Planning a picnic? Use this free tool to help prepare the perfect sharing platter

Some call it a tasting plate, others a grazing board, party platter or a charcuterie board – but, whatever you know it as, you’re sure to have prepared one at some point over the years when entertaining friends or family.

Aussies young and old love a good charcuterie board – it’s almost considered a part of our culture to have one ready to go at any party or gathering of friends and family. The basic boards generally have the good ol’ cabanossi on a toothpick with a piece of cheese – delicious! But, you can venture out and try other things like salami, nuts, dried fruit and even some dark chocolate as well if you’re feeling fancy or want to impress your guests.

Although it’s been some time since we’ve been allowed to entertain with the outbreak of the coronavirus, restrictions are slowly starting to ease around the country and more people are allowed to gather. So, if you haven’t already caught up with friends following lockdown, you probably will in the near future – and a charcuterie board will certainly be on the table ready and waiting.

They may look easy to create, but there’s actually a skill to putting together the perfect charcuterie board – one that you might have mastered yourself. Sure, you could just throw it all on the board and hope it looks good, but a well-designed charcuterie board will really impress your loved ones. If there’s too little you’ll have your friends and family raiding your pantry looking for a snack, or if there’s too much you’ll be eating leftover cheese for a week – which may sound good, but your stomach might not agree!

Thankfully, there’s a new online tool which can help. The Hans Charcuterie Board Builder allows you to select exactly what you need and even provides handy inspiration for additions you may not have thought about including apple slices, pistachio nuts, figs or even honeycomb. You can use one of their boards as a starting point or create your own from scratch.

For example, you could select a Hans board which has already been planned out, such as the ‘easy entertaining’ board which is full of family favourites like twiggy sticks and camembert or the ‘mini buffet’ which has a mix of savoury and sweet like chorizo salami slices and strawberries. Once you have decided what suits you and your guests best you’ll be presented with a list of items to purchase at the shops and the exact quantity of each required depending on how many people you’ll be feeding.

Meanwhile, if you want to start from scratch Hans will give you some suggestions to choose from including different meats, cheeses and other scrumptious nibblies such as chocolate, fruit and nuts. You’ll get recommendations on what will work well together but ultimately it’s up to you!

Even if you’ve created dozens of charcuterie boards over the years, the tool is an easy and simple way to work out exactly how much of each food item you’ll need – which is especially handy during these tough financial times when we don’t want to overspend or be left with lots of waste. You could even branch out and try something completely different like the new Hans Fig & Orange or Truffle & Mushroom Salami which are currently available in Woolworths stores around the country.

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