Nothing says ‘welcome’ more than a cheese board. It’s a great place to start for any festive gathering and can be quick to throw together when guests pop around. The key is being prepared with all the right ingredients.
Nothing says ‘welcome’ more than a cheese board. It’s a great place to start for any festive gathering and can be quick to throw together when guests pop around. The key is being prepared with all the right ingredients.
No cheese board is ever the same. Cheese boards can be influenced by what’s in season and foods which are to your liking. Your local market or gourmet section of the supermarket will be a great place to start.
Going for a mixture of textures, colours and flavours, start by selecting a hard cheese and a soft cheese. A Gouda or Cheddar are hard textured cheeses with bite. Compliment this with a soft French Brie or Goat’s cheese. And if you like blue cheese, add an English Stilton.
A couple selections of cured meats will compliment your cheeses nicely. Select a salami for some spice and then add some pieces of prosciutto. However, if you’re guests aren’t into meat, then some savoury goodness can be added with stuffed olives, capsicums, picked onions and dill cucumbers.
Sweeten things up with fresh and dried fruit. Thinly sliced pears provide some crunch, alongside some dried raisins, apples, apricots or oranges.
A chutney or quince paste is also a nice addition to top off your cheese. There are lots of relishes and pastes to explore.
Select a couple packets of savoury biscuits. Go for a plain biscuit with minimal flavour and then contrast that with a flavoured cracker that has some texture and colour.
With all these items ready to go, it’s just a matter of pulling out a large platter or wooden board and placing the items on one by one.
Start with your cheeses. Cut a wedge off each and place onto the board. Place little bowls for your pickles, olives and garnishes onto the board. Then slice up your salami and place on the board in a neat pile. Pieces of ham or prosciutto can be rolled or folded into small wedges and stacked together on another section of the platter. Then add your sliced and dried fruits, each in their own piles. Finally add a pile of crackers in the gaps or if you have run out of room, these can go into a bowl on the side. Add a couple cheese knives and it’s done!
If guests arrive before it’s done, simply crack open a bottle of Oxford Landing Merlot to appease them as you make the finishing touches.
1 soft cheese
1 hard cheese
1 blue vein cheese
Salami
Prosciuttos
Green Olives
Stuffed capsicum
Dill cucumbers
Pickled onions
Fresh fruit
Dried fruit and nuts
Relish
Fruit paste
Plain crackers
Flavoured crackers
