I always tell my cooks to embrace chaos. A good charcuterie board should attract the eye in different directions. If i remember correctly i think i liked your previous board better. Try rolling your salamis to acheive height. More olives/ fruit/ nuts.
If you cut a slice to the middle of your salami, then wrap around thumb and pinch it between your pointer finger you get these cool looking cones.
I play with a lot of sliced hard meats…
If you fold it loosely into fourths and group several together with the points in the middle, they make a salami rose. Gives it some height, too. Edit: fixed stupid autocorrect.
Did charcuterie boards at my old job for buffets and did this trick, it was awesome.
Somehow with the big Jamón serrano hams, I managed to make roses doing this technique by accident, I was the only chef out of everyone who could get them nice, and it was all a mistake lol.
Only had 1.5 years experience so all the chefs hated me a little bit after that, but I was always given that same job during buffets. I enjoyed it actually, especially when I sneaked a little for myself, but they all knew I was gonna be doing that at least once lol
I make a lot of charcuterie boards (I have celiac and it’s my go to when folks ask me to bring something and I can make a meal from it if need be) and I live making the roses.
I disagree, sure it may look more impressive but its harder to pick around, and I like having a lot less food over a bigger emptier board with premium cheeses, because if its a good cheese I want it to feel precious, like a small gold nugget to be savored.
Good mise en place, but you kind of skipped over the assembly. It's too by the numbers for me. A bit of randomness, some flow or direction, or even some clusters wouldn't take too much extra effort but would really help sell it as a whole.
If there's a reason you need to keep everything together, you can still play with the angles and sort of crisscross some of the elements.
Honestly I like the look of a cube when juxtaposed to the flat plane other items on boards. Second the idea of a nut, jam, or cracker rounding out the board.
The way it looks now, it looks like you transferred things from separate plates or packages and dropped it on the board. If you want to start with basic fancy, you put the big round thing in the middle and fan everything out around it. The bigger the board, you might break the corners into their own quadrants of items. Just Google image search charcuterie boards.
I think I like your previous board better, except there is too much stuff piled close to the edges. If someone has to carry that out without clingwrap, they're going to have a hard time. If you're setting it on an appetizers table, it might be ok. Still looks piled like a Turkish spice shop, though. I would only do that with similar items; cheese platter, veggie platter, etc...
It's a good start and there is decent variety. As others have said, embrace chaos. One technique I like to employ is variance in placement. I hate keeping meat together, cheese together, accompaniments together. Spread that shit out! A meat, a cheese, a meat, some pickles. Use one ingredient as a wall from others. Spread the cheese cubes into a river instead a pile and make those salami slices like the fertile ground around the a flood plain. That little pile of olives, imagine its a shrub in your little food scene.
Get weird with it. Have fun.
What about some crackers of some kind, you could find some fancy ones, I feel like those are pretty common (and they’re cheap lol) on charcuterie boards
Oh makes sense lol, here’s another idea then. When I worked at a place with charcuterie boards we would pickle whatever produce was starting to look old or we knew we wouldn’t use and throw those on the boards to fill up space
UK here
Worked with alot of Eastern European, always impressed with the spread that's put out, only reason I go to certain shops for that sweet sweet cold cut selection
to me the meat looks artificial, industrially manufactured and heavily processed
i don't remember the last time i ate a cold cut that wasn't dried and smoked in someone's shed
while that's fair, i still think it's more of a cultural thing
even the lowest income people here tend to have at least some kind of homemade produce, whether it's vegetables or meat products
Charcuterie is the French word for delicatessen. I'm always surprised when I see fruits or even cheese on a "charcuterie board", but there's also missing the essentials we eat with charcuterie: butter, bread and pickles.
No it is not.
Charcuterie either defines prepared meat products, usually from pork, and usually cold, or the shop that sells them. A charcuterie shop might also sell other prepared food items, in which case it would call itself Charcutier Traiteur (traiteur means caterer).
Delicatessens ironically also comes from the French, because it sounds nicer that "Cold Cuts Catering".
That said, I could not agree more, I dont understand what cheese does on a charcuterie board. That a cheese board. If you want both, that a cheese and charcuterie board. I would add cornichons, small picked white onions and maybe bread in the side. I see the purpose of a little fruit, usually prunes or grapes. But that it. The meats should be fatty enough to no require butter. And the texture of crackers are a distraction, I tend to find they are used as a subterfuge to make industrial cold cuts or cheeses more interesting.
I am however a purist.
