It's great to feel fancy once in a while and a wooden board covered in cheese, cold meats, pates, biscuits, grapes, jams, and condiments is the perfect way to do just that! Charcuterie boards are great to serve at dinner parties, family gatherings, or wine evenings. For cheese lovers, a charcuterie board is pure foodie heaven, you can sample all sorts of different cheeses and pair them with all your favorite food pairings. It's a starter that will win the approval of all your guests!

Here are our favorite cheeses to add to your cheesy platter:

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10 French Brie

Brie is France's most well-known cheese. it is soft and deliciously creamy, with a hard outside and soft, cheesy center. It has a mildly, satisfying taste and is best served with crusty bread, plain crackers, fruits or fig jam, and honey. Jamie Oliver also recommends serving brie or camembert as a starter by baking it in the oven - this way you get a softer texture and the cheese will be warm and gooey.

9 Manchego

Manchego is a Spanish sheep's milk cheese that can only be produced within the region of La Mancha. It is semi-soft with a firm yet supple texture. It has a fruity, nutty, tangy, and sweet flavor to it and is a pale yellow color.

8 Goat Cheese

Goats cheese is basically any cheese that is made from goat's milk. It comes in many different flavors and textures - from young to mature, mild to tangy, crumbly to creamy, It has a rich, savory flavor and works wonderfully paired with bread, biscuits, or fruit.

7 Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola is best known for its distinctive blue-green marbling which is produced by the Penicillium roqueforti fungus which is added to the milk during the beginning of the making process. It is made in the Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy. Gorgonzola is another cheese where the depth of flavor ranges depending on how long it has been aged. It has a soft, crumbly texture and the flavor can be nutty and sharp, or buttery and creamy, and is best enjoyed when spread on crackers or crostini or paired with fruits and nuts.

6 Mozzarella

Mozzarella is most definitely one of the world's favorite and most popular cheeses with its smooth, pliable consistency. It has a mild, fresh flavor, with a creamy white or pale ivory color. Mozzarella is most commonly used on pizzas but it makes a delicious, delicate addition to your cheese platter too.

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5 Burrata

Burrata is a soft Italian cheese that is made from cow's milk. The outer shell is made from a soft mozzarella, but when you cut into it you will find a soft, cheesy interior made from small cheese curds and cream. It is exceptionally rich and creamy and is best eaten on its own with some olive oil and Italian bread.

4 Sicilian Pecorino

Just like the name suggests Sicilian Pecorino originated in Sicily, Europe. Both fresh and semi-mature Pecorino work great as table cheeses and are best when paired with bread and olives. It has quite a strong, mature flavor with a herbal aroma.

 

3 Gruyere

Gruyere is a popular Swiss cheese that originated in the town of Gruyeres in Switzerland. It is made from cow's milk and cured for six months or more, and has a rich, creamy taste and pale yellow color. It is a great addition to your cheese platter as it is easy to slice and pairs well with other cheeses, fruits, or biscuits.

2 Aged Gouda

Gouda is one of the most popular cheeses in the world today. It is a sweet, creamy, yellow cheese that originated in Netherland and is often used in many dishes. Aged gouda however has a much more distinct flavor, that can be both sharp and sweet, compared to the original gouda cheese we are all too familiar with. Cheese aging is an important part of the cheese-making process and aged gouda is a great example of how aging can transform cheese.

1 Boursin

Boursin is a creamy, crumbly gourmet cheese that everyone needs to add to their charcuterie board. It is a fresh, soft cheese that is usually flavored with herbs and spices, and it has a buttery flavor and slightly crumbly texture. In most cases, Boursin is spiced up with herbs like onion, tomato, chives, figs, nuts, garlic, cranberries, and cinnamon, and comes in many different flavors that you can purchase in shops worldwide. It can be easily spread on bread and crackers or served with raw vegetables, or in salads and pasta.

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