What's on our spread: Grocery Bar Prosciutto De Parma, Main Street Meats Lomo, Main Street meats Fennel and Sage Salami, Sequatchie Cove Cumberland, Cabot Clothbound Aged Cheddar, Point Reyes Blue, Marcona Almonds, Whole olives, Pickled Okra, Sesame Crackers, Crusty baguette and Dijon mustard.With all of the entertaining we plan on doing this holiday season, it's easy to get trapped in the minute details of a gathering. But no matter what china we use, hors d'oeuvres we slave over and bubbly we serve, there's nothing quite as impressive as a delicious cheese and charcuterie board, filled to the brim with accruements. With local touches and a festive atmosphere, this should be your go-to this month when you're planning a large party or a small friendly gathering.
Check out our simple tips brought to you by none other than Erik Niel of Easy Bistro. Niel and his wife recently assumed operations of Main Street Meats, with a promise to expand the butcher shop's breadth.
1. Exercise restraint. "The great thing about having a meat and cheese board is that it's a great way to have small bites," Erik says. A pound of salami is going to serve 10 to 12 people when you consider bread and mustard. To that end, having your deli or butcher slice the salami or prosciutto is going to produce the thinnest slices, perfect for layering with cheese and mustard. "And definitely cut the cheese up into small slices or chunks to make it easier on people."
2. Offer variety. "I try to do one cured ham, like prosciutto, serrano or smoked or unsmoked Benton's ham, with a whole muscle like coppa, lomo or solimillo. Those have intense and rich flavor," he says. "And then I'll go to one or two salamis of different sizes and flavors."
3. And definitely offer a variety of cheese. "It's the same with cheeses, for me. I do a blue, but it can be a mind killer with people. What I've found even at the restaurant, not very many people are drawn to it," he says. "So I'll have a harder goat's milk cheese that's easy to pick up with fingers, like a Bucherons that you can eat or spread on toast, and then one or two cow's milk cheeses. Like some tomme, gruyeres and aged cheddars are great."
4. Breads are imperative. "I like to do a couple kinds," Niel says. "We make crackers a lot at Easy, like a dried onion and a benne seed cracker, and I love them because they are really easy to pick up with your meat and cheese." But above all, a crusty bread is a must. "Sourdough or a baguette is awesome, the crustier the better. It doesn't have to be super fresh, and you can cut crostini out of it, but you can also just tear it and wrap whatever around it."
5. So is a Dijon mustard. "It's hard to do one of these without a nice bright Dijon mustard," says Erik. "It's acceptable to put it in a cup, but we'll smear it right on the platter. It looks cool and you can dip the meat in it, sop it up with a piece of bread and away you go."
6. Reset your palate with acidic touches. "I'm a huge fan of cornichon. Any time I put down a meat on the plate, I'll add a few. We of course pickle ramps, mushrooms, greens, anything acid goes well with this, and it'll reset your palate," Niel says. "With cheeses I really love olives, but they've got to be a really high quality brine. Like Picholines and Nicoise olives."
7. Lay out your meat and cheeses first. Place them carefully on a big wooden board, or just cover your table, like we did. "Then the garnishes find their way in between everything," Niel says. "You don't want to mix the meats together, then it gets hard to discern what you're eating, and same with the cheeses. Give them some real estate."
8. Include fruits and veggies. "In the bounty of summer, it's great with berries, and in the fall, apples, but we're getting into citrus now," Niel says. "We're definitely peeling Satsumas and confiting them. The sweetness of fruit and richness of cheese and fattiness of meat go very well together. We're also doing turnips and radishes with a little bit of that spice tart flavor to them. They are also great."
9. Worried about wine pairings? Don't. "I'm on a personal crusade about this! Sparkling wines and Champagne are not only for celebrations. Champagne and sparkling wine will go with everything," Neil says. "A Brut sparkler will literally carry it the whole nine yards, literally everything. Another crusade of mine is rosé! The bright and highly acidic roses are perfect for this, even though it's not summer. It solves the red versus white wine conversation and pairs with a broad spectrum of foods."
10. Have fun! It's meant to be a social party, with interactive food and low stress. "It's like being a kid all over again, you get to play with your food," Erik laughs.
Also: don't forget to bring your cheese out a little before the big shindig. You've got to get those cheeses up to room temp, as they'll take on nuances of flavor you wouldn't pick up if cold.