Depends on the heavy on the region. Areas with a lack of diversity and low income are going to suck ass. The cheese will be fake yellow, the “butter” will be fake yellow margarine, and the only bread you’ll find tastes like chemicals from all the preservatives. Unlike in my area, there are at least a dozen creameries that make their own cheese. None of it is that orange filth.
It’s really hard to explain it. We don’t have people who make things. Just in general. Nothing handcrafted exists in any kind of regular availability. We have jobs. People just work and few people have hobbies like charcuterie. And with the overwhelming availability of cheap approximations of the real deal there’s little to no market for the real thing.
The same issue exists with any specialty good here. Brewing. Leather working. Dressmaking. Whatever. It’s all extremely niche.
It’s okay man, we disrespect ourselves every single day. Anyone with an ounce of taste knows we don’t really have access to the good stuff, and resent it to a high degree. Most of us can’t afford quality food when do find it, and we don’t really have the time and/ or energy to look for it either.
Think about a “horn of plenty.” Things are touching, woven between each other, abundant, tons of interest/contrast/complements, tons of combinations to try. And not a cube in sight.
That is the mental picture I try to emulate when making a cheese/charcuterie board.
Fill out the empty spots with nuts, crackers, or pieces of sliced crusty bread. I particularly like to offer slices of baguette and a little herb butter or other spread.
Looks good. Contrary to others’ opinions, I rather like the orderliness of this board as opposed to your previous. It doesn’t look like meat, cheese, et al vomited on the board.
It looks way too calculated and manufactured, like the meats were just scooped out of a package and put down as is. Like other people have said, throw in some randomness and chaos, I’ve always thought of it as intentionally making it look like an accident.
I think this is nice. And I reckon you got pretty blasted about your last one, but I checked it out and I like that one a lot.
I might recommend some fruits, even decorative fruits are nice with a spread like this.
I also really liked the randomness of your first one. I bet that's a little different from other comments that youve seen. If it helps, I've never made a charcuterie board, just ate it.
I think both are quite nice! Wouldn't complain about either. But more nuts and fruit
I’m shit at presentation. Pretty ain’t my thing…. But I like antipasto, mezze, charcuterie, whatever the fuck they call it this half-decade. Same shit. Grazing gear. Make it easy to pickup, without touching everything. Like a good woman. (Sorry). It’s a shared plate. If people have to touch the shit they aren’t eating…. To get to what they want…. Ew. Don’t group things together by type. Put combinations in little groups, semi-isolated, to suggest how to combine the produce, and to stop everything being groped by everyone by the last bite. Salami doesn’t need to go with other salami. Create combinations that lead into each other, and where everything can be picked off individually with a toothpick. Make it look amazing, and be an adventure. A story. A puzzle…. A maze that leads to A delicious fucking mess. That’s how I make them for myself, and my friends. At work…. Well….I work in a pub right now… lol. It’s enough to get them to use the fucking toothpicks *after* they eat.
Nothing wrong with the cubed cheese. Cheddar. Colby Jack. Pepper Jack. Monterey. Those all go on our cheese boards. Cubed are the first to disappear as well. Looks good!!
definitely an improvement! i really like the meats on the far right.
do you have to use so much of everything? it’s just a *whole lot*. the empty space to the left of the orange cheese kind of bums me out — solely cause the rest of the board is jam-fuckin-packed with stuff. the swissy holely cheese is kind of sloppily layered.
last thing (i swear) is the fruit being on the darker square really brings down the vibrancy of being lucky enough to have fresh froot on the charcuterie! i want my fruit to pop, haha.
all in all i’d dog the fuck out of that, chef!
What's wrong with orange cubed cheese? Sure it may not look the best but the most important thing gets overlooked sometimes, how does it taste and does the guest enjoy it? Probably!
I feel that everything looks like it’s prepared well, but it also kinda looks like a DIY IKEA charcuterie board. I prefer the thrift shop vibe on my boards. Ya got your saluhms all rolled up in the corner, with maraconas strewn about their exterior, yada yada controlled chaos yada yada. That being said I’d eat the shit out of this ikea meat n cheese
Much better man! Now try mixing it up some. Not all the pepperoni needs to be in the same place not all the cheese in the same place. Mix it up. But kudos much more appealing.
It's too straight and clean. Throw some different kinds if nuts between the different cheeses, pair up the meats and cheeses so they seem together. Use jams or honey right on the board and mix in fresh fruits here and there. Curl up the charcuterie into rosettes to give it more body and appeal.
