Charcuterie By Numbers

Board Key:

1 – Meats

2 – Cheeses

3 – Sweet Things

4 – Salty Things

5 – Crunchy Things

6 – Necessities

We are absolutely a prosciutto household! It’s a grocery staple every single week. So we had to go with 2 different types of prosciutto, a 24 month and an 18 month aged prosciutto. Both were fantastic! They each had a different flavor profile than one another. I’d say the 18 month San Daniele had a smokier flavor than the 24 month.

This is not the best photo of the 18 month prosciutto, but trust me it was delicious! Have you ever tried to get a great shot of flat prosciutto? Yikes.

Prosciutto di Parma, 24 month (TANARA)

Prosciutto di San Daniele, 18 month

While you can purchase pre-packed prosciutto in most grocery stores these days, any time you can get your hands on fresh shaved prosciutto do it! It’s about the same price, and so much better!

Salami Emelia, Spicy

Calabrese Salami

Speck IGP (RECLA)

Can we talk about how incredible speck is?! If you’ve never had it, you’ve got to try it.

Speck is a lightly cured Italian ham. It always somehow tastes different, which to me, makes it incredibly interesting. At Terra on Saturday evening, we had speck with our board. It had a very smoky, almost beefy flavor. This particular speck, the RECLA, was a lighter, more traditional ham taste. Both were wonderful! Next time you’re at a traditional Italian restaurant that offers a charcuterie selection, give speck a try!

UbriaCone Sergio

This cheese was gorgeous! It’s a wine bathed cheese, which is usually not my favorite, but I was drawn to it after trying it at the Eataly cheese counter. It had a nutty flavor with a very slight, sweet aftertaste. That’s the Raboso wine.

This particular cheese looks a little harder to find, so Eataly may be your best option. Although, wine aged cheeses of some sort can be found in most grocery stores.

Bonrus Alta Langa

This was a semi-soft cheese with a semi-“funky” aroma. Nothing too crazy, but you can tell it’s nice cheese! We must have tried 3 or 4 before settling on this one for the board. The sweet lady at the cheese counter seemed like she was having just as much fun as we were!

It’s a combination of sheep’s and cow’s milk, making for an incredibly creamy heart (kind of similar texture to a brie). I like good brie, don’t get me wrong. But I’d say I prefer this cheese over brie for a board with several cheese options, as it’s a more mild flavor. It looks like you can also score this cheese at Central Market!

Lou Bergier Fiandino

This cheese was a wonderful mild flavor. We bought a couple of sweeter cheeses and one with a stronger smell than the others, so we wanted something a little more laid back for the fourth choice. This cheese is described as having floral notes and a slight mushroom taste. I would say that’s pretty accurate! This pick was particularly good with the speck!

This cheese also looks to be available mostly at Eataly, but you may be able to locate it seasonally at Central Market.

San Pietro Beeswax (PERENZIN)

GO GET THIS CHEESE. Just do it. Make the drive or order it, it’s worth it. We actually had this the evening before at Terra, the restaurant connected to Eataly. This cheese is a cow’s milk cheese encased in beeswax. The beeswax helps keep the humidity within the paste so the consistency remains silky. It also contributes to the slightly sweet taste. We added a little drizzle of wildflower honey to this cheese, just like they did at Terra. Just incredible! This was my favorite, hands down.

It’s obviously available at Terra and Eataly, but believe it or not, it looks like at one time it was available for web order on Walmart.com! Maybe it’ll come back!

Black Seedless Table Grapes

I’ve never seen these before! They were these tiny little grapes that burst in your mouth with sweetness! Just so, so good! They were such a great addition to the board without taking it over.

My gut tells me that these mini grapes are most easily found in gourmet grocery stores or Italian eateries.

Green Seedless Grapes

I always like to add green grapes to my boards, they’re my favorite. They also add a little color and versatility as well. If you’re looking for some bright eye-catching accessories for your board, just grab a small handful of green grapes!

These can be found in your local grocer’s produce section.

Granny Smith Apple Wedges

Apples of any kind are perfect for charcuterie. I happened to have Granny Smith apples at home, so we used them up. I love pairing apple with cheese, and this Granny Smith with the honey cheese was just perfect.

If you’re not a big fan of apples, Bartlett Pears are also a great option! Apples and pears can also be found in your local grocer’s produce section.

Dried Fruit (Mango Slices and Ginger)

I always add something sweet and candylike to my boards. Let’s say you had this out at a holiday dinner or a party – if you had just enjoyed a piece of prosciutto and a complex piece of smelly cheese, wouldn’t you want some dried fruit or sweet candy to cleanse your palette before starting a conversation with someone? I would.

I’ve always got dried fruit around my house. It’s how I got myself out of grabbing a cookie or piece of chocolate after lunch. Most grocers have an aisle called ‘bulk foods’ that you can find dried fruit on.

Italian Orange Blossom Honey & Honey Wand

Looks like you can score this honey at both Eataly and Whole Foods! This stuff was delicious! It has a slight orange essence taste, it’s not super strong. A few floral notes as well, which was surprising. This was wonderful drizzled over the honey cheese (we tried both wildflower honey and orange blossom, both winners!). I also enjoy the orange flavor with prosciutto and a crusty piece of bread.

