Your Weekly Voilà: Creating the Perfect French Cheese Board 💕🧀🍷🇫🇷

Let's get this out in the open: I'm a bit of a cheese and charcuterie board snob. You will never see a pile of luncheon meat shaped like a football with American cheese slices cut to look like laces in the middle of the plate surrounded by cheese cubes, pretzels, and peanuts on my board. Never. Never ever.

For me, making a board filled with delicacies that can easily go from aperitif to light dinner is meant to be a creative process. In true French fashion, the perfect cheese board looks like it just came together effortlessly from items in your larder, when really it takes a bit of thought and planning.

It must be both beautiful and delicious.

I also don't subscribe to the "pile-it-high" school of cheese boards. If I am serving a large crowd and need more space, I go for a bigger board. That board could be as simple as a large slate tile from your home improvement store. I want you to get a glimpse of the board and to see each artfully arranged item. I don't want the final display to look sparse but there's a balance that I work toward.

Consideration is given to 3 things: Flavor, color, and arrangment.

When selecting your board, think about what you already have on hand. A large slate tile? A cutting board that looks fabulous on its other not-so-often-used side? A beautiful antique French chopping block? Go with a board that is bigger than you think you need. You want the finished display to look "lush." Believe me. You'll fill it up. Just you and another sharing a snack? Go with a smaller board and add just one or two cheeses. Fill the spaces with a few delicious and pretty garnishes such as fresh figs, sliced cured sausage, a few walnuts, and maybe those little sweet pickles or garlic stuffed olives. Think about what is fresh and in season.

Now you are ready to build.

Consideration for flavor, color, and arrangement will create a successful cheese board every time.

Begin with the cheese - bien sûr. I like variety but you don't need a dozen cheese choices. Aim for a range of flavors, shapes, and colors. Think about cow, sheep, and goat options. Select a soft cheese like a Brie, a hard one like Cantal, and a really hard one like an aged Mimolette. For those hard cheeses, I like to slice a bit beforehand in order to encourage my guests to dig in. No one likes to be the first to "break into" something. If your cheese comes in a large block, cut it into squares and overlap them on your board. The soft cheese can look fabulous all on its own with a sprig of fresh herbs on top.

The next question is to add meat or not? Unless I have vegetarian guests, I do add some local, cured duck sausage and quality prosciutto to my board. The idea is to select one type of meat to complement each of the cheeses. If you want to get a bit crazy, divide your board into "zones." Have a salty section and a sweet section. Pair your sweet Brie with seasonal fruits like grapes and berries, or dried fruit such as figs and apricots. Keep your salty or briny garnishes with your more savory cheeses. I tend to think about how the flavors work together with each cheese and that is how I begin to fill in my board with the bits like nuts, jam, chutneys, and dried fruit.

I have seen some fabulous boards on Instagram that limit the color palette of the garnishes. For example, you could develop a "green" board and add green grapes, olives, endive, cucumbers, snap peas, celery with a small bowl of thick green goodness dressing for dipping. Or throw caution to the wind and go with a rainbow of colors working their way across the board. It truly is a creative process.

Once you mapped out a plan for your board, it's time to peak into your refrigerator and pantry to see what you already have on hand. You'll be surprised as to what lurks on those fridge door shelves. Now that you have a start, think about your favorite cheeses and what fruits or vegetables are in season. Maybe you have a color theme so that will provide a direction for your hunt at the market. If you're going vegetarian and want to add some delicious veggies, be sure to consider what dip you want to add in a small bowl. (Maybe these days you want to do individual bowls for each guest? Not a bad idea. Stupid pandemic.)

Have a checklist but keep an open mind because you never know what new item might catch your eye. I love those long, thin crackers with the cracked pepper on top and tiny kumquats sliced in half on my board.

Remember to add a sharp knife to slice the hard cheeses, a spreader for the soft ones, and some pretty appetizer forks that allow for grabbing the little bits. I like everyone to have their own fork, plate, and napkin along with a glass of wine. My suggestion for an aperitif is a sweeter Jurançon which is a white wine. Then move into an easy-to-fall-in-love with red like a Cahors Malbec if you want the board to serve as a light dinner.

It is easy to stretch your board into a more substantial meal, just include a hot cheese dish. You can pop your Brie into the oven and serve it with sliced apples or French bread. Or I like to scoop a mound of soft cheese say a Ricotta-type into a vintage, ironstone gratin dish or individual ramekins and place them under the broiler until the cheese is browned and warmed throughout. Then, top with a warm mushroom confit right before serving. (We need to talk about confit. I have learned that it's not just about duck legs. You can confit lots of vegetables. There's confit garlic, fennel, even cherries. Next Friday's Weekly Voilà, I'll share my mushroom confit recipe and you will absolutely have to try it on top of a soft cheese.) This addition of an easy warm side will make for a filling meal. Be sure to have enough good bread as part of the spread and serve with a green salad.

Feeling fancy? Follow with a fruit and chocolate board.

This weekend, why not hunt for some possible cheese board options. Look for marble discards at your local stone cutter, or you'll see marble plates at decor shops and at tag sales. I love to place a marble round on top of a large vintage pewter plate. It's all about layering, both for the ingredients on the board and the table itself. Once you have decided on the platter, assembled your favorite ingredients, and have a plan, the rest comes together quickly. That means you get to spend less time in the kitchen and more time relaxing and enjoying the company of your guests.

This weekend, ask your cheesemonger what she would recommend and create an entire board around newfound favorites.

À bientôt mon amie,

Karen 😋💕🧀🍷🇫🇷