A charcuterie board is an appetizer selection historically from France, especially with hams, charcuterie, pâtés, cheeses, grapes, butter and bread, typically served on a wooden board or stone platter and either eaten directly from these together or individually portioned on smaller plates per person.
Optionally, a charcuterie board is also often prepared and served with other types of fruit and/or „pickles“ (pickled or marinated vegetables) and, nowadays, as a purely vegan or vegetarian option. Other classic ingredients are olives and olive oil, nuts, various fresh herbs, edible flowers and blossoms, and spreads such as mustard or honey. This is usually accompanied by aromatic and strong red or white wines, but of course a charcuterie board can also be best accompanied by all other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. However, despite the wide theoretical as well as practical range of variations, according to most experts, it is an assortment of cold appetizers.
What does „charcuterie“ mean in english? Translation, explanation
The French term „charcuterie“ actually stands for cured meat and is derived from the two words „chair“ (meat) and „cuit“ (cooked).
The term was first used and coined in the late 15th century when, in France, operators of stores specializing in „charcuterie“ („charcutiers“) helped to establish stylized arrangements of dishes as part of French food culture through their delicate as well as visually appealing preparation of cured meat. Although the geographical origin of the term „charcuterie“ is thus established without any doubt, some food historians quite correctly point to even much older ancestors in terms of culinary heritage.
Charcuterie Board: History
It was the traditional process of salt curing, developed and refined in the Roman Empire and ancient Greece over 2,000 years ago, that made ham and sausage varieties such as salami and prosciutto possible in the first place. What is a luxury today was originally a necessity. Long before refrigerators existed, people had to preserve meat with smoke and salt so they could enjoy it before it spoiled.
Also considered close historical relatives of the charcuterie board classified can be the simple meals of meat, sausage, cheese, bread, fruit, and local produce and wine or beer eaten by the working class throughout Europe as far back as the Middle Ages. Throughout Europe, these foods were part of the standard rations of farm workers. All of these meals were easily portable, did not require refrigeration, and required few utensils and no plates to eat. In France, wine was accompanied by peasant pâté or rillettes with mustard, butter, cheese, and baguette. In Italy, salami, an aged cheese such as Parmesan or pecorino, and bread and olive oil accompanied the wine.
In Germany, smoked meat with pickles or sauerkraut, dark bread and butter and/or cheese went well with beer of all kinds. In Great Britain, the so-called „Ploughman’s Lunch“ as a cold platter of cheese, bread and beer, raw or pickled onions, apples or pears, hard-boiled eggs, salads and sausage or pork pie still enjoys much popularity and high esteem today.
In the course of time and in the 18th and 19th centuries, when European aristocracy as well as rich bourgeoisie, in the course of Romanticism, reflected on the supposedly better, because authentic and simple country life, these robust dishes and meals gradually developed further and found, for example, as cheese course increasing acceptance even in the upper society. Even in the United States of America, whose food culture was still strongly influenced by British and French traditions at the time, an upper-class dinner was often followed by a cheese course with port or Madeira as well as nuts and fruit.
The first U.S. president, George Washington (1732-1799), in particular, is said to have been extremely fond of such sweet dessert wines as well as walnuts, which he allegedly consumed in huge quantities after the meal. While German farm workers at the time enjoyed sausages and spreads made from rather soft meats, Italian workers preferred hard and long-lasting sausages, and Spaniards and Portuguese consumed smoked fish and seafood as rustic meals during their breaks, traditional American cheeses such as cheddar, colby, Monterey jack, and brick cheese, as well as the dried meat beef jerky, prevailed in the U.S. as typical components of a charcuterie board often served in affluent households.
Charcuterie boards make the best pre-prepared food for parties
In the first two decades of the 20th century, such relatively austere as well as formally composed cold boards were increasingly supplemented and replaced by cheese toasts, cheese bites, and cheese on crackers in both the United States and Europe. Between about 1910 and 1920, the cocktail party became a popular gathering in both private and professional contexts. Pre-prepared platters as well as charcuterie boards were ideal for this purpose, as they allowed large groups of guests to consume a lot of alcohol and finger foods in a short period of time in an informal setting.
At the same time, more simple and casual midnight meals after attending a theater or concert were also becoming more popular. Cocktail parties as well as midnight snacks thus made informal dining standard in Western societies in many places, creating a renaissance of the immensely practical as well as perfect for social occasions charcuterie board. After World War II, the U.S. discovered French cheeses and Italian sausages, Greek olives and German rye bread, and the Swedish „smorgasbord“ appetizer platter, which bears a distinct resemblance to the modern charcuterie board.
The appeal of a charcuterie board is due in no small part to its beautiful appearance
In the 1960s and 1970s, the trend towards a somewhat healthier diet also slowly set in internationally, so that the previously lavish meat and sausage products on the buffet tables were increasingly joined by raw vegetable platters complete with dips and sauces. Since then, raw carrot and celery sticks, as well as radish florets, have also been a common sight on charcuterie boards. With the proliferation of cooking shows on television and relevant specialty food stores in the 1980s and 1990s, wines in general were also rediscovered, as well as classic peasant cuisine, and thus likewise the charcuterie board as universally welcome hospitality for festive occasions of all kinds.
Internet as well as Instagram have made photos of successful culinary creations a universally popular pastime since the turn of the millennium. Often, current images of charcuterie boards almost resemble a carefully color-coordinated still life as in the famous paintings of the old masters. Since, as is well known, the eye always eats with you, advisors for these time-honored and delicious cold platters recommend investing at least as much attention in arranging them as harmoniously as possible as in selecting top-quality dishes.
Charcuterie Board on TikTok
In 2022, the idea of the charcuterie board was taken up, modified and spread on TikTok. It became a trend (on TikTok) in 2022 to smear butter on a wooden board, season it, and garnish it. This was called a „butter charcuterie board.“