How to Make a Charcuterie & Cheese Board

Have you ever wanted to put together a gorgeous meat and cheese boards for your family, friends, or even a special event, but don’t know where to start? Well below I will share a few etiquette tips, tricks, and ingredient recommendations to help you craft the perfect charcuterie board!

The Origin of Charcuterie

First off, this meat and cheese board has a real name – charcuterie. How do you pronounce the word charcuterie?  It is pronounced: [shahr-koo-tuh–ree]. Charcuterie comes from the French, and is a french term devoted to the art of cooking meat products. So even though the trend of “charcuterie” boards have taken off in the United States, the term “charcuterie” literally a fancy word that refers to a meat board. 

Selecting Ingredients for Charcuterie Boards

Now let’s discuss what ingredients you’ll need to make the perfect board. I recommend taking time to think about the different colors and textures you want to present to your guests. Be creative and include ingredients beyond just meat and cheese! You can add dried fruits, fresh fruit, nuts, honey, preserves, fig spread, red grapes, chocolate truffles, a variety of olives, bread, and much more. Aesthetically, I recommend arranging these ingredients on a wooden board or black surface so the colors will pop. Below are a few etiquette tips from meat and cheese experts around the world:

Cheese Etiquette and Tips:

All of us have ventured down the cheese section of our local grocery store and wondered what the variety of meats and cheese taste like. In most supermarkets, you will find soft cheeses, blue cheese, artisan cheeses, even pinot noir cheese! Well don’t let the french words on some of these ingredients intimidate you! Be adventurous and try different types of cheese to craft the perfect charcuterie board! You may surprise yourself and your guests. According to one French proverb:

“A meal without cheese is like a day without sunshine.”

So what are the rules of engagement when it comes to cheese?

1. Selecting the Number of Cheeses:

When creating your charcuterie and cheese board, it is typically suggested to add a variety of cheeses and to serve an odd number of cheeses. Why? I believe this recommendation is more for aesthetic reasons than anything else. However, keep your cheese plate interesting. Don’t settle for cheddar and more cheddar. You should always serve a minimum of three varieties: a soft cheese, a hard, and one blue or goat cheese.

2. Display Order of Cheeses on a Charcuterie Board:

Now that you’ve decided how many cheeses you’re going to serve (I recommend around 5), there is also a certain order in which the cheeses should be consumed, or displayed for your guests. 

Therefore it’s important to arrange the cheeses on the board in such a way that it will be easy for guests to proceed from mildest to strongest, which is usually the smelliest. I also recommend providing cheese knives for your guests to easily pick up their cheeses. 

3. Allow Cheese to Breathe

No one enjoys sweaty cheese or really cold cheese. Cheese that has been imprisoned in its own plastic wrap in the fridge is not immediately ready to be eaten. Therefore, it’s important to know the best temperature for the cheese you’re serving. A safe time for most cheese is to set it out thirty minutes to an hour before serving. Room temperature allows the flavors of most cheeses to really shine through! I also suggest keeping your cheese in the vegetable bin, which is the least cold part of your refrigerator.

4. Cut it, Cut it

Since all cheeses are not created equal, neither is the way in which they should be cut. Brace yourself for the most difficult geometry problem that is to be solved today! This may also be the one nuance that most hosts are not aware of. I first recommend having a separate knife for each cheese that will be served. This will avoid the mixing of flavors between cheeses since no one enjoys cross contamination. 🙂

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Round Cheeses:

For round cheeses (similar to brie cheese), I recommend cutting from the center of the cheese back to the rind to form the shape of a triangle.

Triangular Cheeses:

As tempting as this may be, try to avoid cutting off the “nose” or “tip” of the cheese wedge. This is typically the most flavorful part of the cheese!!

Log Shaped Cheeses:

You should cut log shaped cheeses into even slices down the length of the cheese to create small rounds.

Semi-soft Wedge Cheeses: 

Cut the semi-soft wedge width-wise, about a third of the way down, then cut vertically along the rind.

Let’s Add Charcuterie!

The great news about preparing your charcuterie board is you traditionally do not have to cook the meats you’re serving. For traditional charcuterie boards, you can visit your local deli and buy cold cuts, genoa salami, wild boar, pepperoni, or any other cured meats from your local butcher or grocery store. The meats to be served on your charcuterie board typically fall into two categories: (1) encased meats like salami or pepperoni (2) whole muscle meats like prosciutto or jambon de bayonne.

As you setup your charcuterie board, spread your meat throughout the board to aesthetically compliment your cheeses. I also recommend being flexible with bold flavors and texture in the selection of deli meats – some hard and some soft. If you’re wondering how much meat to serve per guest, typically 2-3 oz will suffice. If you wish to culinary art of your own, why not try to create a salami rose? These are very simple to do by folding salami on top of one another around a round glass and removing it unveil a rose:

Other Helpful Charcuterie Tips!

If you want to go beyond crafting a traditional charcuterie board, here are a few other ingredients you can use to compliment your board that will add a variety of flavors. These are a great way to surprise and delight your guests:

• Raw honey, this will add a nice balance of sweet and sour. For aesthetics, add a cute honey dipper to your board as well!

• Pomegranate seeds are not only yummy, but add a nice pop of color. If you do not enjoy pomegranate seeds, try adding grapes instead

• Bread, most french cheese lovers prefer to serve thin slices of bread instead of flavored crackers so as to not detract from the flavor of the cheese

• Olives are a colorful antipasti and add a nice tartness dimension for your guests

• Nuts also add a nice hard texture component to your board and saltiness 

• Jams, Venture out and try different jams like fig jam, apricot jam, to pair with your cheese for a sweet / salty contrast 

• Herbs such as thyme and rosemary pair wonderfully with various cheese combinations

Charcuterie Class Recommendations:

This month, my friends and I had the opportunity to visit Chateau Elan, just outside Atlanta Georgia. During our visit, we met an amazing charcuterie board teacher named Amy and she guided us through some of the most amazing board creations and top notch pairings!

Some of our favorite cheese pairings from our class were:

• Rosemary Cracker + Brie + Honey + Blueberry + Rosemary
• Rosemary Cracker + Brie + Honey + Candied Pecan
• Rosemary Cracker + Blueberry Goat Cheese + Bresola Beef Tenderloin + Honey + Rosemary

These pairings were so amazing! We enjoyed these with a glass of white wine such as their Pinot Grigio Reserve, and it absolutely transformed the taste of this wine into a buttery Chardonnay.

If you love charcuterie and cheese as much as I do, why not host your very own Wine and Charcuterie party? Visit this post for ideas and to learn how to host your own charcuterie board party!

Below are other photos from some of our friends who did a great job gathering a variety of ingredients to serve their guests! Mixing different color and textures really made this dish the star of all their the tables:

Have a board that you wish to share? Feel free to submit your photos to info@elicitfolio.com to share with others on this post!

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