Cover Image: The Modern Cheeseboard

The Modern Cheeseboard

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Member Reviews

Beautiful layouts of all kinds of cheeses. There's a nice mixture of cheeses, fruits, veggies breads and crackers. There's cheese types I have never heard of before. There is a nice chart of different types of Cheese, a pairing wheel. Seasonal boards using flowers, herbs and meats. There are large and small boards for game nights, cozy nights in, holidays, and from around the world.

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The author has a cheese shop in London, and I love that the intro chapter covers info about different types of boards and cheese tools, plus how to cut, serve, and how much is needed. It also discusses types of chees and pairings along with the science behind the pairings, with in depth info on pairing with edible flowers, herbs, wines, and meats. There is a six step cheat sheet for building the perfect board. The book has chapters on boards for Everyday, Throughout the Year (holidays and seasonal), Around the World (focusing on countries or regions), Showstopper, and then a chapter of recipes for items to include on the boards.
My ARC ended without the recipes chapter, so I cannot comment on that, or the list that was to be included of the best cheese shops around the world.
What I was able to review was detailed, easy to follow, and had beautiful full-color photos. I really like the way this book was organized and the amount of background information included.

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This book is perfect for the casual cheese lover who wants to know more. From the types of cheese to the basics of pairing, this book teaches so much. In addition the photos are lovely. Plus the variety of cheese board combinations that there are instructions for was outstanding, I can't wait to make some of them for myself and my friends.

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I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

Cheese boards are gorgeous yet can be daunting to assemble. Not only are the mathematics of servings tricky to figure out, there are the multitude of pairings (fruit, vegetables, crackers, breads, pickled items, meats, alcoholic beverages!) and the challenge of assembling everything in a beautiful yet functional manner. Morgan McGlynn breaks things down in an accessible way in this gorgeous book that supplies ingredient lists and assembly instructions along with sumptuous full-color photography.

The foremost issue to address: the author is British but the cookbook is absolutely fine as a guide to American turophiles. Some of the cheeses are not available here at all (those being English and French ones), but most are if you live near a larger city (or even a small town with an Aldi) or are fine with an online order from a major purveyor. The cheeses that are not available wouldn't be hard to substitute. The one board that struck me as humorously odd was a Cinco de Mayo board, which included the British classic Red Leicester and Italian Parmesan along with actual Mexican cheeses; mind you, the cheeses would all be delicious, but I felt like a good Cheddar (British, American, wherever) would have been more appropriate than Red Leicester.

I appreciated how the book listed clear instructions on each recipe. The number of people served by each board is listed, and cheese amounts are included in grams and ounces, making it internationally-friendly. I have to mention the photography again, too. It is truly stunning. This would be a great coffee table book.

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Thank you to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group, and Morgan McGlynn for the ARC of The Modern Cheeseboard in return for my honest review.

There are many charcuteries/cheese/grazing board cookbooks, but The Modern Cheeseboard is the most comprehensive and detailed version available. Morgan McGlynn owns her own cheese shop and catering board services. Her vast knowledge of cheese makes for a more in-depth look into preparing the perfect cheese board.

The photography is beautiful and provides a visual guide to making the perfect grazing board that even novice cooks can prepare. My favorite aspect of the book is all the board ideas for holidays/events with seasonal appropriate ingredients. The specialized boards highlighting specific cuisines ( Spanish Tapas Board, From The Sea Board, etc) provide endless ideas for ANY event you are planning from special occasions/holidays to a quick after-work/happy hour boards that are quick and easy to prepare.

The Modern Cheeseboard would make a perfect hostess gift or a great wedding gift for new couples by including a gorgeous cutting board and cheese knives, tapas plates, etc.! plan on buying a physical copy for my collection as soon as it publishes.

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Beautiful pictures, well laid out, informative, and great ideas for creating your own board.
I love how the author starts by sharing different styles of boards and the different knives used for cutting cheeses. She also gives a brief description of the types cheese and even how to cut them properly.

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A cookbook I didn't know I needed. I mean, who doesn't love a cheeseboard? One of the issues I have with making them is that I run out of ideas. Well, look no further. This book is packed with ideas for making a successful cheeseboard. McGlynn, who owns a cheese shop, also takes the time to educate the reader about cheeses and complementary foods. So many great ideas and the beautiful photography make it a pleasure to read. I highly recommend!

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC.

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Back in 2019, I reviewed The Modern Cheesemaker by Morgan McGlynn because I wanted to learn more about making cheese at home. I enjoyed the author so much that I was willing to read yet another book about cheeseboard assembly, probably the fourth or fifth one in the past twelve months.

The book begins with thirty-odd pages of valuable cheese related information in the Introduction. Among other things, there is a layout of different cheese tools with photographs. There is also a photographic guide to how to cut and serve various types of cheeses. There is a “cheat sheet” template for cheeseboards, which I expected each subsequent recipe to follow. Finally, there is a basic “recipe” for an everyday cheese board, which serves six to eight and follows the prior template.

After the introductory material, there are chapters about cheeseboard assembly for everyday, for holidays throughout the year, with international flair, and showstoppers. The note at the beginning of each set of instructions explains the cheeses selected and/or the recommended pairings in more detail. Afterward, each “recipe” highlights the components of the cheeseboard, the prep, the assembly, and the pairings. Most of the homemade components are followed by the page number for their recipe; however, some of the easier ones (fondue, stuffed peppers, fried halloumi, et cetera) are made during the recipe prep itself. Sometimes recipes for accompanying mixed drinks, like the Paloma or the Christmas Spritz, are also included. Finally, each set of instructions is accompanied by a full color photograph of what the end product should look like. The variety of different cheeseboard concepts is impressive. There is one for blue cheese lovers, which features different types of blue cheese - and chocolate too! There is another one for St Patrick’s Day that is laid out to look like an Irish flag (green, white, orange). And the Christmas cheeseboard laid out in the shape of a wreath. There’s an exclusively French board, a Spanish tapas board, a Scandinavian smorgasbord, and other nationally focused cheeseboards in the international section. And the showstoppers really live up to the chapter name.

