Cheese and Charcuterie

The magic words: cheese and charcuterie

We don't have a lot of rules about cheese in Wisconsin. We're an "eat and let eat cheese" kind of place. But there's one thing we never yell in a crowded dining room: "Cheese and charcuterie!"

Given the way people here feel about our meat – and about our cheese especially – those magic words are bound to cause a ruckus. Old ladies' elbows get a little sharper. Nice guys have been known to step on a toe or two. People even forget to say "'Scuse me, please" as they head for the charcuterie tray en masse.

Of course, it's no wonder people get so excited about cheese and charcuterie when there's Wisconsin cheese on the platter. When you're home to the most award-winning bunch of cheesemakers on the planet, you can be sure that every bite of Wisconsin cheese is going be magic.

Take a peek at our website to meet some of the best cheeses for a charcuterie board. Search our index for charcuterie platter recipes. Or scroll down for some tips on building the best cheese and charcuterie board.

Fine-tune your cheese and charcuterie chops

Here's the fun thing about cheese and charcuterie – there's no right way or wrong way to prepare your board. There are, however, some great tips that can make your meat and cheese platter shine. Here are a few of our favorites.

Building a cheese and charcuterie board is all about creating interesting combinations of taste and texture. For the charcuterie meat, that means you'll want to include:

• Cured sausages like chorizo, coppa, and salami
• Whole-muscle cuts like prosciutto, bresaola, and Spanish jamón iberico or jamón serrano
• Forcemeats like chicken liver mousse or duck rillette

For cheeses, you'll want 4 to 6 varieties, including:

• Hard cheese like parmesan, aged cheddar, romano or manchego
• Semi-hard and semi-soft cheese like cheddar, gouda, emmenthal, and butterkäse
• Creamy, soft cheese like burrata, goat cheese and stracchino

For additional flavor and texture, be sure to include:

• Bread: hearty crackers, toasted crostini, and slices of baguette or sourdough
• Mustards: whole-grain mustard or hot sweet mustard
• Fruit: sliced pears and apples, berries and great, dried cherries, and sun-dried tomatoes
• Nuts: marcona almonds, macadamia nuts, candied pecans
• Dips: roasted red pepper dip and hummus
• Vegetables: olives, pickles, cherry-red peppers, and artichokes

Wisconsin cheese and charcuterie. ‘Nuff said.

When you want to throw a stellar party, just tell people there'll be Wisconsin cheese and charcuterie on the table. Then double the number of people you're expecting to show up. Because as soon as your guests tell their friends and relatives, your place will be more popular than Lambeau Field on game day.

Here's the thing: it's a well-known fact in Wisconsin that our cheesemakers make the tastiest, highest-quality, most award-winning cheese on the planet. So anytime you're serving Wisconsin cheese and charcuterie, there's going to be a crowd. People will come far and wide to taste some of the 600+ varieties, styles, and flavors of cheese made in Wisconsin – including lots of cheeses that have won Best-in-Class awards at the World Cheese Championships.

So next time you're prepping a charcuterie board, make sure there's Wisconsin cheese on the platter. Just don't go yelling about it from the rooftops. Unless you bought, like, enough cheese for everyone in town.