The 3-3-3-3 Rule for Charcuterie Boards | Brattleboro Food Co-op (2024)
Our Co-op is hands down the best place to create the charcuterie board of your dreams. Try making one for a holiday appetizer, or experiment with a fun dinner at home.
Our trained cheesemongers love helping people choose the perfect items for customers’ charcuterie and cheese boards.They can assist you no matter your budget, your desires, or your dietary restrictions. Here’s a guide to get you started.
When making a charcuterie board, try following the 3-3-3-3 rule:
3 meats
3 cheeses
3 starches
3 accompaniments
Let’s break it down and see what we have at the BFC that you can use. All of these items are found at our cheese shop:
3 Meats: Pork Rillettes from 5th Quarter, dry-cured duck breast from D’Artagnan, Babette’s Table finocchiona salami
3 Cheeses: try for a variety of types and a variety of milks (cow, goat, sheep). Grafton Village Shepsog, Parish Hill’s Jack’s Blue, and Lazy Lady Farm’s Capriola are examples.
3 Starches: we like Taralli (a traditional Italian cracker almost like a small, circular breadstick), Artisan Crisps by Rustic Bakery, and baguettes from Gilles Baguettes
3 Accompaniments: Cerignola olives, Marcona almonds, French cornichons
For sweet accompaniments: Tavernier chocolate pate, Mitica date almond cake, Pojer e Sandri cold pressed quince syrup.
A charcuterie board is an appetizer typically served on a wooden board or stone slab, either eaten straight from the board itself or portioned onto flatware. It features a selection of preserved foods, especially cured meats or pâtés, as well as cheeses and crackers or bread.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Charcuterie_board
Depending on the size of your board, you should have one each of cow, sheep, and goat options with soft rind, firm, and hard cheeses in the mix. Flavors should range between nutty and mild to funky and unique. Rule of thumb: 1 cow, 1 sheep, 1 goat; 1 soft, 1 firm, 1 hard.
There are a few that I would stay away from eggplants, brussels sprouts, turnips, beets, zucchini and mushrooms. Many of these vegetables taste best when cooked, and Charcuterie boards generally don't include steamed or cooked veggies.
The second 'rule' of making a charcuterie board is really more like a set of guidelines. Some insist that you follow the '3-3-3-3 Rule,' which must include 3 cheeses, 3 meats, 3 starches (breads and/or crackers), and 3 accompaniments (such as fresh and/or dried fruit, nuts, spreads).
Charcuterie meats and cheeses have the most flavor when served at room temperature. Remember these should not be left out at room temperature for more than two hours total. Consider using a designated cutting board for charcuterie use, and not one you use to cut up raw protein foods.
Many ingredients used in charcuterie boards are high in sodium, including deli meats, dry sausages, cheeses, salted nuts, pretzels and crackers. The recommendation for daily sodium intake for adults is 2,300 milligrams or less. To reduce the sodium load on your board, add more fresh or dried fruits and raw veggies.
What should you not put on a charcuterie board? You'll want to avoid overly juicy fruits whose juices will run across the board and turn your crackers and bread soggy. Skip fruits like watermelon, pineapple, and tomatoes and stick with grapes, berries, and apples or dried fruits.
If you're serving 8 – 10 people, you will need 1 – 1 1/2 lbs of meat, and you'll want to pick at least one from each category (more on that below) . Cheeses: It's usually sliced a little thicker, so 3 ounces of cheese per person or 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 pounds for 8-10 people (roughly 3 medium-size hunks) should do the trick.
Plan for about 1-2 ounces of cheese per person. As with your meat selections, have your cheese sliced thin (at a 1-2 thickness) to make layering easier. If you'd like to incorporate cheese cubes, or have guests cut their own pieces, have those sliced at an 8-10 thickness.
Ryan Culver, a co-founder of Platterful, a premade charcuterie board business, recommends a board that is 12 x 8 for a more standard charcuterie board. If you are looking for something bigger or to feed a larger crowd, a board around 20 x 12 inches should do the trick.
A charcuterie platter can sit out for around 2 hours at room temperature. To maintain freshness and safety, ensure perishable items like meats and cheeses are kept chilled before serving. After 2 hours, it's advisable to refrigerate or consume the platter to prevent bacterial growth and maintain quality.
Introduction: My name is Lakeisha Bayer VM, I am a brainy, kind, enchanting, healthy, lovely, clean, witty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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