Charcuterie board:
In THE BATTLE OF THE MUFFINS, blueberry muffins easily won, with banana, apple and chocolate muffins coming next in the poll.
It's now the turn of charcuterie to do battle. A charcuterie, strictly speaking, is a platter of cold cooked meats, often pork-based meats. Charcuterie was originally developed in France as a way of preserving meat before refrigeration was common. Prosper Montagné, a leading French chef and author of the 1938 dictionary of French cuisine Larousse Gastronomique defined charcuterie as the "art of preparing various meats, in particular pork, in order to present them in the most diverse ways."
Though charcuterie started off as a meat platter, a charcuterie board nowadays will include non-meat products such as cheeses, fruits and vegetables. However, for the purposes of this poll, I'm excluding fish and seafood products. Such products like eel, herring and salmon are more often found at a Swedish-style smörgåsbord buffet dinner.
A French-style charcuterie is very similar to an Italian-style antipasto (and even an English-style ploughman's lunch). All are dishes of cold foods. This poll is excluding hot foods which are often served up in restaurants as part of a grazing or sharing platter. Similarly there's often a mix of cold and hot foods served up in French-style hors d'oeuvres, a Greek-style meze or a Spanish-style tapas. This poll is solely concerned with cold foods.
My favourite charcuterie items are bread, bruschetta, cheese (not smelly cheese though), crostini, Melba toast, Parma ham, pâté, potato salad, prosciutto, sausage, Scotch eggs, Serrano ham, stuffed olives, tomatoes and tzatziki, with salami being my best favourite charcuterie item. I love the texture and tang of salami.
Salami:
My least favourite charcuterie items are chocolate, dried fruits, fruit, honey, and jam - I'm not a fan of sweet foods being served with savoury food. But pork pies are the worst things on a charcuterie board. All sorts of things from a pig go into a pork pie.
What are your most and least favourite items of charcuterie?
Have you ever prepared a charcuterie board (or antipasto)? If so, what food items were on your board?
I've never prepared a charcuterie board or even antipasto.
Below is a poll where you can anonymously select your most favourite item of charcuterie. Unfortunately only one pick is allowed in the poll.
A poll on this site can only have 20 answer options. Unfortunately there was no room in the poll for: bacon, ballotine, beef ends (aka burnt ends), boiled/Scotch eggs, breadsticks (aka grissini), bresaola, butter, cheese biscuits/crackers, chilli peppers (aka peperoncini), chocolate, chutney/pickle/relish, couscous, dried fruits, falafel, galantine, haggis, herbs, honey, jam/jelly, Melba toast, mustard, pastrami, pickled/cocktail onions, pickled cucumber (aka gherkin or pickle), pulled beef, pulled pork, rillette, salume, seeds and terrine.
I think ham will win, but bread, cheese, salami and sausage may also do well in the poll.
Please see the first comment below to see what has won each battle of the food and drinks so far.
A pork pie:
7
27 comments
To me : Iberian Ham
I thought you may vote for a Spanish ham. I think ham, thanks to Spain, will win this poll!
@spunkycumfun Iberian ham "is" Spanish ham
There are several types of Spanish ham, such as Serrano and Teruel, which come from regular pigs, but Iberian ham comes from a breed of pigs that resemble small wild boars. Most Iberian ham available is a mix, usually 50% Iberian, because 100% pure Iberian ham, is very expensive. I remember we talked about it in another poll you did earlier. 
Iberian Ham = Iberico Ham
@AuraAviatik6 I remember our earlier conversation about Spanish ham.
But here's an ethical dilemma for you, not a serious dilemma. I voted salami in this poll, but cheese and ham are at the moment battling it out to win the poll. I don't think salami will win. Should I change my vote from salami to ham for ham to win the poll? I now want ham, and especially Spanish ham, to win the poll.
What would you do? I bet you never thought that charcuterie would have its ethics. But my problem is that salami is a wasted vote.
@spunkycumfun Please change your vote to "Ham"
Remember that some cheeses have the same color as Trump's toupee! LOL
@AuraAviatik6 I will change my vote at the end if it changes things.
And I'll never vote for orange cheese. Dutch cheese seems to have that market covered.
It is fantastic
I make it regularly for a parties at my house. 10-15 parties per year or so.
Due to dietary preferences it is usually 3 boards: pork, beef and cheese. With cheese I put some fresh or dried fruits. And olives. For meat some pickled peppers, cucumber, artichoke …
Sometimes there are also spreads: humus, baba ghanoush, peppers with fresh vegetables and pita bread.
I love to host parties and cook for parties
You host a lot of parties!
It looks as if you are a king of charcuterie.
@spunkycumfun
Parties are mostly during summer in my backyard. Just a couple during winter.
A few years back it was 30-40 guests now it’s more like 20.
@EnyojLife Even so, you are quite a host.
@spunkycumfun
For your next movie set I can provide food 😁
And maybe something extra 🤣
@EnyojLife You may regret making that offer to cater in the next film. I've been told that Stormy Daniels gets very hungry!
I would usually refer to this as an appetizer(s). The last woman I dated and lived with before that ended, would often pick out places where we could partake in beer tasting and such. Often times it was usually local places she found through Groupon. That is where I got to savor quite a few charcuterie boards that were offered at the different places we tried.
