Nothing like a charcuterie board to make guests feel welcomed. These stunning centrepieces can be yours without having to cook. Here’s how
Monika Cuisines
Charcuterie cheese boards, crafted with nuts, olives, berries and delicately positioned rosemary, are all the rage on Instagram. Although they are meant for good old snacking, the thought process behind it is hardly casual. Being able to pull it off takes talent and skill. We bring you four chefs who are flexing it with their cheese plates.
Curated Cuisines by Monika
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Chef Monika Mahajan likes to pair her artisanal cheeses with spreads or dips. “We use a lot of dried fruits such as prunes or apricots, and some nuts in the platter.” The Antipasto platter includes jumbo olives, veggie sticks, fresh fruits like strawberries and grapes, and breads and crisps. “My goal is to plate cheeses for connoisseurs and combine it with a personalised story that they share with me. This is my starting point.”
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@curatedcuisinesbymonika, Instagram
Call: 9820468889
Asorte Gourmet
Asorte Gourmet is an artisanal cheese and grazing board company in Mumbai that creates gourmet centerpieces. Founder Anuschka Goenka started playing around with cheese when she was six years old. “My grandmother encouraged me to try skewers of cheese and grapes that she prepared for her dinners parties.” Goenka uses a combination of fresh, flavoured soft cheese domes prepared in-house every day and aged European classics like flavoured English Cheddars, Dutch Goudas and French bries. Her bestsellers are Truffle Piedmont, Kerala Cracked Pepper, Apricot Feta and Soffrito Herbs. Some of the eclectic pairings include a drizzle of lavender honey on Asorte’s truffle cheese; caramel slathered on blue cheese and strawberry jam with their house special Kerala Cracked Pepper cheese. “What fascinates me about cheese is that there is no universal norm as to what it should be like; nearly every country in the world has at least one unique, traditionally-made cheese attached to its cultures.” Goenka hopes to sample the Nepalese Chhurpi, considered the hardest cheese in the world. While all the platters at Asorté are 100 per cent vegetarian, Goenka is happy to accommodate KETO, Vegan and GF requests.
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@asortegourmet, Instagram
Call: 9321486240
Chef Guntas
Guntas Sethi Bhasin is a patisserie chef trained from Le Cordon Bleu, London, and the head chef at Chef Guntas in Mumbai, where she specialises in custom cakes, desserts and cheese platters. Guntas curates a variety of cheeses ranging from soft and semi-soft cheese to hard variants. Because people have different tastes, Guntas says she ensures there’s something for everybody at the table. “The first thing is to curate different textures and flavours with a choice of assorted fruits, nuts, cheeses and crackers.” The combination of mushroom and truffle with cheese is one of her new pairings. She also recommends the truffle, pistachio and goat’s cheese platter. “The pistachio adds crunchiness while the goat’s cheese lends saltiness. And the truffle brings it together by adding freshness and cutting through the richness of the cheese. You could also serve sun-dried tomatoes and olives as accompaniments.”
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@chefguntas, Instagram
Call: 9740654123
Karishma Mehta and Millie Mitra
Karishma Mehta of Bowled over by Kari and Millie Mitra, founder at Millie’s Artisan Vegan Cheese, have collaborated to offer a fascinating selection of cheese boards. Each limited edition of the spreads and crusted wheels are derived from plant-based whole food (PBWF). “These cheeses are cholesterol-free, preservative-free, and lactose- and dairy-free,” explains Mitra. The soft cheese spreads are made from cashew and tofu, and come in flavours like burnt red chilli and garlic, creamy original and much more. The hard cheese is cashew-based and matures over six weeks.
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@bowledover by kari, Instagram;
@milliesvegan cheese, Instagram
Call: 9833105244
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