Show your friends your culinary prowess at your next party and make a charcuterie board. It’s French for delicatessen and pronounced shar-koo-ta-ree, but you can call it a meat and cheese board. I can guarantee your guests will be in awe of this antipasto curiosity no matter what you call it.
A well-planned charcuterie board will have a variety of tastes, textures, colors and shapes. The foods should compliment one another and be a mixture of sweet, spicy, salty and sour. Traditionally, items included are meat, cheese, olives, pickled vegetables, fresh or dried fruit, and nuts.
Board
Any wooden cutting board or large platter will do, but fancy boards can also be purchased in a variety of species and finishes. My board is a slab of red alder straight from Oregon.
How Much
The board pictured here fed a mix of 11 adults and children a modest appetizer before the main meal. A general rule of thumb is two ounces of meat and two ounces of cheese per person. My board has less than that.
Meat
Hit the deli section of your grocery store or go to a specialty delicatessen for the most diverse selection of meats. Common meats found on a charcuterie board include capicola salami, dry-cured chorizo, mortadella, Genoa salami, and of course prosciutto. Ham, turkey, sausage, or roast beef can be substituted depending on your intended audience.
Cheese
The hardest choice you will make for your board is cheese. The choices are almost endless and budget may or may not be a factor. If this is your first board, keep it simple. Fresh mozzarella balls, goat cheese or brie, and one unique cheese will suffice. If you are a cheese expert, go ahead and try the smoked truffle cheese. Keep texture in mind and select a combination of soft and hard cheeses.
Nuts
A nut’s purpose on a charcuterie board is to add texture and bite. Pistachios, walnuts, and almonds are all good choices. Spiced or sweet walnuts and almonds add another level of flavor.
Olives
Olives bring a little pop of savory to the board. Jarred olives are perfectly fine, especially stuffed olives. Many delis also sell a variety of olives by the pound.
Sweets and Fruit
Charcuterie boards are notoriously salty. Fruit, dried fruit, jams, and sweet spreads bring sweetness, color, and a fresh taste. Common fresh fruits include red or green grapes, apple slices, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Dried apricots and craisins are popular dried fruits. A plain fruit jam is fine, but for a real treat try a spiced jam or jelly, homemade, if you can find it.
Pickles and Vegetables
In my opinion, pickles, vegetables, and pickled vegetables are optional charcuterie board items, but they can add one more level of texture and a milder flavor to balance the more powerful flavors on the board. Carrots, pickled beets, regular pickles, pickled peppers, and pickled cauliflower are all good choices.
Crackers and Bread
The only carbs on the entire board, the breads and crackers provide a vehicle for everything else. Ritz are fine, but variety packs of crackers abound. A thinly sliced baguette is perfect, and crunchy breadsticks provide a fun shape and texture on the board and are great for dipping. Tiny toasts and flat pretzels are other options. The plainer the better – the rest of the board provides more than enough flavor.
Assembly
Start with the largest items (meat, cheese, things requiring a bowl, and crackers or bread). Fill in the remaining open spaces with medium-sized items (fruit, vegetables, olives, nuts, cheese). Embellish with the tiny things (nuts, berries, dried fruits, olives). Small boards can be packed tightly. Larger boards allow more freedom and space in arranging, but both produce stunningly impressive results.
What’s On My Board
Meat: Thick-sliced pepperoni, capicola salami
Cheese: Garlic and herb goat cheese, smoked Gouda cubes, aged white cheddar slices
Nuts: Pistachios in shell
Olives: Kalamata mixed olives, garlic-stuffed green olives
Fruit: Blackberries, Joel Heitkamp’s homemade spiced apricot jam
Pickles: Dill pickles
Crackers: Assorted, as sold in a variety pack, garlic cheese crisps
