5 Ways to Translate the Charcuterie Plate
A food preservation throughline with round-the-world influences
I have always been a fan of salty, fatty meats, especially when traveling. Whether driving for hours, with a “car sandwich” at the ready; or hiking, with pocketsful of gnawable jerky; or on a flight, where a vacuum-sealed pack of cold cuts comes in handy: Charcuterie is always a welcome companion on a journey.
When travel stopped, thanks to Covid-19, I found myself coping with many canceled adventures by bingeing on the most pandemic-friendly, shelf-surviving foods I could find, primarily salty, fatty meats. That’s when I realized that with each sometimes-smoky, sometimes-briny, sometimes-funky bite, I could travel again, in my mind, and via my palate.
The French claim to have invented charcuterie. I’ll give them credit for the word, which translates to “cooked flesh.” Props to them for doing it extremely well, elevating food preservation to an art form. But the practice of curing, smoking, and preserving meat existed well before France was a glimmer in Charlemagne’s eye, a worldwide practice that solved the problem of food spoilage, allowing reserves of meat to be eaten throughout the year. I started thinking of ways to shake up my own plate with this world-wide snacking staple by chatting with chefs and purveyors…
