Salty, acidic, sour, and tart, cheese is one of the essential items when it comes to building a board for charcuterie. Creamy and delicious cheese helps to blend the sweet and savory flavors of cured meat, jam, nuts, crackers, and bread.
Which is the best cheese for a charcuterie board? When it comes to the best cheeses for a charcuterie board, combine a couple of options that include aged, firm, soft, crumbly, and creamy cheeses. When a variety is served the guests, they have options to create various flavors on their own.
The most popular cheese selections for a charcuterie board are brie, gouda, aged cheddar, manchego, and goat cheese. These cheeses have wonderful texture and aesthetics that offer smooth layers of flavors.
Cheese is always a star os charcuterie boards as it unlocks the world of unique and bizarre flavors. When you go for the best of the best, you give the guests a chance to experience unique textures and tastes while ensuring the board lives its best life.
From hard to soft rind-edges, there are so many kinds of cheese to choose from. So, what cheeses are best suited for a charcuterie board? Read till the end to find out more!
How do you pick cheese for charcuterie?
With the wide variety of cheeses out on the market, narrowing them down into a single choice can be difficult. When selecting cheese to put on a customized charcuterie board, the number one rule is offering diverse cheese styles.
For aesthetic reason, go with odd number of cheese such as 3 or 5 options depending on the size of charcuterie board. However, do not go over 7 cheeses as this can become overwhelming and create imbalance on the platter.
Go for a combination of firm, aged, creamy, crumbly and soft cheese, then leave them to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving for the flavors to shine.
Be sure to serve at least one cheese type that the guests are familiar with, this can be some hard cheddar or parmesan cheese. As soon as you’ve put one familiar cheese to draw people in, it’s now time to get creative and add other unique cheeses to spark further interest.
When serving any hard cheese, be sure to cut them before guests’ arrival to make it easier for them to dive in. Use individual knives for each cheese to avoid cross contamination and mingling the flavors.
Blue cheese might not be an excellent choice if serving a single cheese variety. However, if you are going all out with multiple varieties, then be sure to include a blue cheese in the collection.
Is Asiago cheese good for a charcuterie board?
Yes, Asiago cheese is a classic addition to a charcuterie board. This cheese lends a beautiful blend of sharp, spicy and fruity flavor.
Furthermore, its spicy and tangy flavor and spongy texture are all that a charcuterie board needs. For those who love hard cheese, go for aged asiago.
It’s usually yellow and will add a bitter twist to the board with some yeast and nutty undertones. Generally, known for being mild in flavor, it gets harder and crumbly as it ages.
What cheese goes on a charcuterie board?
An excellent charcuterie board offers guests a variety of texture and taste combinations. This means selecting five or so different cheeses to offer fantastic variety for the palate.
Here are some perfect cheese options for charcuterie boards based on texture and density:
- Firm: colby, gruyere, cheddar, manchego, comte
- Hard: asiago, gouda (aged) parmesan chunks
- Blue cheese: marbled blue jack, gorgonzola, stilton, dunbarton
- Soft: stracchino, brie, burrata, mascarpone
- Semi-soft: mozzarella, muenster, havarti, butterkäse
- Crumbly cheese: goat cheese, feta
These cheese are widely used to arrange a basic charcuterie board.
No matter whether you have 3 or 5 types of cheese on the board, it is common to serve between 2 to 5 ounces per person. The amount will depend on wether the charcuterie board is served as meal or appetizer.
Charcuterie Cheeses: Conclusion
Everybody loves cheese, and that’s why it’s an integral part of the charcuterie board. Sadly, not every cheese is the perfect fit.
From aged to crumbly, there are a wide range of cheese that need to be aware of when creating a charcuterie board. Typically, the platter includes brie, gouda, goat cheese, aged cheddar, manchego, and goat cheese due to its subtle and mild flavors that complement with other ingredients on the board.
Asiago cheese can be one of the special cheese to include on the charcuterie board because it has a mix of sharp, spicy, and fruity flavors.
When picking cheese for charcuterie board, choose one popular kind of cheese and build around 3 to 7 kinds of cheese in total. Stay with an odd number to maximize appearance when assembling.
Depending on the cheese, let it in room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving and place individual knives to avoid mixing flavors.
Furthermore, keep the serving amount between 2 to 5 ounces per person determined by it being an appetizer or main dish.
Based on personal preference, select cheeses including firm, hard, blue cheese, soft, semi-soft, and crumbly texture to give diversity to your board.
The next time you go shopping for the best cheese to put on a charcuterie board, you will know what to look for. Use any combo of cheeses listed above, then sit down and enjoy the look of amusement and surprise on the guest’s every time they take a bite of the cheese on your charcuterie board.