7 TIPS FOR YOUR NEXT GRAZING BOARD

What is a grazing board?

A grazing board is traditionally a wooden platter, jam packed with charcuterie and accompaniments to share between family and friends.
In my opinion, a grazing board is an absolute must at any gathering or party, as it brings groups of people together and bonds them over a delicious and beautiful display of food.
The best part is, there are no rules! You can put whatever you feel like on your grazing board!!
But if you would like some advice, here are 7 tips to get you started for your next grazing board.

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1. Quality

It is important when choosing what goes on your board, whether you are catering for the cheese lovers, the vegetarians or the plant-based babies, that you are choosing quality ingredients and produce. From experience, a grazing board is going to be devoured the most if it’s full of fresh, quality products.
Choose ingredients that are seasonal and in their prime, to guarantee the best quality for your grazing board.

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2. Finesse

It is easy to take basic products and turn them into gorgeous displays of food. With a few basic food hacks, you can create something really special to impress your guests. Follow these 3 simple food hacks to add to your next grazing board:

HACK 1:
​Cheese Wheel Cutting
Cut a wheel of brie/smoked/fruit cheese into as many slices as you can, while still keeping it in tact. 12 pieces would be ideal, but start with 8 when you are practicing. Layer the slices around in a circle on their side, and top with a blob of quince paste, some berries, honeycomb, or place a bowl in the centre full of dip or antipasto.

HACK 2:
​Kiwi Stars
Use a sharp paring knife, and lay your kiwi on its side. Cut diagonally through the kiwi gently until you hit the chopping board. Pull the knife out and change the angle and repeat, creating a zig zag pattern all the way around the kiwi. See in step 6 how to use your kiwi stars.

HACK 3:
Salami River
Get a pre-sliced white Hungarian salami, or Danish salami, and fold one slice at a time in half, and then in half again. Hold gently in one hand and repeat this process. Try not to squeeze too tightly once the salami is folded, because you want to keep the nice soft look to the salami once it’s folded, instead of it becoming flat and lifeless if you press it too firmly together.

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3. Colour

When arranging your grazing board, for the best visual appeal, try and place similar colours on the board away from each other. For example, you may have red strawberries, and red cherry tomatoes. Both absolutely delicious and belong on the board, but when placing them down, try and place them opposite to each other, or leave a gap in between them so the colours are broken up by other colours and textures.

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4. Texture

When choosing what to put on your board, you want to choose a mixture of different textures to not only keep it visually interesting, but to entertain your palette too.
Try picking a range of fresh and dried fruits, meats and cheeses, vegies, and nuts and crackers for the best variety on your board. But the most important thing is choose foods that you LOVE!

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5. Gaps

Everyone makes a grazing board differently, but in my opinion, its about the way all the foods comes together beautifully and creates a beautiful artwork. So, I’m just going to put it out there, my grazing board pet-hate is GAPS! There are so many creative ways to avoid gaps, that not only fulfil the need for colour variation and textures, but present such a beautiful variety of foods without seeing the board underneath your food. You want your board to look full of life and give the essence of generosity, and filling in those gaps is how you do that!

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6. Garnish

When garnishing your grazing board, this is the time to put the final touches on and really bring all the foods to life. Use your kiwi stars here to fill the gaps, and balance the colours and textures. You can also use blueberries, blackberries, dried apricots, rosemary, edible flowers and other greenery to finish off your board and make it look AMAZING!

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7. Variations

The traditional grazing board is a charcuterie board, but why stop there!? Try a breakfast grazing board, a taco board or even a pavlova dessert board. Any sharable meal can be turned into a grazing board to not only bring some flare to your next dinner party, but it really is the experience of sharing a meal together with friends and family that makes the grazing board world the best part!