Charcuterie (shar-KOO-tuh-ree) means prepared meats: sausages, hams, pâtés, terrines and dry-cured salami. Many of them are made by curing, which takes exact measurements and controlled conditions.
Key idea
Curing preserves meat with salt and, for most cured meats, a measured amount of curing salt (sodium nitrite or nitrate). Dry-cured products such as prosciutto and salami are then dried for weeks or months in rooms with controlled temperature and humidity. That is why this lesson describes curing rather than teaching a recipe: the amounts must be exact, and commercial producers work under inspection with tested processes. You can buy well-made cured meats and build a board.
- A board: two or three cured meats (one whole-muscle like prosciutto, one salami, one pâté), three cheeses of different kinds, something sweet (fruit, jam), something sharp (pickles, mustard), and bread or crackers.
- Cheese families: fresh (ricotta, mozzarella), soft-ripened (brie), semi-soft (fontina), semi-hard (cheddar, Gruyère), hard (Parmesan), blue.
- Serve cheese at cool room temperature for the best flavor; take it out about 30 minutes ahead.
- Slice cured meats thin; cut cheeses so each piece has some rind and some center.
Safety
- Serve a board within the time the Food Code allows without temperature control, or keep it chilled, and put out small amounts at a time.
- Label boards for allergens: nuts, milk, wheat and sesame are common on them.
Why it works
Salt pulls water out of meat and makes it hard for germs to grow. Nitrite adds protection, especially against the germ that causes botulism, and gives cured meat its pink color. Too little is unsafe and too much is harmful, which is why it's always measured to a tested recipe.
Worked example: Cheese count
A board for 12 people at about 1 ounce of cheese per person per kind, with 3 cheeses. How many ounces of each?
- 12 people × 1 ounce = 12 ounces of each.
Answer: 12 ounces of each cheese.
Common mistake
Trying to dry-cure sausage at home by guesswork.
Practice at home
- Build a board for four from store-bought cured meats and cheeses, following the list above. Name each cheese's family.
In Meal Prep
- Fresh ricotta-style cheese: a fresh cheese you can make safely at home