Charcuterie Board

Creating a charcuterie and cheese platter can be intimidating, how do you begin to determine what to use? It’s important to have enough variety throughout the board: sweet and salty, smooth and crunchy, fresh and dried. I wanted to make sure that the cheeses, wines, and accompaniments paired well together. I like to create little pairing moments throughout the whole board.

Let’s talk cheese. How do you decide what to use? How many options should you have? When choosing cheeses, go with you palate. Chances are you don’t like every type of cheese, so start with some that you love and that will complement your favorite type of wine. I currently am obsessed with goat cheese and chardonnay. They pair well together and are a wonderful pre-dinner snack with crackers and a sweet pepper jelly. I would have at least 2-3 cheeses on every board since not everyone has the same taste. If you are really concerned about it, just ask your guests their preferences and go from there.

What about crackers? Choose crackers according to the types of cheese that are going on them. Softer cheese is great on toasted bread slices, while harder cheese goes well with plain wellington crackers. You want the cheese to stand out, so I suggest keeping the bread and crackers on the plain side.

How do you choose the meats? This is a preference choice again. I enjoy prosciutto and soppressata so I knew I would want them on my charcuterie board.

What about other accompaniments? How many should you have, what should you use? Some things went on the board just as options, while others were “pairing moments”. Dried fruit and pepper jelly go well with goat cheese, while things like olives and grapes would be more of a universally preferred options.

Now to the really fun part, wine! What tips can you offer for the perfect pairings? I chose chardonnay to go with the goat cheese, a red blend to go with the pecorino romano and manchego, and sparkling rosé to go with the gruyere.

{Excerpt from Social South Magazine}

Charcuterie, Cheese, & Wine Choices