Don’t make a board that bores.
Let my cheese board, charcuterie board, and graze board collection get your brain storming.
I love love love building cheese, charcuterie, and grazing boards! The fun for me is catering them toward my specific audience—who is eating it? What is the occasion? How many people do I build it for? Are there any notably picky eaters? And most importantly, how can I make it special? With all of those questions thoughtfully answered, there is no doubt that you will end up with a wow-worthy, super impressive board.
As a broad strokes guide of sorts, scroll down and get my step-by-step notes that are sure to help you make a board that won’t be a a bore.
START WITH YOUR CHEESES.
Cheese really sets the mood for your board. Whenever I set out to make a board, it’s all built around the cheese selection.
Choose notably different cheeses—hard cheese, soft cheese, stinky cheese, fruity cheese, truffle cheese, cheese balls.
Play with the shape of your cheese, it makes the board more interesting to have shape variety (that is for sure the art student in me speaking out). If, for example, you have two triangular wedges, consider chipping half of one into pickable pieces for both ease and visual interest.
Place your cheeses around the board, they are your grounding element. All of your other ingredients will be molded around them like a puzzle.
ADD YOUR MEATS.
Much like the cheeses, you’ll want a fun variety here too.
Play with different meat textures—think about cutting a log into thick slices and juxtaposing that against prosciutto which I love to pile in a messy heap because it gives great texture to the board plus, prosciutto breaks easily when pulling off of a board, this makes that moot. Sometimes I roll some which also makes it easy to pick up. Add in salami which is cut in thin circles that you can fold into spiral flowers or leave flat.
Don’t be afraid to tuck your meat right up against the edge of your cheese. Boards get messy as people eat off them no matter how you structure them so don’t focus too much on leaving room in places so people can cut into a specific cheese. If they want it, they will get it.
MIX UP YOUR CRACKER GAME.
Because you selected such a great variety of meats and cheeses, definitely make sure to continue that trend with your crackers.
Play with differently shaped crackers—long twists, ones that look like small pieces of toast, round ones—even toss in some Ritz kids crackers if you have any kids around (they’ll love it).
Pick a variety of flavors. A cheese cracker is always great, so is a seedy fig one. See what you can find! If you find one that sounds super weird, add it on, it will make for a fun taste test amongst friends/family.
BRING IN SOME FRUIT
When I say fruit, make sure to bring it in in as many forms as you can find.
A pickable fresh fruit is always a great call—think grapes, sliced apples, pear chunks, supreme orange slices.
Add dried fruit. You can certainly go classic with Turkish figs or try something different—dried mango, dehydrated apples or raspberries.
If you’re planning on having a lot of bread or crackers on your board, adding fruity preserves is a great call.
IT’S NOT WEIRD TO ADD CHOCOLATE
I promise you, chocolate is the perfect addition to the board. Find an interesting one. The chocolate featured on my board above is milk chocolate-covered orange—so good! I love having that “what is this” moment when friends bite into it.
ADD THOUGHTFUL ELEMENTS THAT YOU CAN CHAT ABOUT
On the board above, I went to my favorite bakery and bought a fresh onion and olive focaccia that I cut into bites and added onto the board. This is a nice easy touch that gives you something to talk about that will surely awe your friends and family. Being thoughtful comes across beautifully here. If I were making a board for my grandmother or my son, knowing how much they love them, I’d include a little pile of pigs-in-a-blanket—you get the idea!
ADD A PERSONAL TOUCH
A great (and easy) way to add a personal touch is to buy a container of mozzarella balls and then make them your own. On this board, what I did is drain out all of the liquid from the container, drizzle olive oil on the remaining mozzarella balls, sprinkled chopped fresh mint, and pepper directly over them in the container. I then closed the container and shook it until the mozzarella balls were fully coated in my seasonings. After that, just poured them into a small bowl (or cup) and placed that cup on the cheeseboard. It’s a great touch! Now, you can do this with any seasoning or even chopped nuts.
Please send your creations my way, I’d love to see what you come up with.
