Bringing Back The Charcuterie Board Life

Who even remembers how to build a charcuterie board? Charcuterie boards feel like a thing of the past, don’t they? A part of the past where we could gather in groups of more than our immediate family. The good old days were when you would pick food off of a platter that was available to more than one person. It feels like a lifetime ago!

I’m just itching to get together with my friends again and nosh on a charcuterie board while drinking wine. So much so that I made a charcuterie board for two when the husband and I hid up in a cabin for a weekend in November. The husband sure didn’t complain, so I feel like I am not the only one missing this piece of normality.

If he, or most of my friends for that matter, turn down a charcuterie board, it’s a signal for help. Well, almost all of my friends 😉

Elements of your board

Cheese

The minimum for a charcuterie board – for me – is three kinds of cheese. For a larger group, I will put up to five different cheese options.

You’ll need a mix of mild, medium, and sharp cheese options:

manchego
brie
blue cheese such as Roquefort
goat cheese
sharp cheddar
stilton blue cheese
gouda
herb and garlic brie
camembert

These are some cheeses that are frequently on our charcuterie board.

Cured Meats

Personally, I tend to have three cured types of meat on any given charcuterie platter. Again, you’ll need a mix of mild, medium, and one where you kick it up a notch.

prosciutto
chorizo
mild salami
peppered salami
pepperoni slices
turkey pepperoni
soppressata

You can always find something like spicy chorizo on every charcuterie board I prepare. The sweetness of brie cheese, with a hit of spice, is just perfection. I am always all about that salty-sweet balance.

Accompaniments & Accessories

You can’t just have a charcuterie board with meats and cheese. I mean, you can, but where’s the fun in that? The accompaniments really help pull your entire charcuterie board together.

green olives stuffed with feta
green olives unstuffed
gherkins
pickled jalapenos and/or pepperoncino
walnuts
almonds
apple slices
figs
grapes (red or green work depending on the flavour you are going for)
fruit preserves
dried fruit
high-quality honey
mustard

You will always find olives on my charcuterie boards. ALWAYS. In the summer, I will put fresh fruit out such as strawberries or figs. Fruit and cheese go together like peanut butter and jelly. Try and change my mind.

I tend to put out almonds or walnuts with my charcuterie boards. Maybe you just want something to snack on that isn’t cheese; I’m not judging you. You know why? More cheese for me 😉

In the fall I lean more towards putting out a fruit preserve with or without apple slices.

Building your charcuterie board

Tips and tricks

cured meats should be thinly sliced
wrap up cured meats such as prosciutto to make it easier for someone to grab
cube cheeses such as gouda or cheddar into small bite-size pieces
serve cheeses such as brie and blue cheese in wedges. Make them stand out by staggering them which gives them a little dimension
use small (mini) bowls to house accompaniments such as preserves, nuts, gherkins etc.
use fresh and in-season fruit wherever available

Putting it all together

Pull out a platter. I tend to use a thick wooden board for my platters. Additionally, marble and slate work really well.
Choose your bowls based on what you are putting in them, and space them out on the platter.
Put your accompaniments in the bowls so you don’t risk spilling once you’ve put your board together.
Add your cheeses around the platter. Start with wedges of cheese, then follow with cubes and slices of cheese.
Place the cured meats near different cheeses. You can put two types of meat near one cheese. Don’t overthink what you’re doing – let the creativity flow!
Fill your gaps with fresh or dried fruit.
Add some nuts outside of the bowls to fill up some additional space

Don’t overthink building your charcuterie board; just let it flow naturally

No two cheese boards will ever turn out the same. So let this be the time where you throw caution to the wind and just let your creativity flow. You’ll learn over time which platters work better than others, and you can build your platters based on your enthusiastically hungry circle of friends.

Valentine’s day is coming up, so this could be the perfect time for you to work on your charcuterie board skills by using your significant other/roommate/family as the tester. I can pretty much guarantee no one will complain about being a charcuterie board taste tester. Don’t feel like putting one together? If you live in the Metro Vancouver area, check out JusGraze on Instagram for their custom-made charcuterie boxes to go.

Just think about how much you can practice in between now and whenever our lives return to some semblance of normalcy. Plus, charcuterie boards are good for the soul and are definitely a welcome part of my living through this global pandemic.