As a great supporter of quality produce, we’re proud to have partnered with British Charcuterie Live, the home of British Charcuterie, to create this stunning sharing charcuterie board using award-winning producers from the 2018 and 2019 British Charcuterie Live Awards – complete with our award-winning sourdough crackers.
This years awards are in April – to make sure you don’t miss out on the 2020/21 winners, sign up to the British Charcuterie Live newsletter, here.
We hope you are tempted to recreate this charcuterie platter at home – be sure to tag us in your photos if you do using the hashtag #SavourTheCrunch.
TO START
To create a a really good charcuterie board, you need to tempt the eye and appeal to the appetite. Our advice is to offer a range of charcuterie types made from different meats (i.e. salami, hams, bresaola, etc) with no more than a choice of six, otherwise you risk overwhelming your taste-buds. Add a few accompaniments that will complement or contrast with the meats – pickled radishes (link to recipes), fresh or dried figs, pickled chillies, caper berries, cracked walnuts and cubes of quince jelly all work well.
Finally, add some crackers – here we’ve opted for our Original Sourdough Crackers and our Pink Peppercorn Sourdough Crackers made from our 45-year-old sourdough starter, which is fermented for 16 hours before each batch is baked. The malty flavour from the rye flour works perfectly with the rich, buttery meats and the pink peppercorns add a gentle piquancy.
WHAT WE’VE USED
Products listed in the top row, from left to right.
Tempus Charcuterie – Achari Spiced Salami
Voted Champion of Champions Product at the British Charcuterie Live Awards 2019, this salami made by Tempus Charcuterie is superb. Unlike a traditional salami, it is transformed by the judicious use of an unusual and delicate blend of spices that includes fennel seed, Tellicherry black pepper, mace & fenugreek and is based on an age-old Indian recipe for pickling. Combine these flavours with the traditional methods for fermenting, and ageing, and a genuinely unique, contemporary product is created – a salami with a complex yet subtle flavour.
Lishman’s of Ilkley – Yorkshire Chorizo
Lishman’s of Ilkley won Champion of Champions Producer at the British Charcuterie Live Awards 2019 for their overall, all-round excellence. Working both as a traditional butcher and charcuterie-maker, they use welfare-friendly, outdoor-bred and locally reared pigs. Their Chorizo, made in the traditional way with smoked paprika & garlic, lingers on the palate and delivers a pronounced spicy finish.
Products listed in the second row, from left to right.
Owen Taylor & Sons – Haslet
Haslet, for the uninitiated, is a traditional British Charcuterie product that originates from Lincolnshire. Similar to a meatloaf, it was once made from pig’s entrails (heart & liver), stale bread and sage. The haslet from Owen Taylor & Sons won Gold in 2019 and they make it with minced pork belly, shoulder and head seasoned with onions, various herbs and spices. It’s then baked in the oven for a crisp outer crust – a delight with a pronounced “porkiness”.
Beal’s Farm Charcuterie – Mangalitsa Air-Dried Ham
The Mangalitsa is a Hungarian breed of domestic pig. According to Philip Beal (Beal’s Farm Charcuterie) who runs his own herd, “the flavour of their meat is incomparable with its creamy fat cover and hint of wild boar gaminess”. The ham, the winner of Best Product, British Charcuterie Live Awards 2018 is dry cured in salt and fresh herbs. Then, it is slowly air dried over a minimum of 12 months. With a rich, deep flavour from the lean meat and a creaminess like no other from the fat.
Products listed in the third row, from left to right.
Cobble Lane Cured Coppa
Cobble Lane Cured won silver for their Coppa in the British Charcuterie Live Awards 2018. They produce it in a painstaking three-stage process. First, the pork collar is cured at a low temperature in salt and spices. Then it is hung for about eight weeks at a low temperature to ensure full penetration of the salt. Finally, it is hung again for around two months in a maturation chamber to fully tenderise the meat. It proves to be a great example for flavoursome, well raised and well-cured British pork.
Great Glen Charcuterie Green Pepper Venison Salami
From the depths of the Highlands comes Great Glen Charcuterie’s Green Pepper Venison Salami voted Best Game Charcuterie 2019. This salami is made with wild Scottish venison culled from the surrounding hills. It is minced and mixed in a beautifully balanced proportion of lean-to-fat, with green pepper in the cure to give it an intriguing spicy lift. The resultant charcuterie reveals a satisfying depth of flavour with its balance of gaminess.
Photography by Mark Setchfield.
