Creating a festive charcuterie board: Ideas for holiday colors and flavors

Charcuterie boards are here to stay and with good reason. During the holidays, they are a great way to both impress and feed your party guests. It’s easier than you think to put together a visually appealing — and of course delicious — spread of cheeses, meats and other treats that your guests will be talking about way past the holidays.

Chef Aly Pedersen of The Inspired Palette is a private chef who is known for her amazing charcuterie boards.

“Technically, charcuterie only means cured meats, such as salamis and sausages,” explained Chef Aly. “When the boards began to trend, they included cheese, so people add cheese now. I also do grapes, nuts and dried and other seasonal fruits.”

Depending on the size of the party, Chef Aly chooses three to eight cheeses, three to five meats, three to eight types of crackers, four to eight dried fruits, three to five varieties of nuts and two or three flavors of jam, spreads or honeycomb. “The lower quantities will feed 10 to 25 and the higher end are for larger parties,” she said.

Chef Aly said it’s easy to start designing your festive holiday charcuterie board. “Just tap into your creative side. What do you and your family or friends like to eat? What pairs well together? You don’t have to be a chef to look up what pairs well with, for example, blue cheese. You can really do what you want.”

Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Think themes: When you start planning, think out of the box and consider making the charcuterie board a theme. “For example, my mom loves the 12 Days of Christmas so she added in a partridge in a pear tree and drums for the little drummer boys. You could have the Grinch as a theme or even Santa Claus and tie the Christmas tree into your elements. The cheese can be shaped into a candy cane as well.”

• Choose your cheese: Chef Aly recommends selecting three to five different cheeses that your family and friends enjoy, and then building your board around them.

“I like to use such cheese as triple cream brie, Cypress Grove Midnight Moon goat cheese, English sharp white cheddar and Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog Cheese,” she said. “For the red color, Brillat-Savarin has a nice cranberry cheese for the holidays. I'll also form a log of goat cheese into little balls and roll it in freeze-dried cranberries, or dried cranberries, or use a red jam.”

• You got the meats: Even though charcuterie is no longer solely just about meats, make sure your spread includes some tasty options. “I like to add a spicy salami with prosciutto,” suggests Chef Aly. “Try to add an Iberico ham, because people want something a little bit more than what you get year-round. The specialty meats we have at Christmas are what's popular.”

• Pick out your produce: Next, Chef Aly suggests choosing fruit that complements the cheeses that you’ve picked. “What you will choose will depend on what you can get around the holiday time,” she said. “I use figs a lot, and apples and pears are in season then too. I also source my ingredients at farmers' markets, where I get specialty dried fruits.” For example, she enjoys lining the board with dried persimmons, apricots, pomegranates, and cranberries. “A charcuterie board should be all about different textures,” she said.

• Decorate with color: Imagine the “oohs” and “aahs” when your guests walk in and see a stunningly decorated and mouth-watering charcuterie board popping with holiday colors. Presentation is everything, especially during the holidays, so Chef Aly uses a variety of techniques to incorporate seasonal colors into her displays. “I decorate with Christmas ornaments and anything festive,” she said. “Sometimes I weave battery-operated Christmas lights throughout the board, too.”

• Bring the outside in: Take your decorating a step further by bringing the outdoors in for your board. You can haul out the holly and drape it around cheese, meats and jellies. Chef Aly says pine cones and poinsettias are also great options.

• Get nutty: Sprinkling various types of nuts across the board would also add textures. “I like to use nuts that are seasoned with different spices or herbs,” said Chef Aly. “I roast and flavor them myself, adding in thyme, rosemary, sage, and other flavors of the holidays that make it more festive.”

How far ahead do you make a charcuterie board? Chef Aly usually makes it the day of, but no more than two days ahead. “If you do it a day or two ahead, leave the crackers off until right before you serve it because they may get soft or soggy,” she said.

The good news is you really can’t make too much charcuterie because there is always a chance for leftovers and that’s a tasty part of the holidays.