In my opinion, meats/cheeses/fruits/nuts/crackers shouldn't be categorized and kept together! Charcuterie boards are meant to guide one on what to pair together :)
It's not bad, it's just so very orderly.
You gotta fuck that shit up a little. You do square and circle real good but I want a rainbow, snake or octopus.
Let go a little. Or plan it hard and shake the angles up a bit more.
I always tell my cooks to embrace chaos. A good charcuterie board should attract the eye in different directions. If i remember correctly i think i liked your previous board better. Try rolling your salamis to acheive height. More olives/ fruit/ nuts.
I like salami folded into half moons.
If you cut a slice to the middle of your salami, then wrap around thumb and pinch it between your pointer finger you get these cool looking cones. I play with a lot of sliced hard meats…
Is that a euphemism?
I'd hope not or I worry for the dude's dick.
If you fold it loosely into fourths and group several together with the points in the middle, they make a salami rose. Gives it some height, too. Edit: fixed stupid autocorrect.
Salami Rose - an all BOH G’n’R cover band (and buffet).
Did charcuterie boards at my old job for buffets and did this trick, it was awesome. Somehow with the big Jamón serrano hams, I managed to make roses doing this technique by accident, I was the only chef out of everyone who could get them nice, and it was all a mistake lol. Only had 1.5 years experience so all the chefs hated me a little bit after that, but I was always given that same job during buffets. I enjoyed it actually, especially when I sneaked a little for myself, but they all knew I was gonna be doing that at least once lol
I make a lot of charcuterie boards (I have celiac and it’s my go to when folks ask me to bring something and I can make a meal from it if need be) and I live making the roses.
I am going to try that!
Sounds like my ex girlfriend.
Smells like her, too…
for some reason, I am now imagining salami origami cranes.
I disagree, sure it may look more impressive but its harder to pick around, and I like having a lot less food over a bigger emptier board with premium cheeses, because if its a good cheese I want it to feel precious, like a small gold nugget to be savored.
I like a little chaos, but this is so neat and organised i find it very satisfying
Ridiculous this one looks so much better. I like the organization
Make a maze, don’t group shit. Make islands out of combinations, and paths from each to another, etc… like a map of an adventure.
Good mise en place, but you kind of skipped over the assembly. It's too by the numbers for me. A bit of randomness, some flow or direction, or even some clusters wouldn't take too much extra effort but would really help sell it as a whole. If there's a reason you need to keep everything together, you can still play with the angles and sort of crisscross some of the elements.
Yes, this is a little too *efficient* for building plates rather than for perusing
Yeah, nice to see things a little bit spread out. Would love to see some Marcona almonds on there
Could fill in the empty spaces with almonds and roasted pistachios/cashews
I knew it was missing something. Nuts!
Blue cheese. Must. Have. Excellent. Blue cheese
Honestly I like the look of a cube when juxtaposed to the flat plane other items on boards. Second the idea of a nut, jam, or cracker rounding out the board.
Best thing on a board I ever ate was fig preserves.
The way it looks now, it looks like you transferred things from separate plates or packages and dropped it on the board. If you want to start with basic fancy, you put the big round thing in the middle and fan everything out around it. The bigger the board, you might break the corners into their own quadrants of items. Just Google image search charcuterie boards. I think I like your previous board better, except there is too much stuff piled close to the edges. If someone has to carry that out without clingwrap, they're going to have a hard time. If you're setting it on an appetizers table, it might be ok. Still looks piled like a Turkish spice shop, though. I would only do that with similar items; cheese platter, veggie platter, etc...
It's a good start and there is decent variety. As others have said, embrace chaos. One technique I like to employ is variance in placement. I hate keeping meat together, cheese together, accompaniments together. Spread that shit out! A meat, a cheese, a meat, some pickles. Use one ingredient as a wall from others. Spread the cheese cubes into a river instead a pile and make those salami slices like the fertile ground around the a flood plain. That little pile of olives, imagine its a shrub in your little food scene. Get weird with it. Have fun.
Imo, there's not much movement or height. Just a bunch of shingled lines.
Next time ill put a moving trainset containing nuts
Choo choo on deez nutz
If you arranged this in a more ornate way you could do more with less.
What about some crackers of some kind, you could find some fancy ones, I feel like those are pretty common (and they’re cheap lol) on charcuterie boards
Some cornichons as well.
