The art of making a great charcuterie and cheese board is in variety. I usually select 4-5 cheeses depending on how many guests I’m expecting and 4-5 meats. Picture the boards you order at restaurants. They never just have meat and cheese. They have preserves, nuts, olives, and other goodies that enhance the flavors and textures of the meat and charcuterie. I set out a shot glass full of strawberry preserves as well as figs, parmesan crisps, and olives.

For my Phantom Masquerade, the cheeses I selected were, clockwise from bottom left, gruyere (my all-time favorite cheese), roquefort bleu, dill harvati, Cotswold cheddar, and herb goat cheese. You definitely want a bleu, a cheddar (some aren’t very adventurous when it comes to cheese), and something spreadable such as goat or brie. I like to have a hard French cheese and the fifth is always a roll of a dice at the grocery store. I buy whatever I’m in the mood for and whatever I think will pair well with the meats I’ve selected. Don’t forget to slice cheese in various sizes to make it easy for guests to grab

For the charcuterie, I selected, clockwise from the far left, prosciutto di parma, chicken truffle mousse, German bologna, and genoa salami. I also had a hard truffle salami sprinkled throughout the board.

Don’t forget to set out forks and knives so guests can grab whatever they’d like.

Serve with a variety of crackers and/or bread if you’d like! I bought gorgeous honey crisp apples to include on the board but completely forgot to set them out. Apple slices would be a delicious addition.

Read more about my Phantom Masquerade here.

Stay cheesy,

Happy hosting,

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