First things first, the easiest way to arrange a beautiful charcuterie is to include everything, but the kitchen sink. Make sure to include a few meats, cheeses and bread options, but pretty much anything else goes. Here are a few extra tips and tricks I like to guide me to a board that looks as delicious as it tastes.
GARNISH WITH FOOD: If you cut half of a pear, use the uncut half as garnish. Cut the tops off small apples and scoop out some of the inside to be used as jam chutney bowls. Cut a pomegranate in half. Use one side facing out for eating and the other as decoration. If the half facing out gets eaten, then flip the remaining half to enjoy. A baguette also looks great and adds some drama to the board.
ADD DIMENSION: Use different sized bowls and dishes to provide a few levels of height and dimension. For example, I used a mini round wooden cheese board on top of the large marble board to display one of the cheeses. I sat a small and a medium sized bowl next to one another and a larger one opposite on the board.
BIG STUFF FIRST, SMALL STUFF LAST: Lay your bowls, cheeses, meats and drama pieces like pomegranate, baguette and grape vine first. Once big stuff has been arranged, layer in other fruits, crackers. End with dried berries and nuts to fill in open spaces.
JAZZ UP THE HUMMUS: If you include hummus like I do, beautify it up a bit by smoothly pushing in the center, squirt in some olive oil and sprinkle with paprika.
INCLUDE GREENS: This goes for what you eat and for what you garnish with. Cucumbers taste great with a hummus friend. Olives and tapenade are a must, but also pickles are fun. Canβt go wrong with pickles. Rosemary is my favorite garnish which adds a great smell and natural look.
USE SHAPES: Use different shaped crackers, meats and cheeses. I always include grissini bread sticks, round crackers, and then a flat rectangular cracker like New York Flatbreads Everything flavor - my favorite! With meats, prosciutto allows for a wavy effect which is fun to ruffle up. Round meat slices look nice curved and layered around dishes and a salami log that is partially sliced is a great focal point on the board.
INCLUDE KID FOOD: If you have kids, include them in on the fun of a charcuterie. Add some clementines, pretzel crisps, hummus, cucumbers, cut grapes, craisins, whatever they like. Next time, I decided I want to add some chunks of dark chocolate for us and chocolate chips sprinkled in and around for Vane.
COPY: Find images on Instagram or Pinterest that you like and implement those same ideas and layouts with your charcuterie. I always get ideas from other places and then mix them all up into my own style. Itβs also fun to try different layouts and foods the next time you put a cheese board together.
YOU CANβT GO WRONG: Have fun with it! xo RCN