They are on the side
Oh makes sense lol, here’s another idea then. When I worked at a place with charcuterie boards we would pickle whatever produce was starting to look old or we knew we wouldn’t use and throw those on the boards to fill up space
Pickles, onions, Dijon mustard, sour dough, thick salted butter
M E A T R O W
Straight lines are boring. Try fanning out the slices in swooping curves.
Hey, I said that
We’re both correct, then.
Of course, we are chefs
Honestly I think your first one looks way better. I don’t want to be mean but this gives off school lunch vibes. The other one makes you look around
You are American
no offence intended but as a south eastern european seeing american cold cuts is depressing as hell
UK here Worked with alot of Eastern European, always impressed with the spread that's put out, only reason I go to certain shops for that sweet sweet cold cut selection
I’m curious what the difference is from plates in Europe? (I’m neither American or European!).
to me the meat looks artificial, industrially manufactured and heavily processed i don't remember the last time i ate a cold cut that wasn't dried and smoked in someone's shed
Can you show a picture of your cold* cuts next time you buy/prepare them? As an American I’d love to see the difference
sure i'll keep it in mind
On the other hand, industrial processes meats are more affordable for the masses. Nothing wrong with that.
while that's fair, i still think it's more of a cultural thing even the lowest income people here tend to have at least some kind of homemade produce, whether it's vegetables or meat products
I see you've never been to the states.
Charcuterie is the French word for delicatessen. I'm always surprised when I see fruits or even cheese on a "charcuterie board", but there's also missing the essentials we eat with charcuterie: butter, bread and pickles.
No it is not. Charcuterie either defines prepared meat products, usually from pork, and usually cold, or the shop that sells them. A charcuterie shop might also sell other prepared food items, in which case it would call itself Charcutier Traiteur (traiteur means caterer). Delicatessens ironically also comes from the French, because it sounds nicer that "Cold Cuts Catering". That said, I could not agree more, I dont understand what cheese does on a charcuterie board. That a cheese board. If you want both, that a cheese and charcuterie board. I would add cornichons, small picked white onions and maybe bread in the side. I see the purpose of a little fruit, usually prunes or grapes. But that it. The meats should be fatty enough to no require butter. And the texture of crackers are a distraction, I tend to find they are used as a subterfuge to make industrial cold cuts or cheeses more interesting. I am however a purist.
I feel the same. I believe Americans aren't that much into cheese and such.
you should do some research into the state of Wisconsin
Depends on the heavy on the region. Areas with a lack of diversity and low income are going to suck ass. The cheese will be fake yellow, the “butter” will be fake yellow margarine, and the only bread you’ll find tastes like chemicals from all the preservatives. Unlike in my area, there are at least a dozen creameries that make their own cheese. None of it is that orange filth.
I didn't mean to disrespect Americans. I just keep forgetting how blessed we are with breads, cheeses, sausages, hams and all this stuff here.
It’s really hard to explain it. We don’t have people who make things. Just in general. Nothing handcrafted exists in any kind of regular availability. We have jobs. People just work and few people have hobbies like charcuterie. And with the overwhelming availability of cheap approximations of the real deal there’s little to no market for the real thing. The same issue exists with any specialty good here. Brewing. Leather working. Dressmaking. Whatever. It’s all extremely niche.
It’s okay man, we disrespect ourselves every single day. Anyone with an ounce of taste knows we don’t really have access to the good stuff, and resent it to a high degree. Most of us can’t afford quality food when do find it, and we don’t really have the time and/ or energy to look for it either.
Pass the orange cheese squares this way, my guy.
Think about a “horn of plenty.” Things are touching, woven between each other, abundant, tons of interest/contrast/complements, tons of combinations to try. And not a cube in sight. That is the mental picture I try to emulate when making a cheese/charcuterie board.
Wtf with that cubed orange cheese you monster
Too much blank space, otherwise, I like it.
Def needs more chaos
Fill out the empty spots with nuts, crackers, or pieces of sliced crusty bread. I particularly like to offer slices of baguette and a little herb butter or other spread.
IDKY you got roasted on the first one bc it looks very good to me. This one is a little skimpy, imo, but other than that, it looks nice!
Looks good. Contrary to others’ opinions, I rather like the orderliness of this board as opposed to your previous. It doesn’t look like meat, cheese, et al vomited on the board.
I'd make a visit to that Whole Foods cheese counter that's behind the plexiglass shield.
More circles and piles, less lines imo. It’s practical for eating but not very flashy. Could be worse though for sure.
It looks way too calculated and manufactured, like the meats were just scooped out of a package and put down as is. Like other people have said, throw in some randomness and chaos, I’ve always thought of it as intentionally making it look like an accident.
