How to set up a perfect Charcuterie board

A Charcuterie board is the best appetizer to entertain your guests. It requires no cooking and it has almost everything for everyone. It looks beautiful, small bites, mixing different flavours and textures, eating with hands, and easy to put together. A perfect weekend gets together, a celebration or a romantic date is incomplete without this classic cheese platter. But sometimes with the huge variety and combinations gets overwhelming. Here you will find a shopping list, a few combinations and few tricks to set up an amazing platter for your perfect evening.

• Cutlery:

For a perfect cheese/ charcuterie platter, you need a perfect board to place your ingredients on. A solid wooden, marble, etc. are the few varieties available, select whatever suits your mood. Some suitable knife, spoon and fork for cheese and spreads.

• Cheese:

There is a large variety of cheese to choose from.

Soft Cheese: Goat, Brie, Camembert, Mozzarella

Semi-Hard Cheese: Cheddar, Gruyere, Manchego, Swiss

Hard Cheese: Parmesan, Asiago, Pecorino, Gouda

Sticky Cheese: Blue, Gorgonzola, Roquefort

3-4 types of cheese in a platter is more than enough. Don’t hang up between the selection. There is no right or wrong here. Cheese at room temperature tastes better.

• Fruits & Vegetables:

Fresh fruits help to enhance the beauty of the platter and dried fruits go well with cheese.

Fresh fruits: Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Cherries, Grapes, Oranges, Mangoes, Peaches, Fig, Apricot, Pomegranates, Cherry tomatoes, Carrot, Celery, Pickles, Olives, Pickled onions, Cucumber

Dried fruits: Fig, Apricot, Peaches, Dates, Apple, Tomatoes, Ginger, Cranberries

• Meats

3-4 varieties of meat on the platter make it flavourful and more than enough. Ham, Pepperoni, Salami, Prosciutto, Mortadella, Pastrami, Kabana, etc.” are a few options. Meat which doesn’t need any cooking could go in your charcuterie board.

• Spreads

Honey, Chutney, Flavoured dips, Hummus, Flavoured jam, Flavoured Jelly, Cream Cheese, French Onion, Chocolate spread, Cheese Spread, yoghurt dip, etc. any dip or spread you like will work out just fine.

• Nuts

Almonds, Walnuts, Cashews, Macadamia, Raisins, Brazil nuts, etc. you can add in any nut mix, as per your preference.

•  Bread and Crackers

Mini Toast, Rice Crackers, Bread Twists, Gourmet Cracker, Bread Sticks, Water Crackers, Crips, Multigrain Breads, Oatcakes, Baguette, etc. any bakery product which you or your guest like, is perfect for the platter. Crackers can go a little soft if left out for long, so add it just before you serve.

• Extra:

Bitter chocolates and Wine are one of the best combinations which go well with the platter. Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, etc. could be used to garnish the board and add additional flavour to it.

The more colour you add, the more beautiful the platter is going to look. Ingredients with fewer pinks and more of Greens, yellows and reds work well. Whenever you see empty space, fill it with berries or nuts. You can also add name tags on ingredients to add more fun to your platter.