"The wonderful thing about a charcuterie board is its versatility," he says. "You can mix and match flavours to magnify enjoyment and combine textures and colours to offer variety and visual appeal, which makes it an ideal centrepiece for a festive gathering, either to serve as a host or to take as a guest." To build a first-class charcuterie board, Romano suggests first answering the following questions: • Do you want to focus on a particular region's food culture, or combine items from different countries? • What can you buy at your local supermarket? Do you need to visit a specialty grocer?