You may recall grabbing something from that beautiful charcuterie plate and sinking your teeth into delicious meats, cheeses, and fruits at your last party.  But when you try to put together a charcuterie plate on your own, you’ll soon be overwhelmed.  Never fear, I’ve pulled together some articles here!  From the types of foods and condiments to include to what tools you’ll need in preparation, you’ll find your answers in the articles and respective blogs I’ve summarized below!

 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

 

Charcuterie 101

Board Ideas

Recipes

Cured Meats

Food Safety

Misc

 

 

Charcuterie 101

 

1. A Gentleman’s Guide to Charcuterie

 

If you’ve never heard of “Charcuterie”, then you must have been living under a rock!  J/K.  The next time you have a party or a pot luck, impress the other guests by showcasing them your macho culinary arts.  Learn what types of meat products to include, from the familiar hams and prosciuttos to the more obscure choices like Pâté or rillettes.  So head over to Maxim and check it out!

 

2. A Gentleman’s Guide to Fine Hors D’oeuvres

 

Hors D’oeuvres, the French tradition of serving fancy finger foods before a formal lunch or dinner, has been an art perfected over the centuries.  Picture a typical hors d’oeuves and you might imagine charcuterie platters filled with mouth watering cured or smoked meats.  Browse through a high quality gallery and guide of the most common food items served for hors d’oeuvres with A Gentleman’s Guide to Fine Hors D’oeuvres by J.A. Shapira.

 

3. Cheese 101: The Unified Theory of Pairing Cured Meat and Cheese

 

While the most basic charcuterie plates will contain various cuts of meat, cheese is one of the most common additions that can add a ton of appeal to both the eyes and the mouth.  Cheese expert Liz Thorpe goes over not only examples of some very effective meat and cheese pairing but the underlying principles that make them work as well.  So check out Cheese 101: The Unified Theory of Pairing Cured Meat and Cheese today!

 

4. Charcuterie 101: The Perfect Board

 

First impressions are everything.  At a dinner party, your appetizers provide your new guests the first impression of your cooking.  A charcuterie board is the perfect vehicle for showing off not only your excellent taste in food but also gives your food visual appeal.  How do you go about this?  Please take a look at Charcuterie 101: The Perfect Board by Katie Morris for the answers!

 

5. Charcuterie and Cheese Plate 101

 

Steve and Chris of the Livewell Network demonstrates how to put together a simple charcuterie and cheese plate in this 5 minute video.

 

6. Entertaining Tips: Cheese and Charcuterie 101

 

When it comes to charcuterie, meat and cheese go together like bread and butter.  Meat and cheese are the core of any charcuterie board and you’ll find several recommendations for each category in this article by Lauren Gordon.

 

7. The Charcuterie Board

 

If the idea of shopping and arranging your own charcuterie board seems a bit intimidating, this short article breaks it all down very clearly.  Read more about it from Kaufmann Mercantile!

 

 

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Board Ideas

 

8. 5 Tips For A Fabulous Charcuterie Board

 

The perfect charcuterie board includes a wide variety of flavors for your guests’ tastebuds to savor.  Don’t know where to begin?  Learn about the 5 categories of food that’ll make every charcuterie board irresistible here: 5 Tips For A Fabulous Charcuterie Board by Meredith Steele!

 

9. How to Pick the Best Meats for a Charcuterie Board

 

Meats are the foundation for any quality charcuterie board.  Learn about the different types of meats you’d want to include as well as the best condiments to go along with the mats here: How to Pick the Best Meats for a Charcuterie Board by Rochelle Bilow.

 

10. Easy Charcuterie Ideas

 

Have you been putting off your party planning to the last minute?  Need some inspiration for the charcuterie platter?  Then you’d want to browse this picturesque gallery of 6 sample charcuterie plates: Easy Charcuterie Ideas by Sheena Chihak!

 

11. How to Make a Legit Charcuterie Board

 

There are so many ways to create a charcuterie board and so many examples out there that it’ll make your head spin!  Learn to put together an excellent charcuterie via divide and conquer: learn what the important components are (meat, cheese, fruit, etc) and how to make each part very enjoyable for your guests before putting it all together beautifully!  Learn How to Make a Legit Charcuterie Board by Julia Mueller!

 

12. The Art of the Charcuterie Plate

 

Here is a very easy to follow guide to building a simple yet delicious and beautiful charcuterie plate with quality photos depicting all of the intermediate steps: The Art of the Charcuterie Plate by Kelly Senyei.

