Charcuterie boards are letting everyone dine casual

ON BOARDING

Why charcuterie boards are one of 2021’s biggest culinary trends

BY ANDREW STEINGRUBE

Awildly popular and ubiquitous food trend, charcuterie boards are everywhere. Whether it be on the menu of your favorite restaurant or wine bar, on your social media feed or friend’s story, or at the dinner party or cocktail hour you just attended, there was no doubt a delectably and artfully arranged board filled with cured meats, cheeses, spreads, sauces, fruit, and pickled vegetables.

“They are crazy popular right now, it’s just ridiculous,” says Jillian Pirolo, owner of Cheese Shop 831. “It’s constant— people come in daily asking for cheese advice for their charcuterie boards, and even many small business owners who make them for a living are also reaching out on a regular basis.”

Pirolo says that the stay-at-home nature of the pandemic and people having smaller and more intimate gatherings only accelerated what was already fast becoming a culinary musthave. “They were popular before, but during the pandemic, with people having so much free time, the trend grew even more and it allowed people to be creative while sheltering in place.”

One major reason for the charcuterie board boom is just how versatile they can be—it’s easy to make any board gluten-free, keto-friendly, low-carb, or without cow’s dairy, and individualized to specific dietary and taste preferences. “There’s really no going wrong, as long as you have sweet, savory, salty, and tart,” says Pirolo. The savory notes often come primarily from cured meats, and Pirolo says two popular salamis her shop offers are Angel’s Black Truffle and Olympia Provisions Cacciatore. “For the salty, local Gil’s Gourmet sundried tomato-stuffed olives go great, and Pacific Pickle Works Cauliflower Power hits the tart note.”

And of course, Pirolo’s shop offers a wide variety of cheeses sure to take your charcuterie board to the next level too. “One of my of my favorite cheeses for boards is our Roquefort Papillon Black Label, which is an amazing blue cheese from France,” she says. “And another one I love is Midnight Moon, a goat Gouda from Hollland that has sweet and savory notes and is loved by all who try it.”

Chris LaVeque, owner of El Salchichero, a popular butcher shop on the Westside, says that charcuterie boards are definitely trending now, but that they have been a thing for a while. “We’ve always had a lot of requests for items for charcuterie boards, it’s something we specialize in,” he says. “The boards I make depend on the people I’m with, the time of year, and what I feel like eating.”

He encourages outside-the-box accoutrements and pairings. “What’s great about charcuterie boards is that you can really do anything,” he says. “People shouldn’t be intimidated by them, you can really do whatever you want and there are no written rules.” He even says that, contrary to most people’s perception of charcuterie boards, they can be made vegetarian. “They don’t have to be meat-based, you can do them with pickled and/or grilled veggies and just in general, they are a really great opportunity to step outside your comfort zone and be creative.”

LaVeque’s shop offers a great variety of board items, of course centering around house-prepared and cured meats. “Our housemade salamis, coppa (cured pork shoulder), prosciutto, and bresaola (beef prosciutto) are all great choices,” he says. “Pâtés are another great addition, such as our Pâté Campagniola, a country style pork liver pâté, and Pork Rillette, a smooth spreadable pork belly pâté.”

Cheese Shop 831, 3555 Clares St Suite V, Capitola, 831-515-7406.