Charcuterie 101: creating the perfect meat-and-cheese plate

A get-together almost always calls for food. Follow these easy tips to pick out the perfect cheeses, meats and sides for your charcuterie plate.

A meat-and-cheese plate is a sure-fire way to win over the crowd. Best yet, it's quick to make last minute.

Start with the star of the show: the cheese family. Choosing a variety of flavours and textures ensures you'll have something for everyone.

• Soft cheese: Brie, camembert, gournay — these cheeses are normally on the rich side and spread easily on crackers or bread.
• Crumbly cheese: Blue, gorgonzola, goat — flavourful and sometimes intimidating because of their colour veins, these cheeses play well with sweet chutneys and fruit.
• Hard and semi-hard cheese: Gouda, cheddar, dubliner, gruyere, pecorino — by far the most approachable and easy to find, these types of cheeses go over well with almost anyone.

The primary thing to consider when choosing meats for a plate is that they will likely be sitting out, unrefrigerated, for a significant period of time. That being said, it is best to go with ones that have a high salt content or have been cured, such as:

• Pepperoni
• Prosciutto
• Pancetta
• Capicola
• Saucisson Sec
• Chorizo

Aside from the meats and cheeses, a few extras will not only bring the plate together, but will also draw out the natural flavours of what you have already chosen.

• Bread and crackers:  It is best to go with unflavoured or lightly flavoured varieties in order to let the meats and cheeses stand out.
• Chutneys and jams: You can go sweet or savoury with these, experimenting with flavours like fig, hot pepper and berry.
• Roasted garlic: Once roasted, it spreads like butter and loses much of the potency you get with fresh garlic, instead tasting almost sweet.
• Pickled veggies: Yhe salts and vinegars used in pickling are wonderful when paired with a rich, creamy cheese.
• Fruits: Pears and apples are always a great choice to pair with cheese, as are raspberries, blackberries and peaches.

Use this as a guide to get started; with more experience and taste testing you'll have your signature charcuterie plate down in no time.

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