 

13. How to Build the Ultimate Charcuterie Board

 

Learn about the culinary traditions of various countries including Spain, Greece, Italy, and France and examples of wine pairings and savory spreads that you can mix and match to create your perfect charcuterie board.  See more at How to Build the Ultimate Charcuterie Board by Kelly A. Magyarics.

14. How to Create a Professional Charcuterie Platter

 

A simple charcuterie platter can be made by throwing some deli meat and cheeses from your local grocery store onto a plate and board and calling it a day.  But if you want something that both looks and tastes professional, you’d need to put in a bit more effort.  Where do you begin?  Read How to Create a Professional Charcuterie Platter by Andrew Connor to find out!

 

15. Easy Appetizer Ideas: 10 Tips To Build The Ultimate Cheese And Charcuterie Tray

 

You can’t truly appreciate an excellent charcuterie tray until you actually try building one yourself.  What cheeses do I need?  How many knives is too much?   What type of condiments do I need?  What else did I forget?  Ack!  You’re gonna be overwhelmed in no time if you try to wing it like this!  Fortunately, after you read Easy Appetizer Ideas: 10 Tips To Build The Ultimate Cheese And Charcuterie Tray by Sarah Kelsey, you will likely feel much less overwhelmed!

 

16. How to make an awesome charcuterie platter

 

It doesn’t take much to make your charcuterie platter outstanding if you know the key things to focus on.  Read this short article on How to make an awesome charcuterie platter by Jennifer Bartoli for some quick tips!

 

17. Cured’s Steve McHugh on how to build a charcuterie board

 

Ali Rosen interviews San Antonio’s Steve McHugh on how to build a DIY charcuterie board in this 4 minute video on Fox News.

 

18. How to Assemble the Perfect Meat and Cheese Board

 

Carol Reed of Men’s Journal shares the perfect ingredients like artisanal meats and cheese needed to create a fancy charcuterie board.  Read about it here.

 

19. How To Arrange A Charcuterie Plate

 

Emma Haberman gives you a “shopping list” of the finest ingredients you’ll need for an Italian-style charcuterie plate here.

 

20. Charcuterie is Bae

 

Beau from the “Probably This” blog claims that charcuterie is one of the easiest ways to impress your guests at your next party (although I’m paraphrasing his original words.)  Anyways, check out his article and see how you can put one together in no time!

 

21. How To: Charcuterie Plate

 

Jillian Harris walks you through how to put together a charcuterie plate in no time here!  If you’re the kind of person who takes a while to make decisions, you’ll definitely want to read this one because Jillian gives you a couple of example for each category you will want to include in your charcuterie plate like for the meat, cheese, bread, fruit, etc.  Read about it here!

 

22. What the Heck is Charcuterie? And Why You Need it at Your Next Party!

 

If you’re picky about the types of boards you’ll serve your charcuterie on, then you’ll definitely want to read this article by The Organic Kitchen!

 

23. A Party Cure-All

 

This article is divided into 3 parts.  The first part discusses the logistics of creating a perfect charcuterie plate like the ideal knives and how much you should serve per person.  The second part lists the best types of meats to include (dry-cured meat, dry cured sausage, and cooked sausage) and examples of such meat by country (France, Italy, Spain, and Germany.)  In the last part, it discusses the basics of the dry-curing process.  For the full article by Ray Isle of Food and Wine, please check it out here!

 

24. How to build the perfect charcuterie (and beer) spread

 

Traditionally, charcuterie is paired with wine.  As the title suggests, if you’re looking to pair your charcuterie plate with beer instead, this article will offer you some fool-proof tips!

 

25. French Cheese, Cornish Charcuterie, Kentucky Bourbon & British BBQ Rubs!

 

Read these wonderful reviews of some of the best appetizer foods from 3 different countries on Karen’s Lavender and Lovage blog!  Her pictures alone are worth a visit!

 

 

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Recipes

 

26. Salt and Smoke: 4 Venison Charcuterie Recipes

 

You’ll find recipes with detailed directions for the follow food items to add to your charcuterie: dry-cured sausage, smoked ham, terrine, and besaola.  Read more about it here!

 

27. Home Cured Pancetta!

 

If you’ve ever wondered how to make your bacon, this article is definitely a must read!

 

28. How to Make Jamie Bissonette’s Vietnamese Bologne

 

Although charcuterie is generally associated with the West, add a bit of a taste of the East to your platter with this Vietnamese Bologne recipe!

 

29. Charcuterie, Salami, and Sausage Recipes

 

If you’re building a charcuterie plate with a DIY spirit, you’ll definitely want to take a look here!  There’s a wide assortment of different types of recipes here include fresh sausages, bacons, jerky, smoked meats, etc.  You’ll find some rather exotic recipes here including goose pastrami or pheasant confit.  You gotta check it out today!

