When making a charcuterie /cheese board, you know you’re going to spend a pretty penny. You buy the cured meats and fancy cheese that you regularly don’t purchase and you make sure that each element is really well presented.

I wanted to build a list of the essentials for a serving board. Let’s pretend we have an unlimited budget and access to every food on this planet.

• The cheese: I love starting it off with a flavourful cheddar, parmesean and some feta. Those are the basics. The more fancy are the cream cheese coated in pepper, the brie and camembert, the cranberry soft cheese (don’t judge it until you try it), blue cheese and even a little squeeze cheese here and there. What other cheese do you love to buy?
• The meat: cured ham for the win! From prosciutto/parma ham, salami, peppered ham and to basic sandwich ham and even polony/balogna (don’t judge me, they pair well with cheese and jams). What other meat do you like?
• Fruit and vegetable : these are for the more adventurous types. I love dates, grapes, olives (pitted please otherwise we’re all stuck digging pips out our mouths), dried apricot, cocktail tomato and I’ve even seen some citrus make welcomed appearances. I haven’t tried citrus on my boards but I can imagine the burst of freshness it can bring. Strawberries blueberries, carrot and celery are others that I love putting on boards.
• Nuts: I always forget about these ones. My favourite nuts are cashews, pistachios, walnuts, pecan nuts and macadamia nuts. Almonds, although popular, are a little too dry on my palate.
• Condiments: chilli sauce, barbecue sauce, jams and other preserves love to make appearances on my boards. They add another depth to the boards that assist in creating delicious bites, one at a time.
• Herbs: these are more for decoration however, I love some basil or rocket/arugula added to my bites. They, in my opinion, just accentuate meat and cheese flavours. The other herbs that make for perfect decor are rosemary, thyme and coriander. Are herbs an essential or a nice-to-have on your boards?

As usual, a wine or MCC is essential for cheese boards. Goodness, I can go on and on forever how coating your mouth with the oils from the cheese change the flavour profile of the wine. It’s just an adventure with every new bite and sip.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you like putting on your cheese boards. Perhaps more sweetness like chocolate? Or more cooked elements like sausages.

Let me know in comments below.