Food gift ratios: baskets, boards, honey, oil

A cheese board needs 2 to 3 ounces of cheese per guest before a meal and 4 to 5 ounces per guest when the board is the main food. A gift basket holds three to five items that share one shelf life and one temperature range. A honey or olive oil label is read from four fields: origin, harvest or best-by date, grade or varietal name, and net weight.

Those three numbers and fields are the whole method. Everything below is arithmetic a reader can repeat with a kitchen scale and a calendar.

How much cheese per guest does a board need?

Start with the occasion, because the occasion sets the portion.

• Before a meal, as an appetizer: 2 to 3 ounces (55 to 85 g) per guest.

• As the main food, with bread and a salad: 4 to 5 ounces (115 to 140 g) per guest.

• As one station among several at a reception: 1.5 to 2 ounces (40 to 55 g) per guest.

A 12-guest appetizer board therefore needs 24 to 36 ounces of cheese, which is 1.5 to 2.25 pounds (680 g to 1 kg). That is three or four cheeses at 8 to 12 ounces each, not six small wedges. Fewer cheeses cut larger read better and cut cleaner.

The same arithmetic runs through gift work, where a host has to size a basket, a board and a bottle to one guest list. Sites that publish on this beat, such as food gift ratios and boards, treat portions and label reading as the same exercise: a number per person, then a check on the packaging.

Two more ratios keep a board in proportion. Aim for 3 parts cheese to 2 parts bread or cracker by weight, and 1 part of a sharp or salty accompaniment (olives, cornichons, cured meat) to 4 parts cheese. A board that is all cheese tires the palate by the fourth bite.

Temperature matters more than arrangement. Take firm cheeses out 45 to 60 minutes before serving and soft, bloomy cheeses out 20 to 30 minutes before. A refrigerator-cold wedge tastes of nothing, and guests eat less of it, which throws off the count.

How do I choose the contents of a gift basket?

Choose one theme, then let three rules filter the items.

Rule one: one shelf life. A basket that mixes a fresh cheese with a six-month pantry item forces the recipient to eat on the sender's schedule. Either build a fresh basket (cheese, bread, fruit, delivered cold and eaten within three days) or a pantry basket (honey, oil, preserves, nuts, crackers, six months or more). Do not mix.

Rule two: one temperature range. Chocolate and olive oil both dislike heat; a basket left on a porch in July will bloom the chocolate and dull the oil. If the delivery cannot be received indoors, ship pantry items only.

Rule three: one occasion size. A thank-you basket for one household is 3 to 5 items. A holiday basket for a family of four is 6 to 9 items, with at least two that a child will eat. A corporate basket shared in an office is 8 to 12 items, all individually wrapped, because hands will be many.

A workable pantry basket for four people: one 12-ounce jar of honey, one 500 ml bottle of olive oil, one 8-ounce box of crackers, one 6-ounce tin of nuts, one 4-ounce bar of chocolate, one small jar of preserves. Six items, one shelf life, one temperature range, roughly 3 pounds of food.

Cost per item is a poor guide. Cost per serving is the useful figure: divide the price by the number of servings printed on the package. A 12-ounce jar of honey at 24 servings costs less per use than a 4-ounce novelty jar at 8 servings, even when the small jar is cheaper on the shelf.

How do I read a honey or an olive oil label?

Both labels carry four fields worth reading, and both are read in the same order.

For honey:

1. Origin. A single country or a single region tells you more than a blend. Blends are legal and often fine, but they cannot be traced to a bloom. 2. Harvest or best-by date. Honey does not spoil, but it crystallizes and its aromatics fade. A harvest year within the last 18 months is a reasonable target for a varietal honey. 3. Varietal name. Clover, orange blossom, buckwheat, tupelo, chestnut. The name should match the color and the taste: buckwheat is dark and malty, orange blossom is pale and floral. If the name and the taste disagree, the jar is probably a blend. 4. Net weight. Compare price per ounce, not price per jar.

For olive oil:

1. Origin. A protected designation such as PDO or PGI names a defined region and binds the oil to it. 2. Harvest date. This is the field that matters most. Extra virgin olive oil is at its best within 12 to 18 months of harvest, and many bottles print only a best-by date two years out. A harvest date is the honest field. 3. Grade and varietal. "Extra virgin" is a grade defined by free acidity, measured as oleic acid, of no more than 0.8 percent. Varietal names such as Picual, Frantoio or Koroneiki predict the taste: Picual is peppery and bitter, Frantoio is softer and greener. 4. Net weight and container. Dark glass or a tin protects the oil from light. A clear bottle on a bright shelf has already lost part of its freshness.

Two practical tests at home. Honey: turn the jar upside down; a slow, thick bubble that rises over several seconds suggests low water content. Olive oil: pour a spoonful into a small glass, warm it in your hand, smell it, then sip a little and note the pepper at the back of the throat. That peppery catch is a sign of fresh polyphenols, not a fault.

Putting the three ratios on one table

A host planning a single event can hold all three sets of numbers at once.

• Guests: 12.

• Cheese at 2.5 ounces each: 30 ounces, or three cheeses at 10 ounces.

• Bread at 3 parts cheese to 2 parts bread: 20 ounces of bread, about two baguettes.

• Accompaniments at 1 to 4: 7.5 ounces of olives or cured meat.

• Gift baskets for the hosts who helped: 3 baskets, 5 pantry items each, one shelf life, one temperature range.

• Bottles to check before they go in: honey with a harvest year inside 18 months, olive oil with a printed harvest date inside 18 months.

Write the numbers down before shopping. The list then does the deciding, and the board, the baskets and the bottles all come out the same size as the guest list.

What to do when the count goes wrong

It will, at least once. Two corrections cover most cases.

If the cheese runs short, add bread and a sharp accompaniment rather than opening another wedge. The board reads as generous, and the ratio of 3 to 2 to 1 holds.

If a gift basket has to travel, remove the fresh item and replace it with a second pantry item of similar weight, so the basket keeps one shelf life and one temperature range. A basket that arrives intact is worth more than a basket that arrives complete.

The method is the same in every case: a number per person, a shelf life per basket, and four fields read off the label before the item goes in.