The term charcuterie typically refers to mostly pork based preparations such as bacon, ham, sausage, galantines, and terrines. When we talk about a charcuterie board it is common to include many other things such as cheese, condiments, fruit, vegetables, nuts and honestly anything else that is complimentary.
COMPONENTS
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Components –I believe there are certain components to consider when developing a nice spread.
- Meat
- Cheese
- Condiments
- Other complementary items which play into desired flavor profiles
- Vehicle (crackers, bread)
- Salty component
- Sweet component
DESIGN
When designing the perfect board I like to take a few different approaches and if the board is large enough stage them accordingly
Theme
- Mediterranean roasted vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, peppers, asparagus, Hummus, Olives, Feta Cheese, pitas
- Italian fresh mozzarella, prosciutto. Heirloom tomatoes, basil pesto, and crostini.
- PA Dutch-Sweet Bologna, Amish butter cheese, Horseradish mustard, sourdough pretzels
Pick one component and build around it essentially treating every piece as a composed plate
- Brie Cheese, Virginia Ham, red raspberry preserves, toast points, toasted almonds
- Danish Blue Cheese, candied almonds, honey, figs, grapes
- Aged Cheddar Cheese, fresh apple slices, duck prosciutto, honey mustard, crackers
- Smoked Salmon, capers, pickled red onions, rye toast batonettes
BOARD LAYOUT TIPS
- Use some type of labeling system to explain the different components. (a toothpick with chalkboard painted cardboard is an easy option)
- Zone your board so it makes sense keeping like components together. For example start with all your cheeses and build out from there
- Harder cheese it’s appropriate to cut into whatever shape you see fit (I always like to leave at least a little but uncut to match the rest of the cheeses left whole such as brie and Blue cheeses.
- Think outside the box! Maybe you want to use roasted beef tenderloin with whiskey glazed mushrooms as a component. (served cold of course)
- Once you have you board laid out ask yourself if you are missing anything, maybe you want to add some things to finish it off ex pickles, nuts, condiment
Kitchen Kettle Village is the perfect place to shop for all of your charcuterie board needs! Aged and Cured offers amazing meats cheese, our Jam and Relish Kitchen is full of our own jams, dressings, grilling sauces, mustards and so much more! The Olive Basin offers some of the best olive oils and vinegars you can buy. Waltz Winery sells wine from the Lancaster AVA all made from vitis vinifera.