If you don’t feel like making the trip or ordering this, apricot preserves are also a wonderful sweet spread option! Flavored honeys or preserves can be found in the deli or next to the peanut butter section in your store.

I found the honey wand at my local Market Street! I have a hundred of these. Love them.

Black Truffle Luxury Mixed Nuts

Do you like truffles? They’re pretty trendy. Seems like people are putting them in everything these days!

Truffles are a fungus that resemble an oddly shaped potato. They smell very strong, and the taste is quite difficult to describe. You’ll pick up on their earthy notes. They taste similar to how they smell. Some say they have a similar flavor profile to black olives.

Finding truffle infused items like these mixed nuts, is quite easy these days. It’s the truffles themselves that are hard to find. (My jaw hit the floor when I saw the giant tray of them behind the Eataly Pasta counter!)

These can be purchased all over Eataly (throughout the store and in the coffee house downstairs), but it also appears Blue Diamond has a similar product you can order on Amazon.

Peperlizia Italian Style Gherkins with Mustard Seeds

These were tasty! These little pickled cucumbers have the perfect salty taste to break up the flavors on the board! You’ve always got to have some great salty, vinegary choices as well! These had a nice slight spice behind them, more of a peppery taste – not hot spice.

Gherkins can be purchased everywhere. You’ll find them near the cocktail pickles or cornichons in your local grocer.

Bella Cerignola Olives (DECARLO)

I’m obsessed with olives. It’s the Italian in me. I was raised with a bowl of black olives on the table at most dinners. My friends have looked at me crazy on many occasions when I set out a bowl of olives any time I make lasagna or pasta when we’re entertaining. I guess I thought everyone did that.

These olives were great! They were green and had a nice sea salty taste. They were HUGE, so one or two was perfect. I would probably get pitted olives next time though, a little better for entertaining.

In addition to Eataly, these may also be ordered on Amazon.

Granette Classici Miniature Bread Loaves (MULINO BIANCO/BARILLA)

I’m going easy on bread these days (just the easiest thing for me personally to eliminate), so I focused on mainly fruit, cheese, and meat for this board. Although, when you’re entertaining a crowd, breads and crackers are a great item for your spread! People like crunchy things, and throwing a piece of cheese and meat on there is nostalgic for most! (Hello Lunchable generation!)

These little crispy bread cracker type things were really tasty! Nicely crisp so anything you drizzled on it didn’t weigh it down. You could add these or little cheese crisps to your board for a nice crunch!

You can find little crisp crackers like these in the deli portion or your store, or near the crackers and cookies.

Rustic Classico Eataly – Fresh Bread (Slightly warmed and sliced)

I swear by fresh bread and dipping oil to accompany any charcuterie board. When people think of going out to an Italian restaurant, they immediately think of fresh bread and oil. Well, they do if they’re used to great Italian restaurants.

A fresh loaf, slightly warmed, will be gone in about 5 minutes after setting the board out. I recommend having a back up!

Take a visit to your local bakery, take in the sweet smell of fresh bread, and pick your favorite crusty loaf! Give it a squeeze, make sure you hear a slight crunch, that’s the one!

Coratina Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Fresh Cracked Black Pepper and Herbs

In addition to my grocery store addiction, I also am a collector of great olive oil. I have 6 or 7 bottles in my pantry right now and I often flavor my own with toasted garlic or chili oil. I can tell how good an oil will be by the first smell. If it smells rich and deep, you want it for bread dipping! While they’re are dishes that I feel are better cooked with a lighter olive oil, high quality, rich tasting olive oil is right for bread dipping.

I like to add cracked black pepper and a few fresh herbs on top of the oil. On occasion I will also add balsamic reduction (usually with dinner).

This oil can be purchased at Eataly, and usually Amazon. Although, it looks to be unavailable on Amazon at the moment.

Chianti Classico Riserva Docg Lodolaio 2016

For wine, I recommend taking a trip to your local store and asking for someone’s opinion. I love trying wines that other people love! I am still needing to take a pairing class myself, so I trust others when it comes to great wine!

I usually gravitate toward drier wines, my husband likes red wine, so we went with a recommended Chianti. Chianti is a deliciously deep wine that pairs great with food. When we shared that our board was for grazing, and was intended to be dinner, the man in the wine section at Eataly suggested the Classico Riserva.

Chianti is also a delicious option if you’re making spaghetti and meatballs!

Lately we’ve been enjoying making our boards collaboratively. We start with a day trip to sample and shop for ingredients. Make a day of it, you know? Then we open our wine and allow it to breathe while we get out all of our ingredients, pour a glass, taste and create a nice display. It’s a great date day/night! Give it a try!

I’m so excited to bring more interactive articles like this to A Toasted Crumb in the near future!

Keep in mind, charcuterie boards are the “new thing”. They don’t always have to be made up of Italian meats and cheeses! Maybe next time we’ll make a grazing board for tacos, or BBQ, maybe Thanksgiving or Christmas themed?? Stay tuned!