The Best Cheeses for a Charcuterie Board

When styling a charcuterie or cheese board, it’s best to mix different textures of cheeses to contrast one another in size, flavor, and texture. For example, using a soft, gooey brie and then using a hard sheep’s milk cheese is more interesting to give contrasting texture and flavor.

Here are some cheese types:

Soft Cheeses:Brie, Camembert, triple-cream, burrata, goat cheese, fresh ricotta, Gorgonzola dolce. These gooey spreadable cheeses have tons of flavor, so you don’t need to use the whole splice. Use can use small slices.

Semi-Soft Cheeses: Drunken goat, fontina, Muenster, Roquefort, Havarti. These are semi-firm cheeses that can be cut on a board. They’re mild in tastes and used to balance more stronger flavored or spicy meats such as spicy salami.

Firm: Cheddar, Gouda, Gruyère, Stilton, Jarlsberg, Manchego. These cheeses are very flavorful and are firmer in consistency. They’re not spreadable and need to be chopped into pieces or slices. Try placing large cube of cheese with slices for visual appeal.

Hard: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino-Romano, Asiago, Mimolette. These dry, salty, crystalized cheeses should be crumbled. They taste the best with more fatty meats like soppressata or bresaola.

You’ll need more cheese than the meats since the meats are thinly sliced to place on crackers. The cheese will take up the majority of the board’s surface. About four cheeses will do. However, if you have less than that, don’t fret, just add more fruits, crackers, and breads.