Build a Better Board

With Sara McDonald, Mike Muirhead, Rob Stansel, and Elsa Taylor

Designing a charcuterie board lets you flex all of your creative muscles: flavours, textures, design, wine pairing. We channelled our energy into creating two boards: one international board and one Manitoba board, featuring our favourite Manitoba-made products. Many of these local products are available at Banville & Jones in their specialty food section.

Mike, Sara, and Rob from Banville & Jones packed up their wine choices and we headed to The Roost on Corydon to share our charcuterie with co-owner Elsa Taylor. Renowned as one of the best mixologists in town, Elsa created two specialty cocktails especially for our boards!

Build Your Board

The key to building a winning charcuterie board is presenting your guests with an adventure for the senses. A successful board features diverse flavours, textures, and colours.

Photo by Ian McCausland

The Board

Choose wood for both aesthetics and function: it serves as a natural cutting board. Choose hardwood boards (maple, teak, olive) as some components (especially cheeses) can pick up the flavours of softer woods (oak, pine, cedar).

Meat

There are three main meat components to a basic charcuterie board: cured sausages (Spanish chorizo, salami, pepperoni), whole muscle cuts (prosciutto, spek, capocollo, serrano ham), and a richer spreadable option like pâté or mousse. The fatty, smooth pâté or mousse will provide both a flavour and texture contrast to the other meats. Smoked or brined fish can also add different flavour and texture options.

For a well-balanced board, do not add too many different meats: one cured sausage, two hams and one pâté for a small or medium-sized gathering will do. If the board is part of a larger food spread, plan for 3–4 slices of meat (75–100 g) per guest. If it is the main meal, you can as much as double this.

Cheese

Cheeses come in five basic types: fresh (ricotta, feta), surface ripened (brie or camembert), semi-firm (Havarti, Monterey Jack), firm (cheddar, Gruyère, parmesan), and blue cheese (Gorgonzola, Stilton). Deciding which cheese to choose can be overwhelming, so either get an expert to help (like The Cheesemongers), or focus on diversity in flavour (mild, sharp, blue) or texture (creamy, firm, spreadable, crumbly). Two choices won’t overwhelm the board.

Bread and Crackers

Offer different texture options (soft French baguette, toasted crostini, crackers), but don’t overthink the flavour options. If you offer only flavoured crackers, they will compete with the flavours on the board.

Spreads

Mustard is traditional, but far from mundane: offer sweet, spicy, grainy, and smooth options. Experiment with hummus, tapenade, marmalade, preserves, honey, or chutney. The adventurous can try their own recipes, and the rest of us can check out the specialty food shelves at Banville & Jones.

Accoutrements

Add interesting visuals, textures, and flavours with briny pickled vegetables (including cornichons, jalapenos, green beans, zucchini, and carrots) and olives. Contrast flavours with juicy fruit options (grapes, Mission figs, blackberries, strawberries). Raw nuts can add a crunchy palate cleanser, or roasted nuts can add smokiness, spice, or sweetness to the board.

THE INTERNATIONAL BOARD

The International Board

Photo by Ian McCausland

1. Conservas de Cambados Sardines in Olive Oil (Banville & Jones) 2. Valençay Ash Coated Goat Cheese (The Cheesemongers) 3. Manitoba Maid Red Pepper & Garlic Jelly (Banville & Jones) 4. Homemade Candied Almonds 5. Prosciutto (De Luca’s) 6. Chorizo (De Luca’s) 7. Spicy Capicola (De Luca’s) 8. Colston Basset Shropshire Blue (The Cheesemongers) 9. Cerignola Olives (De Luca’s)

Photo by Ian McCausland

THE MANITOBA BOARD

The Manitoba Board

Photo by Ian McCausland

1. Smak Dab Mustard: White Wine Herb, Honey Horseradish, Beer Chipotle, Canadian Maple (Banville & Jones) 2. The Beeproject Neighbourhood Honey: St Vital (Banville & Jones) 3. Manitoba Maid Saskatoon Jam (Banville & Jones) 4. Bothwell Red Wine Extra Old Cheddar (Banville & Jones) 5. Bothwell Muenster Cheese (Banville & Jones) 6. Morden’s Roasted Cashews (Banville & Jones) 7. Pork Cacciatore Sausage (The Cheesemongers) 8. Calabrese Salami (De Luca’s) 9. Green Peppercorn Pâté (Peasant Cookery, housemade) 10. Smoked Goldeye (De Luca’s) 11. Pickled Zucchini 12. The Canadian Birch Company Birch Bacon Jam (Banville & Jones)

Pairing Your Board

The diversity on your boards should also be reflected in your wine pairing choices. The clean, fresh fruit character of good Prosecco is very cheese-friendly. The briny salinity of a fino Sherry wakes up your palate and invites a bite of cured fish and olives. Our boards reflect flavours you would find in Mediterranean cuisine, so Spanish and Italian wines follow the rule of pairing wine and food from the same regions. We paired Cinsault, a crunchy, juicy red that’s neither cloying nor oaky, but has bright, light, delicate flavours. And finally, we choose Syrah (a Canadian one for our local board) for its meaty and peppery notes to pair with our spicy salamis.

WINE LIST

Reassi nv Prosecco Veneto, Italy ($23.99) Hildago nv Fino Sherry Jerez, Spain ($17.99) Fabio Motta 2017 Nova Bolgheri Bianco Tuscany, Italy ($25.99) El Grillo y la Luna 2015 12 Lunas Red Blend Somontano, Spain ($51.99/1.5L) Erste + Neue 2017 Kaltererse Classico Superiore Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy ($19.99) Alheit 2017 Flotsam & Jetsam Swartland, South Africa ($25.99) Burge Family Winemakers 2009 G3 Barossa Valley, Australia ($49.99) Nichol 2016 Nate’s Vineyard Naramata, Canada ($34.99)

Photo by Ian McCausland

Photo by Ian McCausland

WINE COCKTAILS

The Roost’s Elsa Taylor created these specialty wine cocktails to pair with our boards.

Photo by Ian McCausland

Blossoming Negroni

1 oz hibiscus-infused Bombay Sapphire gin 1 oz Croft Pink Port* 1 oz Amaro Montenegro 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice 1/2 oz fresh orange juice.

Stir and strain over a large ice cube into a chilled snifter. Garnished with a citrus twist and an edible flower.

Moonstruck

1 oz E&J Brandy 1 oz Campari 1 oz Cocchi Storico Vermouth di Torino* 1/2 oz sour cherry juice 1/4 oz fresh lemon juice

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass. Garnish with a sour cherry & a sprig of thyme.

*Available at Banville & Jones.

Photo by Ian McCausland