A professional charcuterie artist gives brutally honest tips about what makes a good spread — and what doesn't

• Emmy Rener, 20, founded a professional charcuterie business in 2020 before starting college.

• The California native told Insider she turned a childhood hobby into a six-figure earning business.

• Her tips include adding edible flowers but avoiding the salami roses trend.

Emmy Rener is 20-year-old college student and founder of professional charcuterie business, Sophisticated Spreads.

When Emmy Rener was a senior in high school, she transformed her childhood hobby making cheeseboards into Sophisticated Spreads, a professional charcuterie board business based in Southern California.

The university college student told Insider she now charges clients up to $25,000 to prepare massive boards for special events, including grazing tables, which are large spreads that cover entire countertops or dining tables with meats, cheese, fruits, nuts, and other nibbles.

Through it, Rener has gained quite a following on her TikTok account @sophisticatedspreads. More than 237,300 users follow her videos, some of which have well over three million views.

Rener spoke with Insider to share her tips for what goes into a delicious spread — and what doesn't.

Food placement is "everything" on a charcuterie board.

While she said she doesn't work from photos while creating beautiful charcuterie for her clients, Rener said there are certain elements to consider when making a board.

"The placement is definitely important," Rener said.

Putting grapes, cheese, and meat onto the board first helps "anchor" the charcuterie spread.

"Then you start to do more substantial items, like strawberries, that anchor the colors," she added. At the end, add "hole fillers," which are smaller berries and nuts, so there isn't a gap on the board.

You can also never go wrong by adding edible flowers to a cheeseboard.

Going the extra mile by adding edible flowers to a charcuterie board can take it from zero to one hundred, Rener said.

"Edible flowers makes a huge difference," she said, adding that she likes to use pansies. "You walk in and you're like, 'Oh my gosh.'"

Decorative elements like flowers help elevate the aesthetics without adding difficulty. She also recommends adding ingredients that aren't commonly found on store-bought charcuterie boards, such as "cracking pomegranate seeds."

"They are very rustic, earthy, and boho chic," Rener said.

Keeping a color palette in mind will help stop things going "awry."

Rener suggests picking a general color palette to start. It helps the overall look stay cohesive. When boards veer from a specific scheme, they can "slowly turn into a mess," she said.

In the fall, for example, she tends to stick to purples and pinks because it incorporates salami, which acts as an anchor on the board. Sticking to those colors when selecting products to put on it is crucial, she added. With salami, she said she would then look to add ingredients like raspberries, blackberries, and red grapes.

"If you throw in the occasional green grape, that'll throw off the whole thing," Rener said. "That's where you can really go awry."

The source of the ingredients is 90 percent of the job.

Ultimately, where the food on the board comes from is the majority of the job, Rener said.

"It's all about sourcing," she added. "Typically if you're using the right ingredients, you're 90 percent of the way there."

That doesn't mean it has to be expensive cheese and charcuterie from a specialty shop. On her Tiktok, Rener does receive criticism about the cost of ingredients, but she believes you can make a beautiful board on a budget.

"I went to Aldi, and I made a $25 discounted charcuterie board," she said. "It looked very similar to something I would get for $100 from Whole Foods."

With her growing following on TikTok, Rener said followers now send her photos of their charcuterie boards. She looks out for aesthetically pleasing nibbles that are not necessarily more expensive than store-brand foods.

Rener does avoid one popular charcuterie board addition: salami roses.

Rener explained that in the past few years, salami roses, made with the assistance of a wine glass, have gained immense hype on TikTok.

But she isn't taking part in the trend.

"As somebody who's in the charcuterie world, salami roses are highly overrated," she said.

Rener explained that making salami roses are not worth it because they are messy and "don't really look good." Instead, she advises people to make salami rivers, made by folding slices of the meat and placing them in a stream-like formation throughout the board.

Cubed orange cheese is unsophisticated.

Cubes of orange cheese will "never look sophisticated," Rener said, admitting that it is a "controversial opinion."

Her issue is with the color palette. The bright orange doesn't usually fit with other elements on a board. She recommends an easy swap: use white cheddar.

"Whenever I see that orange cheddar, it just irks me because it would just look so much better with a white cheddar,'" she said.

Hold the Ritz Crackers. Render prefers a variety of crackers on a board.

When it comes to crackers, she avoids Ritz Crackers.

"No offense, but it takes it down a level," she said.

Rener recommends crackers that look more upscale, even if they don't cost more. The trick is to look for texture.

"I like crackers that have more texture to them rather than white crackers that are flaky," Rener said. She suggests something like an oat raisin crisp.

While she said that making a beautiful spread is something that now comes intuitively to her, Rener admitted that even she can be her own worst critic of the charcuterie she's made in the past.

"I look back: why did I think that that looked good?" she said. But she suggested that with professional tips, time, and trial and error, the art of charcuterie making can "come naturally" to anyone.

Read the original article on Insider