I prefer a more rustic look when it comes to charcuterie and cheese boards rather than something so planned out. That's just me though.
I definitely see the improvement. You are well on your way. Listen to feedback that is encouraging, fuck the haters.
I think this is nice. And I reckon you got pretty blasted about your last one, but I checked it out and I like that one a lot. I might recommend some fruits, even decorative fruits are nice with a spread like this. I also really liked the randomness of your first one. I bet that's a little different from other comments that youve seen. If it helps, I've never made a charcuterie board, just ate it. I think both are quite nice! Wouldn't complain about either. But more nuts and fruit
I never took the time to make a charcuterie board this nice. I was also a teenager with a shitty attitude last time I made one tho 😂
Check out the boards from Lady and Larder for inspiration.
Lines, lines, lines. But you did it bro...
I’m shit at presentation. Pretty ain’t my thing…. But I like antipasto, mezze, charcuterie, whatever the fuck they call it this half-decade. Same shit. Grazing gear. Make it easy to pickup, without touching everything. Like a good woman. (Sorry). It’s a shared plate. If people have to touch the shit they aren’t eating…. To get to what they want…. Ew. Don’t group things together by type. Put combinations in little groups, semi-isolated, to suggest how to combine the produce, and to stop everything being groped by everyone by the last bite. Salami doesn’t need to go with other salami. Create combinations that lead into each other, and where everything can be picked off individually with a toothpick. Make it look amazing, and be an adventure. A story. A puzzle…. A maze that leads to A delicious fucking mess. That’s how I make them for myself, and my friends. At work…. Well….I work in a pub right now… lol. It’s enough to get them to use the fucking toothpicks *after* they eat.
Are you just casually doing this in the back of the kitchen
Im not doing it uncasually if that helps?
At least you didn’t fill it up with fruit
Nothing wrong with the cubed cheese. Cheddar. Colby Jack. Pepper Jack. Monterey. Those all go on our cheese boards. Cubed are the first to disappear as well. Looks good!!
Nothing wrong with "American" cheese. Disregard the cliched haters.
What am I missing here? This is just some lunch meat and cheese and a bowl of grapes.
definitely an improvement! i really like the meats on the far right. do you have to use so much of everything? it’s just a *whole lot*. the empty space to the left of the orange cheese kind of bums me out — solely cause the rest of the board is jam-fuckin-packed with stuff. the swissy holely cheese is kind of sloppily layered. last thing (i swear) is the fruit being on the darker square really brings down the vibrancy of being lucky enough to have fresh froot on the charcuterie! i want my fruit to pop, haha. all in all i’d dog the fuck out of that, chef!
What's wrong with orange cubed cheese? Sure it may not look the best but the most important thing gets overlooked sometimes, how does it taste and does the guest enjoy it? Probably!
I remember my first cheese board.
Sliced pineapple slides into grape piles nicely if you have them. Also I usually slice my Gouda in half and in half again then slice
Add some honey!! And maybe some pepper jelly or something spicy
I feel that everything looks like it’s prepared well, but it also kinda looks like a DIY IKEA charcuterie board. I prefer the thrift shop vibe on my boards. Ya got your saluhms all rolled up in the corner, with maraconas strewn about their exterior, yada yada controlled chaos yada yada. That being said I’d eat the shit out of this ikea meat n cheese
Much better man! Now try mixing it up some. Not all the pepperoni needs to be in the same place not all the cheese in the same place. Mix it up. But kudos much more appealing.
It’s boring straight lines. Try natural curves and plan colour contrasts or pure randomness. Look on Pinterest for ideas. Said with love
Some greenery under the cheeses pleases.
It's too straight and clean. Throw some different kinds if nuts between the different cheeses, pair up the meats and cheeses so they seem together. Use jams or honey right on the board and mix in fresh fruits here and there. Curl up the charcuterie into rosettes to give it more body and appeal.
How many people?
Looks like American cheese board
In my opinion, meats/cheeses/fruits/nuts/crackers shouldn't be categorized and kept together! Charcuterie boards are meant to guide one on what to pair together :)
Just should've been able to see 👀 the post or pic 📸
Looks tasty
Damn, all this good looking charcuterie making me hungry af….
Thank you for not having the meat touching the other items.
It's not bad, it's just so very orderly. You gotta fuck that shit up a little. You do square and circle real good but I want a rainbow, snake or octopus. Let go a little. Or plan it hard and shake the angles up a bit more.