Cheese and charcuterie tray - tips for a luxurious party

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What could be more luxurious and delicious than a cheese and charcuterie platter? For us, it's a favourite and just before New Year, when we had a party, we decided to go all in. We ended up with a whole table of cheeses, charcuterie, crusts, scrambled eggs and fruit. Here we tell you about the whole party!

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Cheese and charcuterie tray - a table full of decorations

When we invited our friends home - Peter's son Robin and his girlfriend Alexandra, and our good friends Lennart and Beata - we decided to go for a cheese and charcuterie platter. Peter wanted to go all in - good quality, but also delicious presentation. We set up a sumptuous table, and here are some ideas for decorations:

• Using barrels that build on height
• Put olives, pickled cucumbers and other things in nice little bowls
• Cut up fruit into pieces and put "a little everywhere"
• Decorate with fresh herbs
• Placing candles on the table
• Make small signs with names of cheeses, sausages etc.

Bread and biscuits

Bread and crackers form the basis of a cheese and charcuterie platter, in a way. You can choose what you want of course. We bought a packet of mixed crackers as well as saltines, rye crisps (good for stirring) and crisp sticks. We also had Estonian black bread in the freezer. so good!

• Saltines
• Mixed biscuits (packet for cheese tray)
• Rye crisps
• Sesame crisp sticks
• Estonian black bread

cheeses

Of course, on a cheese and charcuterie platter you have to have cheeses. We mixed it up a bit - some hard cheeses, some softer cheeses, some mould cheeses. In the same vein, we chose some Swedish cheese and some foreign cheeses. These cheeses ended up on our table:

• Appenzeller
• Gryuere
• curved tyres
• Swiss farmhouse cheese
• Smoked cheese
• Stilton
• Saint Agur
• French Brie
• Truffle Brie

Jams, sauces and pickles

Cheese can be really good with marmalade, and we opted for three varieties: fig, cherry and pear. We also bought two accompaniments that can be good with pâté: Cumberland sauce and pickled marinades.

• Fig marmalade
• Cherry marmalade
• Pear marmalade
• Cumberland Ridge
• Pickled mandarins (tinned)

Charcuterie products

On a cheese and charcuterie plate, there must of course also be charcuterie products. We bought a few types of ham, salami and pâté. A hot tip for the pâtés is to fill endive leaves with pâté together with Cumberland sauce and/or pickled mandarins, possibly on a piece of bread. So delicious! We bought these charcuterie products:

• Flat-smoked ham
• Proscciutto Crudo
• Lomo
• Truffle salami
• Spianata Picanta
• Iberico Fuete salami
• Deer salami
• Lantpate
• Green pepper pate

Crusts, rolls and tubes

It is also fun to have some crustaceans, rolls and scrambles on the cheese and charcuterie tray. There are so many ideas, if you google a bit. These treats ended up on our table:

Crusts with smoked bacon cream

Chop smoked meats (for example, smoked bacon and flat-smoked ham) and mix with the smetana. Put the mixture in casseroles and decorate with pieces of apple and some fresh herbs, such as red oxalis.

Crusts with chevre cream

Cut off the outer edges of the chevre cheese and mix with the cream cheese. Season to taste with a little salt and lemon juice. Put the mixture in crusts and top with a dash of balsamic vinegar and a small piece of fresh fig.

Crusts with Västerbotten cheese cream

Bring 1 dl of cream to the boil, remove from the heat and mix with 100 grams of grated Västerbotten cheese. Leave to cool and mix with two egg yolks and 2 dl rapeseed oil, which you pour in slowly and carefully while mixing with a hand blender. Serve in casseroles and decorate with thyme.

Artichoke scrambled eggs

Grate a clove of garlic. Strain the artichokes (one tin) from the oil, put them in a bowl and blend them with a hand blender to a smooth cream. Stir in the cream cheese, olive oil and grated garlic. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon. Serve in a bowl with crackers and/or small pieces of thin crispbread.

Horseradish reindeer slices

We used ready-made reindeer meat scrambled eggs from Hötorgskallen, but you can of course also make the scrambled eggs yourself. Spread the scrambled reindeer meat on a thin sheet of red and roll up from the short side. Tie (carefully!) the rolls together with chives and decorate with sprigs of fresh rosemary and a few lingonberries (we bought frozen).

Oven-baked dishes

We served some single (two, to be more precise) oven-baked dishes. We made the bacon-wrapped dates in advance and left them lukewarm. The beetroot was prepared just before everyone sat down to eat.

Beetroot with mould cheese

Place roughly chopped pieces of pickled beetroot in baking tins (one tin per person). Sprinkle with blue cheese and bake in the oven, at 250 degrees, for ten minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Bacon wrapped dates

Scald the almonds (if they are not already scalded). Core the dates (using a crab tool, for example) and insert an almond into each date. Wrap half a slice of bacon around each date and secure with a toothpick. Cook the dates in the oven, at 225 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Fruit, vegetables and fresh herbs

Fruit, vegetables and fresh herbs are another important part of a charcuterie and cheese board. The big fruits were cut into pieces and the smaller ones were left whole. Then we decorated the trays, dishes and table with all these goodies:

• Oliver (green and black)
• Pepinillos (small Spanish gherkins)
• Galia melon
• Fresh figs
• pear
• Grapes
• Litchie
• Physalis
• Lemon and lime
• Endive leaf
• Fresh herbs: Basil, rosemary, thyme, chives and red oxalis

A pleasant evening with a luxurious cheese and charcuterie tray

For us, it was an incredibly pleasant evening with this luxurious cheese and charcuterie tray. Our guests for the evening were Peter's son Robin and his wife Alexandra and our good friends Lennart and Beata.

Do you like cheese and charcuterie trays?

Do you like cheese and charcuterie boards? Do you like to set the table and make nice arrangements? What are your top tips?

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