 

30. Basic Dry Cure Recipe

 

This is a dead simple no-nonsense dry cure recipe that’s within the reach of even newbies!  Read about it now!

 

31. How To: Build a Cheese Plate with charcuterie

 

A cheese plate is something that takes quite a bit of time to prepare and is only worthwhile when you’ve got guests over, right?  The author here at Crepes of Wrath begs to differ!  Here’s a recipe that only takes about 15 minutes, and if you’ve got Amazon Fresh, you probably don’t even need to spend too much additional time shopping for the ingredients!

 

32. Roasted Bone Marrow with Oxtail Marmalade {The New Charcuterie Cookbook}

 

I’ve had roasted bone marrow a couple of times and I gotta say it’s a wonderful delicacy, if you’re willing to pay a premium price for gourmet food that probably won’t leave you feeling full afterwards.  It works great as an appetizer and here’s a simple recipe you can follow instead of going out to an expensive restaurant.

 

33. Making Salami At Home

 

Making your own salami may seem like a daunting task but Matt Wright kindly broke the process down into manageable steps and even offered you his recommended tools to aid in the process in his detailed article and recipe here!

 

34. Cure and simple: How to make your own bacon and charcuterie

 

How does the idea of making your own pork bacon and chili chicken sausages from scratch sound?  Follow these two recipes featured in Meredith Bethune’s article here to satisfy your taste buds today!

 

 

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Cured Meats

 

35. Case study: the art of charcuterie

 

If you’re interested in the nitty and gritty work that goes into creating that beautiful charcuterie plate ubiquitous at every awesome lunch and dinner party you’ve been to, then you’ll want to read this article AND enjoy the behind the scenes pictures!

 

36. A guide to Spanish cured meats

 

Spain has a long tradition of making some of the best cured meats in the world.  This gallery by Helen Rosner will give you a quick and excellent overview of some of the most popular selections if you’re looking to get your feet wet.  Read more here!

 

37. Nello demonstrates how to make Artisan Sausage and Charcuterie for the American Culinary Federation

 

Nello Loiacono, the proud owner of Nello’s Specialty Meats, demonstrates how he makes Artisan Sausage in this 11 minute Youtube video embedded on his business’s website.

 

 

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Food Safety

 

38. Cured Meat Is In, But Is it Safe?

 

If you frequently order charcuterie meats at restaurants or even make your own cured meats, you definitely want to educate yourself on food safety with this article.

 

 

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Misc

 

39. We Might Have Found The Best Charcuterie Plate In America

 

The next time you’re traveling near Charleston, South Carolina, you’ll definitely want to stop by this restaurant to get a taste of arguably the best charcuterie plate in America!

 

40. Craig Deihl: The Artisan Butcher

 

Read about the the daily in the life of a charcuterie butcher here in this article by Jed Portman written for Garden and Gun.

 

41. Pace Yourself: An Hour-by-Hour Guide to Hosting the Ultimate Outdoor Party

 

Go beyond the charcuterie plate and see how it fits into the grand scheme of things with this hour by hour outdoor party guide by Elyssa Goldberg!

 

42. America’s Best Charcuterie, from Virginia Speck to Oregon Chorizo

 

Although charcuterie is an European tradition thousands of years in the making, Americans are finally getting with the program!  Next time you’re traveling or taking a roadtrip, see if you’ll be anywhere near any of these restaurants so you can enjoy the best charcuterie the country has to offer!

 

43. Meat Musings: Are Cold Cuts Primal?

 

If the only cold cut meats you’ve had your entire life are the mass market variety sold next to American cheese at your local grocery store, you’re seriously missing out, as Mark Sisson attests.

 

44. Trend Spotting: Our Favorite Walt Disney World Resort Restaurants for Charcuterie

 

Next time you’re at Disney World and would love in indulge on some quality charcuterie, you can explore several different options right here!

 

45. Is Cured Meat Paleo?

 

You probably heard this more than once before but cured meats aren’t exactly the healthiest food you can be putting in your body but then again, life’s too short to not be enjoying some charcuterie meats every once in a while.  Educate yourself about the different curing processes and ingredients and how they impact your health with this article by PaleoLeap!

 

 

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Final Thoughts

 

Now you have more than enough information and tactics to make your tasty and visually appealing charcuterie plates at your next party or gathering!  Feel free to share pics of your plates as well as other interesting articles on this subject in the comments below!  I look forward to hearing back!