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Do you have a surefire item to put on a charcuterie platter or cheese board? —Laurie T., St. Louis
This is an easy one for me and, coincidentally, a subject I’ve written about before.
My cheese of choice is P'tit Basque (sometimes spelled Petit Basque), a pungent but very mild sheep's milk cheese produced in the Basque region of the Pyrenees Mountains, with a flavor similar to Idiazabal (a Spanish Basque cheese). The nutty, almost sweet cheese is enjoyable when sliced thinly, but even more so (and here’s the surefire part) when a girolle is used to cut it. A girolle is a contraption used to curl cylindrical cheeses into rosettes that resemble chanterelles (girolles, in French). The BOSKA brand cheese curler is available for $40 at Tale to Table in Maplewood. P'tit Basque cheese (in 1.5-pound wheels) is sold at The Wine & Cheese Place, Whole Foods, Tale to Table, and other specialty grocers. (Note that the price varies widely, from $28–$45 per pound.)
Other, more recent charcuterie/cheeseboard discoveries in my arsenal include the super-convenient, sliced combination salami packs from Volpi on the Hill (5256 Daggett) and bits of comb honey (usually available at Whole Foods).
We also asked several experts in the field for their recommendations:
- Lou Rook III, Annie Gunn's: "I think any charcuterie/cheese board should include several of our house-made items, like pickled vegetables, horseradish mustard, seasonal chutney, and quince butter, which we leave in spreadable form, not in a loaf."
- John Nash, Starrs: "Both of these usually produce an 'Oh, wow' response when customers sample them: Roquefort Carles and Devodier Prosciutto di San Daniele. [The former] is a sheep’s milk cheese from Auvergne, France. Legend has it that blue cheese was first created accidentally, when fresh cheese was left next to molding bread for several days. Delphine Carles cultivates mold spores from local rye bread and inoculates her Roquefort with it. Most who have tasted it believe that this method is what makes her Roquefort superior to all others. It literally melts in your mouth, leaving just a trace of the flavors. Devodier Prosciutto di San Daniele is one of the finest meats in the Italian culinary tradition and not as commonly found as Prosciutto di Parma. The area of San Daniele has the ideal microclimatic conditions for producing this Prosciutto, which has a pronounced, complex aroma and a luxurious, velvety texture."
- Kate Hannan, Tale to Table: "We get tremendous response from the whipped prosciutto butter that we make in house. It goes well on any kind of cracker, crostini, or alongside grissini. We've also found that using piquillo peppers in our pimiento cheese elevates that staple, as well."
- Kevin Willmann, Farmhaus: "The chicken liver mousse that we make in house is as good as it gets. We seal it in a mini Mason jar with seasonal fruit jelly. The showstopper, though, is the smoked pigs head. We roll the pulled meat into a torchon with some reduced stock, chill it, cut it into 3-inch pucks, fry it, and serve with gribiche sauce. It may be one of the best things that comes out of Farmhaus' kitchen." Both items are prepared when adequate supply is on hand, so call the restaurant for availability.
- Rich LoRusso, LoRusso's Cucina: "Three must-haves on my boards: Volpi's Chianti Salami, Belgioioso's Creamy Gorgonzola, and Volpi's Olive Salad, their version of oliva schiacciate."
- Simon Lehrer, Parker's Table: "Ossau Iraty is an exotic but accessible sheep's milk cheese from the Pyrenees cheese that's sure to please. And local honey helps tame spicy meats and stinky cheese while sweetening tart berries and roasted nuts."
- Chris Bolyard, Bolyard's Meat & Provisions: "Nduja is a great addition. Not the run of the mill salami, it’s soft, spreadable, tangy, sometimes spicy, and versatile. Another go-to is Castelvetrano olives, the naturally bright green variety from Sicily. I could eat a jar of those alone."
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