Easy and casual, a charcuterie board truly is a feast for the eyes and a staple in at-home entertaining. Piling up a variety of cheeses, crackers, nuts, meats, sauces, and fruit (or chocolate charcuterie for a specialty dessert board) allows ordinary chefs to create culinary masterpieces and becomes a treasured shared dining experience. Keep reading to glean inspiration for your next charcuterie board and to learn how to dress your charcuterie board to impress.
Seasonality
Using seasonally inspired ingredients is the key to success. Acidic fruits and vegetables – pears, berries, grapes, mushrooms, or peppers – balance the heavier meats and cheeses. Chocolate charcuterie pairs nicely with fresh raspberries and strawberries. Not only do these elements elevate the flavor of your board and offer a greater variety of textures, a mixture of fresh ingredients also adds a pop of color to the pale, solid colors of the traditional meats, cheeses, crackers, and chocolate.
Wood, Please
Invest in a wooden board. Versatile and gorgeous, this kitchen workhorse will become your best friend and will make an impressive difference by incorporating a bit of unexpected detail. Weston Table offers a stunning and extensive collection of vintage cutting and serving boards from around the world that should not be missed. Explore Weston Table’s online marketplace for one-of-a-kind serving pieces like this Vintage French cutting board. Once you have the board, you may begin to assemble your ingredients.
Be Creative
Try at least one new ingredient on every board. The fuller, the better! Perhaps the one rule of creating charcuterie boards is that there are no rules. Go to the grocery store and search the aisles to find what inspires you. Kumquats? Quince? Smoked mussels? Sardines? Basil pesto? Red pepper jelly? Marcona almonds? Try it all! The creativity that you bring to your charcuterie board will be the most fun and immensely satisfying part. Of course, you should always add some of your personal tried-and-true favorites. We recommend serving 1.5 ounces of your favorite cheeses per person. Include a variety of hard and soft textured cheeses from goats, sheep, and cows.
You may prepare your charcuterie board in advance of a wine night with friends or as a cocktail hour snack. The charcuterie certainly can be the main event, and all guests will most definitely appreciate the small bites before diving into the main dinner if your board is served in addition to other courses.