Our Favorite Charcuterie Board Tips!

Let’s be real, the perfect charcuterie board is in the eye of the beholder.

It can literally be made up of any combination of cheeses, meats and pairings based on your own favorites!

Here are a few components that we recommend for putting together your charcuterie board:

1.) Choose a variety of cheeses. Typically a combination of hard cheese, semi-hard, soft cheese and soft-ripened. On this board we chose:

  • Katahdin Cheddar - sharp hard cheese

  • Smoked Glen Cove Gouda - mild, buttery, smoked semi-hard cheese

  • Everything Fresh Cream Cheese - soft, fresh, flavored cheese

  • Triple Cream Brie - soft-ripened bloomy rind cheese

2.) Choose a sturdy cracker. No, your cheese board doesn’t need to have crackers but it is a nice way to provide a vehicle for your cheese and a complimentary crunch! We chose:

  • Plain Flatbread - a sturdy choice with a great crunch and mildly salty flavor

  • Maine Crisp Company’s Cranberry Almond Crisp - pairs especially well with triple creme and is a gluten free option that is mildly sweet and less salty

3.) Play with fruits. Whether it’s fresh, dried or in a jam, fruits make pair excellent with cheese! We also love the color that fruits add to a cheese board. For this board we went with:

  • Fresh strawberries - hold between your fingers and slice in place for a nice visual effect and a great size to pair with a piece of cheese.

  • Fresh blackberries - ripe, fresh blackberries give a little sweetness and a little tartness that pair wonderfully with nearly any cheese (we especially love them with triple creme)

  • Blackberry thyme jam by Olde Haven Farm - a sweet option to pair with a salty cracker and piece of cheddar or brie

  • Dried Cranberries - we especially love dried cranberries paired with our Smoked Glen Cove Gouda

4.) Make it a meal. Want to round out your board to make it more than an appetizer? Add veggies and cured meats for more flavors and textures and fill in the food groups to make a filling balanced meal! We used:

  • Fresh Cucumber slices - a great vehicle for cheese and alternative to crackers

  • Fresh celery - perfect for stuffing with Everything Cream Cheese

  • Cured Smoked Kielbasa - salty and a bit spicy, pairs especially well with hard aged cheese

  • Dark Chocolate - rounding out the board with a sweet pairing of chocolate

Other ideas for adding to your board: pretzels or yogurt covered pretzels, goat or sheep’s milk cheeses, salami or soppressata, fresh grapes, dried apricots, almonds, sliced salad turnips…. we could go on and on!

Have fun with your board and don’t stress or fuss, there’s always tomorrow when you can make your next delicious cheese board!

Amy Rowbottom