Sharon of Sharcuterie teaches us how to make fun and easy charcuterie boards that are perfect for small and big gatherings, and especially for the holidays.
I have a very stressful life and every day is a balancing act. As an accountant, I look at numbers all day, and at the end of the day, I like to do something mindless, enjoy the sight of something colorful, and perhaps a little show of creativity.
Then I discovered charcuterie. Charcuterie is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage. It has become popular and it now includes cheeses, and accompaniments that pair well with your choice or wine and other dishes. It is a combination of various flavors: sweet (fruit: fresh and dried), savory (meat products). salty (cured meats), and spicy (peppers and other spicy treats). Charcuterie is pronounced as shahr-koo-tuh-ree. It first rose to prominence in 15th century France. Nowadays, charcuterie is all over social media and parties everywhere.
Charcuterie for non-cooks
Charcuterie is best for non-cooks like me. Getting together with family and friends is what I love most and what better way to entertain than a nice charcuterie board. We eat with our eyes first, so why not make it pretty. While others go biking, paint or knit, I make a charcuterie board as a hobby. Watching a lot of Pinterest posts and following charcuterie business owners inspire me to make more.
Making a charcuterie board is absolutely easier than pronouncing it. Take it from me, the non-expert. You can prepare a simple small board, or you can go overboard and as elaborate as a grazing table.
How to make a simple charcuterie
- Get a wooden board, a slab of marble or a platter
- Choose 2-4 cured meats, set it up on your board
- Choose 2-4 different types of cheese, arrange around your meat
- Choose 2-4 types of fruit and spread on the board
- Place your breads and or crackers where your cheeses are
- Add spread, dip or honey usually next to Brie cheese.
- Add rosemary, basil or mint and or flowers to add color and nice presentation.
Themed charcuterie boards are fun too, you can make a breakfast board, a summer board, a fall board, Halloween board and holiday board. Your creative juice will keep flowing. Aside from boards, you can make mini charcuterie cups and cones too.
The birth of Sharcuterie
An idea came up one day. Why not have an Instagram account to post the pictures of all my creations just for fun? So I did! SHARcuterie was born. I am lucky to have creative and reliable nieces because one niece Daz came up with the name Sharcuterie taking Shar from my name, Sharon. Another niece, Inna, created the Sharcuterie charcuterie board account on Instagram.
Being a business person, I thought that this might be a potential business someday. So I challenged my family to come up with a logo that would suit my new hobby/project/future business! My nephew John, won the contest with his simple and cute design. His prize you say? Free tax advice and a charcuterie board. And true enough, since then, we have started the business, our orders are growing mainly from social media following and friends, all thanks to combined family effort.
Charcuterie makes me happy.
Taking photos of the boards I create is so much fun. Adding music on the reels I make and share them on Instagram is a blast.
Where do I find the time to make a charcuterie, people always ask me. Believe it or not, putting together a charcuterie board has its calming effect. It is like entering into the world of creativity, color and placidity. So when I see the happy faces of friends and family from my charcuterie board, I feel so much joy.
Editor’s note: Follow Sharon‘s charcuterie journey on Instagram @Sharcuterie.board and if you are in the area, let her make you a charcuterie board and you can feast together.
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