Summer gatherings favor charcuterie boards built on a strong cheese foundation, emphasizing cheeses that perform well in warmer temperatures and pair with seasonal produce. Curating a board means selecting a diverse mix by texture, age, and type of milk to create contrast and complement fresh summer fruits. Tony Benedict, executive corporate chef at Sargento, identifies ten cheeses suited for summer grazing and recommends mixing and matching selections. Aged Gouda exemplifies a summer-friendly choice: a semi-firm cow's milk cheese aged nine months to several years, developing caramel and toffee notes while offering a crumbly-yet-creamy texture that opens up at room temperature.
Summer is the season for snacking, picnic dinners, and endless charcuterie boards shared between friends. The long, sultry days were made for lounging and grazing charcuterie boards from late afternoon well past the sunset. All good charcuterie boards are built from a foundation of good cheese. And while the beauty of a charcuterie board is that you can customize it to whatever you want it to be, there are a handful of cheeses that are particularly well-suited for your summer snack sesh.
When we think about the perfect charcuterie board for summer, we're contemplating a few things, including what cheeses hold up best in the warmer temperatures, which cheeses pair well with seasonal produce, and how to curate a diverse mix of cheeses from texture, age, and type of milk. We chatted with Tony Benedict, the executive corporate chef at Sargento, to narrow it down to 10 cheeses that can be mixed and matched to feature on your summer charcuterie boards.
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