The final chapter of the book contains the recipes required for the cheeseboards described in the previous chapters. Unfortunately, this chapter was omitted from the digital advance reader copy available through the NetGalley app.

Much like the previous book, this is a very British book, which is to be expected because the author owns a cheese shop in North London. However, it is made accessible to Americans with parenthetical translations of metric units into Imperial units. Being a European cheesemonger, the author has greater access to European cheeses than American ones, so the components for the boards are predominantly French, Swiss, Italian and other Continental cheeses, with some English and Irish varieties thrown in. The author unapologetically offers no substitutions for the stated varieties, regardless of how challenging they may be to find, possibly intending that the reader has access to a local cheesemonger who can recommend substitutions.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The approximately 160 pages of introduction and cheeseboards were highly informative. Unlike other platter and board books I have read, this one felt really intelligent about the cheeses involved. Each cheeseboard felt unique and individual, as the recipes tapped an astonishing variety of cheeses and accompaniments. I would definitely at least borrow this from the local library to assess the recipes in the back before I decided to add it to my exploding collection of cookbooks.

I received this book as a digital advance reader copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion. I have yet to try any of the recipes from this book, but will update my review when I do.

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I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a nice cheese plate book!

There's information on different cheeses and how to best pair cheeses with wines and other foods. There are different themed boards that are suggested in this book with instructions on how to put them together. There are beautiful pictures and some helpful tips in this book on how to prepare for dinner parties and best serve cheese.

Overall a nice find!

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Love this book! It has beautiful photographs and even includes recipes for items you can add to the cheeseboard. Perfect for all cheese lovers!

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This book is stunning! The Modern Cheeseboard takes the somewhat daunting task of putting together a cheeseboard look effortless and beautiful. Each page is laid out with simple step by step instructions, proper quantities and suggested pairings along with gorgeous photos of each suggested board so you can follow along with suggested plating. With every page I felt inspired and thought of so many people who would love this book as a gift.

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The Modern Cheeseboard by Morgan McGlynn is a definite keeper for cookbook collectors! This book exceeded my expectations. I particularly loved the themed boards for various occasions and celebrations. Loved the addition of little sandwiches to turn the cheese board into a brunch or picnic. Enjoyed and will try the around the world boards. The taco board looked so fun! All of the boards had full instructions and multiple photos. Includes a full color photo of each completed board. I won't ruin the surprise, but the very last board and the last photo actually made me say "wow" out loud. I'll definitely be using some of the ideas in this book.

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I absolutely loved this book from front to back. The illustrations are just gorgeous and really inspired me to want to put together a beautiful cheese board. This gives so many good ideas of how to arrange boards and what compliments each other. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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LOVED THIS! I have so many ideas to make boards now, because sometimes you need new ideas! I personally loved the Halloween and Cinco de Mayo boards, but they all looked fabulous. This will make a perfect gift as well! Thank you to Net Galley, the Publisher, and the Author for this arc! 🤍

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I love that there was a good variety of different ideas for different occasions. I did see a lot of things I have already seen elsewhere, but there were a few new board ideas that I thought were pretty tasty looking and aesthetically pleasing. This is a great book to get if you are new to charcuterie boards and need some ideas to get you started.

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Omg!!! This book made me drool from page one!!! I need to work my way through it! It’s packed full of pairings and boards that I’d never have thought to put together and now can’t wait to try! I will be buying a hard copy of this for sure to try and recreate some!

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Most people have opinions on cheese. The very word elicits all sorts of reactions, mostly positive, and something many of us can happily extol for hours on end in words and in action. The Modern Cheeseboard is thoughtfully and carefully crafted by Morgan McGlynn, owner of a cheese shop and professional arranger of personalized boards for herself and for events, large and small. Oh, how lovely it would be to experience her shop in person!

Assembling cheese boards can seem daunting but McGlynn walks us through, step by step. Not only does she include the basics such as types of boards (size, material and shape do make a difference), tools, storage, how to cut cheese, what to pair with specific cheeses (love the pairing wheel!) but she includes 40 themed ideas (with recipes when applicable) from casual to rustic to elegant. If the mouthwatering photographs don't entice and inspire you, nothing will. My cheese boards will now look prettier with edible flowers and herbs and much better organized now that I have the blueprints and "cheat sheet".

Every single cheeseboard described greatly appeals to me but amongst those I will make first are the Mezze Platter, Baked Feta Board, Easter Board, A Festive Cheese Wreath, Great British Cheeseboard, Spanish Tapas Board, The Caprese Board, Every Day I'm Trufflin', Chocolate Cheese Heaven and From the Sea.

One of the most wonderful things about cheeseboards is the ability to customize them according to taste and food allergens. Anyone who loves cheese ought to seek out this gem. It is short but very sweet and will engage your mind and taste buds. Cheeseboards will definitely become more of a regular in my family from now on.

My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion and NetGalley for the joy of reading and learning from this stellar book.

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I lovedThe Modern Cheeseboard by Morgan Mcglynn. It was beautifully presented with great photos. Lots of wonderful ideas

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This book was so delectable! I enjoyed every minute of it. You can leaver learn too much about cheese and cheeseboards!

The images were fantastic. I'm very visual when it comes to learning about food and recreating things so that was just perfect for me. Well done!

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