How To Enjoy Honeycomb On Your Next Cheese Board

When it comes to cheese boards, typical accompaniments include crackers, nuts, fruits, salty, cured meats, and (increasingly) tinned fish. Many times, there are jars of jams and honey to drizzle over the various ingredients. While a bit redundant, these enhancements continue to be a part of the cheese plate game for one simple reason: they work. But, if you're looking to change things up and still enjoy flavors that work well together, consider adding a large chunk of honeycomb to your next cheese board.

Not only will you have the honey that tastes wonderful on almost all cheeses — not to mention salty meats, fruits, and nuts — but you'll also have a delightful, unexpected chewy texture of the actual comb, which is completely edible. You can either serve the honeycomb cut up into small, bite-sized chunks, or place the uncut piece of comb on your board as is, with a spreader for guests to cut their own pieces. Either way, it's a good idea to leave the comb in the container it came in, or place it on a dish so that the honey doesn't ooze all over your board. 

A slab of honeycomb will give your board a beautiful, rustic look, reminiscent of nature, with delicious-looking, golden honey bursting out and pooling into an amber river of sweetness. Don't be afraid to make it the focal point of your board, with the cheese and other ingredients surrounding the comb. Even if you purchase your cheese board from a store like Costco, you can adjust the platter to fit your slab of honeycomb.

The question of whether honeycomb or plain honey is better on a cheese board is entirely subjective, as both are basically honey in different forms. With honeycomb, you get edible beeswax intermixed with the liquid honey. This adds not only a sweet element to your board, but a soft texture as well. You can eat the chunks as is, spread it on toasted bread or crackers, and dollop it on virtually any cheese you can think of, like goat cheese, Brie, sharp cheddars, blues, hard cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano, and nutty choices such as Gruyère. You can create perfect cheese slices with this unexpected utensil.

When you opt for honey and honeycomb, you are also supporting the health of the honeybee population, which is vital for growing food worldwide. Honeycomb purveyors create safe, sustainable environments for bees to thrive in, thus helping the populations to grow.

When it comes to flavor-infused honey, there are plenty of options to choose from in liquid honey, like lavender, truffle, and hot honey. But infused honeycomb is more difficult to come by as the comb is most often cut and packaged straight from the hive. However, you can add your own flavor by topping your comb with things like dried lavender buds, truffle oil, citrus zest, chili flakes or chili crisp, and rosemary. You'll get both flavor and a beautiful, colorful presentation — two things that great cheese boards are known for.