Photos by Meghan Spiro Photography
Build a beautiful, locally sourced charcuterie board for your next get-together with creative ideas from Sydney Thibault of Tout Le Fromage.
Hudson Valley recommendations are objective, unbiased, and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you.
Charcuterie boards have exploded in popularity on Instagram and TikTok, and it’s no wonder—they’re prettier, fancier, and a lot more fun to serve than cheese and crackers, and they allow party hosts to show off their creativity. For some, artistic meat and cheese arranging is a hobby, and for others, like Sydney Thibault, it’s a business. Thibault founded her Bedford Hills-based company Tout Le Fromage in October of 2020. She relies on locally-sourced ingredients—Salinger’s Orchard in Brewster and Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard in North Salem are among her favorites—as well as her own home garden.
Q&A: Get on Board
Tell us how you build your boards.
I always start with my cheeses and meats. I put them down and use them as a map to plan out the rest of my board, filling in the spaces with flavors, textures, and colors from the rest of my ingredients.
Go-to bread and cheese?
For bread, the smoked olive focaccia by Idyllwild Bread. Beth, the maker, is a local bread genius. My favorite cheese, though? That’s the million-dollar question…probably a complex and crystally cheddar called Montamore by Sartori, or Nimbus by Chaseholm Creamery—from right here in Pine Plains.
What meats do you like to use?
I strongly recommend bresaola by Brooklyn Cured and the wild boar salumi by La Salumina. Smoking Goose has some pretty incredible creations.
View this post on Instagram
Favorite places for charcuterie ingredients?
I try to shop as locally as possible. Two orchards are near and dear to my heart, Salinger’s and Harvest Moon. The farmers there love what they do, and you can just tell. For local cured meats and cheese, I like Ridgefield Organics and 109 Cheese (also in Ridgefield). DeCicco & Sons also has a beautiful selection of cheese.
Where do you buy your boards?
From all over. Manchester Woodcraft in Vermont makes beautiful boards that I like to pick up when I’m there, but places like HomeGoods and Michael’s often have nice, inexpensive options.
View this post on Instagram
Why are graze boards so popular?
People love them because they’re an attractive, elegant start to an evening with friends and family. I’ve been making them for almost 10 years, and my absolute favorite part is that they bring people together—everyone gathers around the board. I think they’ve blown up [since] the pandemic—people have spent more time on Instagram and TikTok and have been inspired by all the charcuterie board content.
Vegan subs for meat and cheese?
I must admit I haven’t experimented with “nut cheeses” as much as I would like, but I plan to. Tofu is another thing I’d like to experiment with dressing up for boards because I think it acts as a blank slate for soaking up beautiful flavors. Hellenic Farms makes a “fig salami” and it’s really delicious. You can slice it thin; the texture is reminiscent of salami, but the flavor is sweet. I love their Aleppo pepper and orange zest roll.
View this post on Instagram
What about an alternate to honey?
Simply Jam makes jalapeño jam in a large variety of flavors. (Full disclosure: it’s my mom’s company, she sells it at Salinger’s and Harvest Moon.) This year, we worked together to create a cherry flavor and a peach flavor from fruit that we picked at Salinger’s. She also sells a garlic jam and a mint jam that are unique and perfect for my boards.
Related: Paracasa Is a Next-Gen General Store in the Hudson Valley
