The Perfect Charcuterie Board

What is Charcuterie?

We love the history and heritage of cured meats almost as much as eating them so here’s a bit of background to the art of curing meat.

Did you know that charcutiers were originally formed as a guild in France in the 15th century and were only allowed to prepare certain types of cooked, salted and dried meat dishes? They used mainly pork and cured the meat in order to preserve it and give it a longer shelf life in the days long before refrigeration was possible.

Meat is generally cured either with a dry salt cure or brined (wet salt and water cure) and is sometimes smoked and fermented too in order to help preserve and impart deeper flavour. Many different ingredients are added to the salt cure to create additional flavour notes such as sugars, herbs, spices, wine, beer, fruit etc. The products we really love are then air dried for weeks, months or even years

Whilst Spain, France and Italy are the best known producers of charcuterie with their amazing chorizos, jamons, salamis and saucisson, the British scene is now booming with a big increase in the number of outstanding producers now operating.

The best British charcutiers are absolutely focussed on the quality of life of the animals they source with ethical methods of production and sustainability being key themes and with many locally sourced and heritage free range breeds at the heart of production.

There is an emerging style of British charcuterie developing with many of our leading producers creating innovative and ground breaking products that reflect our own British character with distinctly British recipes and locally sourced flavours and ingredients. We aim to showcase their talents and champion the Best of British.

The Perfect Charcuterie Board

A great charcuterie board is the ultimate treat for the taste buds and never asks to be rushed. It looks amazing. It hits so many flavour notes. It’s a conversation topic and a shared experience that presents a contrast of flavours, techniques, colours and seasonality.

For an indulgent board we recommend a variety of contrasting meats – between three and six and with no more than two of the same variety (ie 2 different salamis) so that the distinct flavours can be appreciated. We also recommend a variety of spice notes across the selection too. You also get a broader range of flavour and texture if not all products are pork based.

Great cheese can further compliment the experience but we recommend no more than 3 varieties. We like a soft cheese, a hard cheese and a blue cheese with contrasting textures and acidity.

Then there’s the pickles, nuts, chutneys, relish, dried fruits, salad and fruit. Try and balance the flavours here to get the most from the meat that displays that incredible fat marbling, those salt and spice undertones and that soft melt in the mouth texture. Acidity from the pickles and relish, the crunch from the nuts and the sweetness from the fruits all help to keep the board balanced and create that fully rounded taste experience.

All those shapes, sizes, colours and textures help us be really creative in terms of presentation. We eat with our eyes first so arrange patterns with the meats overlapping or rolled into shapes, turned into petals etc and contrast colours with seasonal bright berries or stone fruit, tomatoes, salad leaves, apples, pears and whatever takes your fancy and is in season that adds to the finished article.

How to prepare your cured meats

Always allow the meats to come up to room temperature before serving as we do for cheese. Never serve straight from the fridge as you will not get the benefit of the flavour profiles. You will also find it much easier to separate the meat slices from their packets if you cut open the packaging and wait until they are at room temperature. Ideally we recommend finishing the preparation of your board half an hour to an hour before eating.

 Tasting notes

You will find that many of the meats benefit from being moved around the mouth and allowed to fall apart and dissolve at their own pace. Many of them are so tender that they benefit hugely from this approach so give it a go. They will release different flavours, spice notes and levels of sweet and smoke as they do so.

Drink suggestions

High acidity and freshness is key to offset the salt and fat notes of the meat so we recommend the following drinks to accompany your board:

Sparkling water with a slice of lemon or lime is an ideal accompaniment with the bubbles and acidity working really well

Sparkling wines also strike the right balance – try some of our great British sparkling wines, prosecco, cava or even champagne

Higher acidity wines such as Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Chardonnay or lighter/ medium bodied red wines such as Pinot noir, Cabernet Franc or Beaujolais are great foils to the punchy flavours. Wines that are too heavy can overpower the subtle flavour notes

Beers & Ciders also work well with contrasting flavours of hops, citrus, sweet and tanginess working great. Why not try a wheat beer or a crisp dry cider?