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How to build your ultimate Christmas cheeseboard

A Christmas cheeseboard is the easiest way to impress your guests without turning on the stove. Packed with artisanal cheeses, festive cold cuts, fresh fruits, crackers and colourful toppings, it brings together a mix of flavours and textures. Here’s how to assemble a beautiful, crowd-pleasing platter in just a few minutes.

Ingredients

• Bandel cheese (add a few smoked ones too): 6-10 pieces
• Slices of cheddar (try and get a flavoured slab)
• Sambusak — a Jewish cheese
• Smoked ham
• Chicken salami
• Cocktail sausages
• Salt beef
• An assortment of salty crackers
• Fresh strawberries and raspberries
• Grapes (mix of black and green)
• Exotic nuts
• Cream cheese
• Jams

Method

• Slice the cheddar into assorted shapes and place it on the platter. Add the Bandel cheese and the Sambusak in a pattern next to it
• Place the jam and cream cheese into small dishes, and add them to the platter
• Add crackers to the platter, fanning out the crackers as you go
• Fill in empty spaces with strawberries, raspberries, and grapes
• Fan out the cold cuts like the crackers
• Sprinkle the nuts to finish off the platter

— My Kolkata Web Desk