When it comes to holiday appetizers, quick and easy is the name of the game. After all, even if you’re hosting an intimate family gathering, you’ve still got quite a bit to do in the kitchen. Our cheesemongers recommend putting together a cheese and charcuterie plate: it comes together with minimal effort and it crams a lot of tastes and textures onto one plate.

This one is themed with products either imported from or inspired by Spain:

Petite Trois Cochons - Organic Mousse Basque
Pâté is always a welcome texture on a charcuterie plate. This one is a velvety chicken-liver mousse full of smoke and mildly spicy Espelette peppers.

Fermín – Serrano Ham Cured 2 yrs (imported from Spain)
Jamón Serrano means “mountain ham” in Spanish, and Fermín ham is hung to dry in the cool, clean mountain air where it ages, giving it a full, complex flavor and a mild saltiness.

Fermín – Iberico de Bellota Chorizo (imported from Spain)
Bellota Chorizo is produced from Iberian pigs that feed on acorns, giving the meat incredible depth of flavor — it’s wonderfully fragrant and full of smoky pimentín spice.

Haystack Mountain Creamery – Gold Hill
This Colorado cheese won “Best American Cheese” at the 30th annual World Cheese Awards at Tobacco Dock in London. Gold Hill is a very flavorful, pasteurized goat-milk cheese that’s styled like a Spanish raw-milk cheese.

GarcÍa Baquero – Cinco Lanzas (Imported from Spain)
Made with a delicate blend of cow, goat, and sheep milk, this is a firm, flavorful cheese — we tasted roasted nuts, caramel, and a surprising finish of cinnamon.

Istara – P’tit Basque (Imported from France)
This is a semi-hard sheep milk cheese imported from the Basque region bordering France and Spain. It has sweet and nutty flavors and a smooth finish.

You can round out your charcuterie plate with crackers, sliced baguette, and a variety of fresh seasonal fruit — like pears, figs, and persimmons. Also great: spreads like mustard, membrillo, or a fig or chile pepper jam.

And what about wine? We’d suggest pairing your cheese and charcuterie plate with a nice Spanish wine, of course. Come on in and talk to us, we’ll help you pick one out.