Now you can impress your next date by talking about charcuterie!
Now my stomach is rumbling and I want to graze a charcuterie assortment of more than half your selectable options. Darn it, Spunky! Oh, you forgot little pickled things... pickled fish, small pickles, and other items that contrast with the cheeses and preserved or roasted meats, nuts, etc.
I excluded fish and seafood often found on a smörgåsbord, and I didn't have room for pickle in the poll.
@spunkycumfun Yeah, and then you might bring up cucumbers again... <rolls eyes> LOL!
@CuriousHer I missed an opportunity not bringing up cucumbers in this post!
I need to stay away from charcuterie now, but before that, it was ham. I had some of the ham in Spain. I keep the images of the legs hanging in the shops in my mind.
Spain is renowned for its ham.
Must go with Roast Meet
I thought more people would have voted for slices of roast meats.
@spunkycumfun yum they should
@bignicktx I need to eat a Sunday roast today.
Ugh, almost all of this is on the naughty list for me now that I'm trying to improve my cholesterol. Fruit I guess?
With fruit, you're definitely off the naughty step!
Well that made me feel a bit peckish.
I hope you get to eat something very soon.
I love olives! 😎
Olives are great and, if stuffed, even better.
Sausage. I like meat
Who doesn't like a good sausage?!
You know I have never had a Charcuterie board before, but mine would definitely have to have CHEESE, salami, ham, olives and crackers as I am a simple lady with simple tastes.I used to cater parties and I used to make what is called meat trays and they looked so very appetizing as they had all kinds of meats, cheeses, vegetables and crackers on them, and even mini loaves of sour dough and french bread with them.
This is another great battle here, and I hope your Friday is a great start to an even more exciting weekend...
I wouldn't say you are a simple lady with simple tastes, I'd say you are a classy lady with classic tastes. I'd love to eat what's on your charcuterie board.
One of these years I'll visit Spain and gorge myself on ham! <3
Spain is probably the country with the best hams in the world.
amazing, never know what to call it other than appetizers before it got its fancy name
The French like their fancy names!
A local place opened up recently across from one I frequent called Postino. They have an amazing special on Mondays and Tuesdays after 8. A bottle of wine and a charcuterie board for 25 smackers.
I'll be headed there post haste.
I do enjoy a nice montego with fig preserves.
That sounds like a great deal. I hope you enjoy the charcuterie board with the wine.
For the record, Brussels sprouts won THE BATTLE OF THE VEGETABLES, bananas won THE BATTLE OF THE FRUITS, basil won THE BATTLE OF THE HERBS, garlic won THE BATTLE OF THE SPICES, cashew nuts won THE BATTLE OF THE NUTS, sunflower seeds won THE BATTLE OF THE SEEDS, roast beef won THE BATTLE OF THE ROAST DINNERS, cheesecake won THE BATTLE OF THE PUDDINGS, pepperoni won THE BATTLE OF THE PIZZA TOPPINGS, Caesar salad won THE BATTLE OF THE SALADS, green beans won THE BATTLE OF THE BEANS, watermelon won THE BATTLE OF THE MELONS, tomato-based pasta sauce won THE BATTLE OF THE HOT SAUCY DIPS, barbecue sauce won THE BATTLE OF THE COOL SAUCY DIPS, vanilla ice cream won THE BATTLE OF THE ICE CREAMS, capellini (aka angel hair) won THE BATTLE OF THE PASTAS, steak won THE BATTLE OF THE BARBECUE, romaine lettuce won THE BATTLE OF THE LETTUCES, honeycrisp apples won THE BATTLE OF THE APPLES, stout won THE BATTLE OF THE BEERS, whisky won THE BATTLE OF THE SPIRITS, clam chowder won THE BATTLE OF THE SOUPS, sourdough bread won THE BATTLE OF THE BREADS, liver won THE BATTLE OF THE OFFAL, roast turkey won THE BATTLE OF CHRISTMAS FOODS, Old Fashioned won THE BATTLE OF THE COCKTAILS, Americano coffee won THE BATTLE OF THE COFFEES, English breakfast tea won THE BATTLE OF THE TEAS, maple syrup won THE BATTLE OF THE PANCAKES, barbecue sauce won THE BATTLE OF THE CONDIMENTS, ribeye steak won THE BATTLE OF THE STEAKS, portobello mushrooms won THE BATTLE OF THE MUSHROOMS, beefsteak tomatoes won THE BATTLE OF THE TOMATOES, barbecue crisps won THE BATTLE OF THE CRISPS, strawberries won THE BATTLE OF THE BERRIES, crab won THE BATTLE OF THE SHELLFISH, vanilla yogurt won THE BATTLE OF THE YOGURTS, jasmine rice won THE BATTLE OF THE RICE, chicken wings won THE BATTLE OF HOT FINGER FOODS, cheeses won THE BATTLE OF COLD FINGER FOODS, dry red wine won THE BATTLE OF THE WINES, tap water won THE BATTLE OF WATER, and blueberry muffins won THE BATTLE OF THE MUFFINS.