‘Once Upon a Rind in Hollywood’ Offers Summer Meal Inspiration

Crafting snack boards is a fun and creative way to level-up a meal.

“During the summer, when you don’t feel like cooking, you can do it for dinner on a Tuesday night,” Rachel Riederman, author of “Once Upon a Rind in Hollywood: 50 Movie-Themed Cheese Platters and Snack Boards for Film Fanatics,” told the Journal. “It’s also great if you’ve got company. Everybody finds it way more impressive than it actually is.”

For instance, Riederman suggests, go to the farmers market or your grocery store, and create a masterpiece with fresh produce.

“You’ve got all these beautiful colors and textures,” she said.

You can put it on a plate or layer it in a large dinner bowl. Add a dressing, and you are set.

“Blend up some avocado, herbs, olive oil and some lime juice,” she said. “Just sprinkle it on top, and it’s like you’re on vacation.” (For more tips, see Riederman’s “The Art of Creative Snack Boards” in the sidebar.”

A food stylist and photographer, Riederman started in this field about three years ago. She spent her career in fashion design, and had wanted to make a change.

“I’ve been obsessed with food all my life,” she said. “It’s always been a creative outlet.”

Right before the pandemic, Riederman was on maternity leave, when she got laid off. That was the catalyst to finally make the change.

Ulysses Press conceived “Once Upon a Rind in Hollywood,” and then brought Riederman on to bring it to life. They gave her a list of 50 movies, with coordinating cheese puns; she re-watched a lot of the movies to figure out how to bring them to life.

For example, her “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” board is a Candy-lovers dream. The one she put together for “Dirty Dancing,” however, required a little extra consideration.

“There wasn’t much food in the movie, “Dirty Dancing,” outside of the iconic ‘I carried a watermelon’ scene,” Riederman said. “So I thought, ‘What could Baby and her family be eating in that dining room at Kellerman’s where they spent so much time?’ A Sunday bagel brunch with all the fixings of course!”A family connection is one of the things that Riederman loves about food. “My grandmother was a great cook,” she said. “I typically enjoyed her cooking most during the high holidays.” Riederman loved seeing all that was involved when her grandmother prepared a festive meal and then shared the feast with her family. “[I loved] seeing their reactions and sheer enjoyment of all her hard work,” Riederman said. “She is sadly long gone and … it seems more and more that the baton [of cooking for the holidays] is getting passed off to me.

Now that it’s her turn, she loves planning and cooking for festive and holiday meals with her husband.”We are now able to pass on the traditions to our son and feed our parents, showing them how traditions from generations past continue,” she said.

In Riederman’s house cooking is a family project. “My husband and I have a small child, and he’s pretty good about trying things,” she said. “He may not eat his full meal, but he definitely likes to taste it and talk about it.”

For more from Riederman, follow her on Instagram at @whatsinrachelskitchen.

Photos by Rachel Riederman

The Art of Creative Snack Boards with Rachel Riederman

What’s excellent about snack boards is that they’re so customizable. You can tailor them to your likes, availability, dietary restrictions, etc. The options are endless, which I guess can be a bit overwhelming.

First of all, decide what’s the occasion? Or what do you want to serve? Is it a vegetarian board with fresh seasonal veggies and a few great dips, a cheese and fruit platter or a more traditional charcuterie-style board. Perhaps a snack board for the family with an assortment of sweet and savory bites? Or are you celebrating a holiday?

Next, find a starting point, such as a color story or theme incorporating seasonality or regionality. That will help make it cohesive and bring it all to life.

Go through your cabinets and look for a serving piece that fits the vibe you’re going for. There’s so much flexibility; it doesn’t need to be a traditional charcuterie board. It can be a cutting board, a large platter, a serving tray, a cookie sheet or whatever you have. Also, grab a few small dipping bowls for wet ingredients like pickles and spreads. And any cheese knives or spreaders you may have.

Fortunately, most local grocery stores have excellent cheese and accompaniments that only used to be found at a specialty store. If you have some time and you’re using cheese, stop by your local cheesemonger. Besides helping a local business, you will learn so much about cheese, taste cheeses you may not have tried otherwise and potentially open your mind to a whole new flavor profile.

In selecting ingredients, you want to aim for balance on your board. For example, if using cheese, get a hard, a soft and a semi-firm. Some people also seek a cow, goat and sheep. I say go with what you like. Also, you want both savory and sweet. What pickles, olives or mustard compliment your cheese? Add sweet accompaniments, like fresh fruit, jam, honey or chocolate. Then crunchy nuts, rustic pretzels or breadsticks work well for salty. Then, last but not least, there’s the bread. An assortment of two types of crackers and a sliced baguette works well, especially for when you are serving soft cheeses.

We eat with our eyes first, so make it beautiful. We’re going back to balance. Add your main ingredients and larger ingredients first. If you’re using grapes, for example, break up the bunch and place them on opposite sides of the board. Add your cheeses, if using. You want texture and visual interest, so you can slice and artfully stack them or layer cheese into paths or rivers across the board using a firmer cheese. Another technique for a harder cheese is to flake off chunks with the tip of your knife casually. When placing cheeses, try to put them opposite each other to keep the overall balance. Add any bowls with accompaniments you may be using, then fill in any leftover space with crackers and fill any smaller holes with clusters of nuts. 

Snap a photo and enjoy!