Build Your Own Charcuterie Board

Image of meat and cheese board with text that reads: Art of Charcuterie

Our UCF Young Alumni Council’s Adulting Series concluded this week with a session called Art of Charcuterie. The session was led by alumna Julie Fleishman ’15, co-founder of Say Cheese Tally, and her business partner, Brittany Barnhart, who taught us everything we needed to know about assembling a fancy meat and cheese board!

Building Your Best Board

Julie and Brittany’s tutorial was robust, so we’ve taken a few quick tips from their session to get you started:

Gather the Groceries
Our experts recommend planning for 3 oz of cheese per person. When you’re shopping for the cheeses, look for different milks (cow/sheep/goat) and textures. You want a variety! As for the meats, aim for Soppressata (leaner pork cuts), genoa salami, and capicola – these pair well with any cheese.

Stay Sharp
The right utensils are key to perfect cheese cuts. Our hosts recommend using a Boska cheese knife to cut cheeses like brie. In addition, they said to have a plastic knife with ridges for the softer cheeses to keep them from sticking.

Let’s Get in Formation
First rule: create the border of your board with items that don’t roll – this is a good place for your cheeses, not the nuts! Once you begin placing your items, don’t be afraid to get fancy. You can lay your cheese slices out in zig zags, fan them out and maybe even try your hand at a salami rose. You can get creative with your placements to create space for more yummy items. Then, fill in those gaps with smaller fruits and nuts.

Get Crackin’
Julie and Brittany recommend using the entire board for your charcuterie staples, so that means you’ll offer the crackers and other vessels on the side. They take up room and get soggy, so it’s best to keep them on a separate plate. Finally, consider offering items like apple slices as a gluten-free and keto-friendly alternative to crackers (or just to switch it up).

Alumna and friend conducting charcuterie board class

Tell Me More!

If you want more pairing ideas or are interested in learning how to make a salami rose (trust us, you want to know!), you can watch the Adulting Series: Art of Charcuterie webinar at any time on our UCF Alumni Virtual Hub. You can also reach out to our cheese-lovin’ duo at Say Cheese Tally for more board-building tips.

Young Alumni Council logo with text that reads "Adulting Series"

Great news! The entire Adulting Series is now available on the Virtual Hub. Watch any session at your convenience to learn more about Money Management, Nailing the Interview, Mixology 101 or the Art of Charcuterie.

About the UCF Young Alumni Council 

Our council is dedicated to furthering engagement and philanthropy at the University of Central Florida by enhancing the relationship between young alumni and the UCF community. Young alumni under the age of 32 currently account for one-third of our alumni population, making them our largest constituent base.

The UCF Young Alumni Council exists to build a strong network among young alumni to encourage a lifetime relationship with UCF following graduation; encourage graduates to contribute their time, talents and resources to support the university and surrounding community; as well as create and support programming and events that establish and strengthen your affinity to the university.

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