3 New Books Promise to Help You Build a Better Cheese Board
Influencers including Marissa Mullen of @ThatCheesePlate and @CheeseByNumbers and Meg Quinn of @Ain’tTooProudToMeg have helped to grow the popularity of #cheeseboard and cheese in general. And their influence is going far beyond the ‘gram. Mullen’s book That Cheese Board Will Change Your Life came out in 2020 and Quinn’s The Cheese Board Deck came out in November 2021. Now a new crop of cheeseboard books is hitting the shelves including Boards published in April, 2022, The Modern Cheeseboard, which will be available August 30, 2022 and The Art of the Board, which will be out in October 2022. But what about the cheese?
Something notable about all these books is that they are expanding the notion of a cheeseboard to far beyond just a board with cheese. Some don’t even have cheese! But that’s ok, while we believe cheese makes everything better, we also believe that not every board requires it.
The Art of the Board
The Art of the Board was written Olivia Carney better known perhaps by her Instagram handle, That Charcuterie Chick. Like her Instagram feed it’s filled with beautifully styled photos of cheeseboards. Carney does a great job of explaining the different kinds of boards, knives, utensils and cheeses. Her seasonal produce list will get you thinking out of the box (and onto the board?) with surprising ingredients like broccoli rabe, sweet potatoes, zucchini, and turnips. Her guidelines of 3 ounces of cheese for an appetizer board is very reasonable.
In addition to cheeseboards there are non-cheese boards including a crudite board, a bloody mary board and a brunch board. She typically includes no more than 2-3 cheeses per board and allows for a little bit of negative space on the boards, which leads to a more balanced and inviting feel. The cheeses are accessible and range from specialty cheeses to true artisanal picks. You’ll see appearances by brie, Boursin, Cabot Clothbound cheddar, gorgonzola and Gouda along with Humboldt Fog, Comeback Cow and Nettle Meadow Kunik. There are recipes for cheese focused dishes, snacks and cocktails, but not much in the way of accompaniments such as chutneys, preserves or mustards. Another feature is a detailed pairing guide that includes pairings of bread and crackers, fruits and vegetables, drinks and condiments to go with different cheeses. It’s a great addition to allow for even more experimentation and creativity.
The Modern Cheeseboard
The Modern Cheeseboard was written by British cheese expert Morgan McGlynn of Morgan Cheeses. The book favors French cheeses and British cheeses, and while the French ones should be fairly easy to find, many of the British ones will be much harder to locate in the US.
The book has some unique and useful features including a guide to pairing edible flowers and cheeses, and “The Best Cheese Shops in the World” with listings in the UK, US, Europe, South and Central America, South Africa, Asia and Australia. Her accompaniment recipes for things like Negroni Chutney, Hot Honey and Pear Compote are particularly appealing. All in all, the boards are beautiful and seem doable, but the lack of zero negative space means they will likely only stay pretty before guests dig into them.
Boards
An influencer of sorts, America’s Test Kitchen has jumped on the board bandwagon and their book, Boards: Stylish Spreads for Casual Gatherings which credits Elle Simone Scott not as author but for “food styling and expert advice.” The book has a breezy, conversational tone and emphasizes fun. This is nice but often the emphasis is on styling over let’s say practicality. For example, a granola parfait bar is a great idea for a casual brunch. But for a board? Not really. Everything (fruit, yogurt, granola, etc.) requires a bowl so why call it a board? It’s literally a set of bowls all served on a tray. Likewise big platters of appetizers like chicken wings and crudites and dips are best served on platters, not boards. And nachos served on a sheet pan? Yup, those are now a board too and frankly, it starts to feel gimmicky after a while.
As far as cheese goes, this is really where the book disappoints. Granted the book is about an expanded notion of grazing boards, but the cheese section is seriously lacking. In “Choose your cheeses” the suggestions are incredibly predictable and include sharp and crumbly like aged Cheddar or parmesan, soft and bright, like chevre (no other suggestions), tangy and funk, like blue and ripe and oozy like brie. Under Essential Boards there is only a single cheeseboard and it has 2 pounds of cheese including a chevre cheese log, Manchego, cheddar, blue, brie, and it supposedly serves 6-8. That’s probably too many cheeses to really be able to appreciate them all. On the plus side, the book features an excellent guide to slicing cheese and appealing recipes for cheese accompaniments which include Fig-Balsamic Jam, Seeded Pumpkin Crackers, and Savory Seed Brittle.
The Cheese Board Deck
Finally, while it’s not a book, cheeseboard fans should consider Meg Quinn’s The Cheese Board Deck: 50 Cards for Styling Spreads, Savory & Sweet. The cards come in a handsome box with a single card offering “The Cheese Board Basics” and the rest divided into categories—Cheese & Charcuterie, Breakfast & Brunch, Lunch & Dinner, Occasions & Celebrations, Light & Wholesome and Holiday & Seasonal. Most of the boards feature cheese or cheese dips, only about 15 cards don’t feature any cheese at all.
Quinn keeps it accessible, with cheeses that are either familiar or more likely to be easily available ranging from Boursin, brie, burrata, Jarlsberg, and Roquefort to selections from Jasper Hill, Cypress Grove, and Trader Joe’s. The cards are very easy to use and even more convenient to take on a shopping trip.