for listeria bacteria/infection. These are predominately foods that are raw or undercooked (i.e. raw/unpasteurized cheeses, meats, sushi, etc), and that’s what we’re trying to avoid. So, when looking for safe cheeses and accompaniments to consume, we are looking for “pasteurized ______ milk” on the ingredients list. If there’s no ingredients list present, or if a particular cheese does not explicitly state “pasteurized,” it’s best avoided.
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The other thing to consider about cheese is that, even when pasteurized, it can become contaminated after it is made. Secondary contamination is a risk that can occur farther down the supply chain. Be sure to buy your cheeses from places that keep their counters and coolers scrupulously clean, sanitized, and organized. Deli meat or another cheese that may be contaminated with harmful pathogens can spread bacteria with surprising efficiency if machinery or worker sanitation isn’t rigorously maintained.
Here are my recommendations:
Aged Cheese
After doing some research and getting a little disheartened at the lack of funky cheese options, I realized that one of my favorites is pasteurized and considered totally safe! It’s an alpine-style, aged beauty from Switzerland by the name of Challerhocker. It’s everything I love in one beautiful slice… savory, sweet, and a little funky with flavors of roasted peanuts and leeks, notes of brown butter, and caramel.
Semi-soft Cheese
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Port Salut is a great choice! It’s a French, semi-soft, cow’s milk cheese with a distinct, orange rind that is at the same time creamy, smooth, and dense. It’s got that buttery, slightly sweet thing you love about brie, while remaining ever-so-slightly pungent & mushroom-y, a la camembert.
Soft-ripened Cheese
This is where I think folks get the most panicked about avoiding cheese. Soft, brie-like cheeses probably have the highest percentage of raw/unpasteurized members of the 5 general types of cheese. Never fear, there are plenty of soft, gooey options (even triple crème!) to satisfy your brie craving. Another helpful tip to consider for women craving soft, buttery cheese is to buy individual rounds of pasteurized cheese rather than pieces that have been cut from a larger wheel. These carry no risk of cross-contamination from cutting at the cheese counter.
There are a couple of French faves I’ll mention that are safe to consume, but I thought I’d start with some domestic softies. St. Stephen by Four Fat Fowl and Green Hill by Sweet Grass Dairy are the buttery, gooey disks of your dreams. They both come in 8oz rounds and are the perfect size for an at-home cheese board.
Some well-loved Frenchies that are {perhaps surprisingly} pregnancy-safe are Fromager D’affinois and Brillat-Savarin. D’affinois is the pudgier, fattier version of a brie (still as creamy and sweet) and pairs well with the tartness of fresh fruit. Brillat Savarin is a French triple crème that tastes and feels like a raw milk favorite but is completely pregnancy safe (thank goodness! Not sure if I could make it 9 months without triple crème). With flavors of butter, salt, nuts & truffles, this one *might* make you forget there are cheeses you are not supposed to eat.
Goat Cheese
I feel confident in saying that one of the shop’s favorite goat cheeses is a unique, semi-firm from France. It’s made from a combination of goat & sheep milk and is hand-crafted by one of the world’s best affineurs…it’s called L’Adarre Reserve and it is dense, delicate, nutty, and sweet, and is unlike any goat cheese you’ve ever tried. For more traditional goat lover’s out there, try the Humboldt Fog by Cypress Grove. It’s well-known and loved, and will fulfill any bright, crumbly goat cheese cravings
Blue Cheese
Some people love blue cheese, some people can’t stand it. The polarizing nature of stinky, funky blues is exactly why we couldn’t leave it off our board. There are tons of blue options, but I’m recommending another shop favorite – Cambozola Black Label. Cambozola is a delightful and very palatable combination of gorgonzola and camembert, lending to its unique ultra-creamy, minimally pungent quality.
Charcuterie
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The CDC recommends pregnant people stay away from cured meats due to possible bacterial listeria infection, so it’s best avoided. Instead, beef up the accompaniments and have fun trying new nuts, fruits, and sweets.
Here is where the pregnancy part of this board is going to really shine through! It’s well known that its important for you to eat fresh fruits and vegetables while pregnant, as they are high in necessary vitamins and minerals. This works out perfectly for our purposes, as fresh and dried fruits are perhaps the *best* accompaniment for cheese. Fruits that are in season are often your best bet, both for ripeness and color, but some favorites I’ll mention are fresh strawberries, tart apples, blueberries, fresh AND dried figs, dried apricots, and blackberries. Cucumbers, olives, grape tomatoes, and radishes are all super yummy veggies that add color and have palate-cleansing abilities between cheeses.
Another accompaniment that’s also nutritious for mom and baby is nuts! Marcona almonds are a great palate cleanser between cheeses, or perfect as snacks on their own…and there are plenty of varieties to choose from- drizzled with EVOO and savory spices, some are hot spicy, some are chocolate coated & cocoa dusted if you’ve got a sweet tooth. All of them pair well with cheese.
Last but not least, don’t forget your spreads! Jams, honey, and mustards are great amplifiers to the cheeses on your board. If you’re watching your sugar, you might try a preserve or a confit instead of a conventional jelly-they tend to contain less added sugar and less added junk. As far as honey- you might try looking for something locally-made, as those tend to contain pollen from your area that could be beneficial to any allergies for both mother and growing baby. Just remember not to serve honey to children under one year of age.
Pregnancy can be taxing and exhausting, and we are here to help! If you’d like a baby-safe custom board, visit us in the café for our Cheesemonger recommendations, or we can create a custom board for special events or at-home snacking. The Gourmet Shop is just a phone call or e-mail away!
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