Who doesn’t like a cheese board?

As a lover of cheese I am pretty partial to these. They have featured on many of our dinner parties. In typical Australian fashion, as the centrepiece ( rather than at the end of meal as the French do ). No matter what the theme, there will always be a cheese and charcuterie board on the dinner table. Usually Mr T’s daughters take charge and over the years they have put together some quite elaborate boards. I used to keep mine simple, but since I discovered Tableaux Paris , I have had a lot of fun trying to be more creative. I love following their advice  on cheese layout, ingredient selection and creating an effect of abundance. It feels more like play than cook. 

So, last week, I was asked to bring a plate of festive finger food to a dinner party at a girlfriend’s house.

We are a group of five. Stef, Catherine, Luisa, Selma and myself have known each other since our daughters met at school. Fifteen years on, the kids are now grown up, but we still catch up regularly for a “Friday wine night”. There is always a theme, varying from the funny “With Love from Meghan” to the somewhat morbid ” Poison Mushroom dinner “. This time we’re in a holiday mood and asked to a Christmas dinner. As always, encouraged to bring a plate, I offered to make a cheese and charcuterie board of course !

I wanted to create a landscape of cheese trees and snowmen around a fire of salami. For a whole day, I sketched the platter and cut a mock up under Mr T’s amused gaze. It looked good on paper. Next was the shopping spree at the local deli. That was a joyful experience in itself, explaining to the lady behind the counter what I was planning ( “ Everyone is making cheese and charc boards this weekend, what’s going on? “ she exclaimed ). She handed samples for me to try, suggesting ideas…clearly enjoying her job. 

I settled on a hard Swiss cheese ( Gruyere ), a colourful and earthy English cheddar ( Sage Derby ), an exotic Spanish firm sheep cheese ( Manchego )  and finally, a decadent buttery French number ( Truffle Brie ). 

Back in the kitchen, I had planned to use Christmas cookie cutters to shape my trees and snowmen out of the Colby and Manchego. It was a huge fail. The cheese kept crumbling and/or wouldn’t stand tall as intended. 

Onto Plan B and a flatlay farandole of cheese instead. Paired with an assortment of charcuterie and  pairing options, this was the perfect festive gourmet  board to start the evening.

We then feasted on prawn cocktails, made by Luisa. Our hostess, Stef, baked some turkey and cranberry pies. Catherine brought some jam tarts. And Selma put together the most delicious pavlova with cream and berries. All the while, we kept raising toasts to each other, to friendship and the love of good food!

Ingredients

Cheese: Gruyere, Sage Derby, Truffle Manchego, Truffle Brie

Charcuterie: Coppa, prosciutto, truffle salami

Pairings: Walnuts, pretzels, raspberries, blackberries, caramelised onion jam and beetroot crackers

Decoration; rosemary sprigs, Christmas picks