Why we do not do a build-your-own board builder

Most of our competitors let you tick a list of cheese and meat to put on a board. It is a reasonable idea and it produces a strange object, because the balance that makes a board work is not a set of independent choices. It is a relationship between them.

A board is a balance

The sharpest thing on a board should not be the strongest. If the only blue is a very young Stilton and there is also a soft washed-rind, the blue wins every time and the washed rind is left. Someone who chose the washed rind did not get what they wanted, they got what was left.

Balance also means texture next to texture. Four soft cheeses in a row is a texture wall, not a range. The board is interesting when the bite alternates.

What we do instead

We assemble every board by hand, and the composition comes from the size and the occasion rather than a list. If you have a strong dislike, tell us and we will build around it. If you have a preference for something specific, we will usually include it where it fits.

Tell us the things you will not eat

This is the part that actually changes the outcome, and it is a much shorter list than picking twenty items. No blue, no raw milk, no pork, nothing with a nut in it. Send that and we have something to work with. A twenty-item tick list mostly tells us things you would eat perfectly well.