CHARCUTERIE WITHOUT THE BOARD
Houston chefs get creative bundling appetizers in pandemic-friendly, single-serving jars
Meat-and-cheese boards are blowing up on social media as charcuterie has become practically a new art form. But the trend recently has spawned an adorable subset: Say hello to “jarcuterie.”
The best of the big grazing boards can now be found in a smaller format called jarcuterie — traditional meats, cheeses, olives, pickles, breadsticks, nuts and dried fruits piled into individual servings in glass vessels. Everything you love about the snack board — and more — is now being stuffed into jars, making the charcuterie experience new again and relevant in a pandemic-sensitive time when individual
portions might be smarter for home entertaining than a shared, come-one, comeall board.
“Really, the only thing you definitely need is a jar or container of some sort to pack all your goodies into one place,” Taste of Home magazine wrote in a recent article. “Other than that, you can mix and match food items to your heart’s content just like any other snack board.”
Jarcuterie isn’t just cute, it’s a new way to present snacks for home entertaining, said Elizabeth Swift Copeland, owner of Swift + Company and the Fab Fete.
“My favorite thing with the individual jarcuterie trend is that you do not need to limit yourself to the same items in each jar. I like to offer a fun mix of flavors and textures so that each bite is different,” she said.
Though the jarcuterie trend is emerging nationwide, Revival Market has been doing its own individual charcuterie cups since the summer. Layne Cruz, Revival’s general manager, said that the cafe and craftbutcher shop began offering the cups for Zoom meetings for clients who normally would have staff meetings sharing a charcuterie board.
“Snacking from a grazing table is intimate even for people who know each other. With this option, you’re able to grab a portion of everything,” Cruz said. “It’s a good solution in a lot of ways, not just in a social-distancing mindset.”
Revival Market’s catering business offers cups with traditional meats and cheeses, fruit and cheese, and a vegan/veggie option.
“It’s a unique way to display charcuterie,” James Beard Award semifinalist Dawn Burrell said. “Just be willing to really dig for every bite.”
Burrell was among the Houston chefs we asked to think about jarcuterie and design their own interpretations. These are not found on the chefs’ everyday restaurant menus but are their own imaginative takes on the possibilities of a jarred charcuterie.
Chef Hugo Ortega filled his jar with layers of huitlacoche sausage, goat cheese wrapped in hoja santa leaves, queso fresco with guajillo peppers, tomatillo marmalade, a pâté of oxtail meat, and pickled cauliflower and red jalapeños.
Chris Williams, chef/ owner of Lucille’s, was inspired by Solomon Gundy, Jamaican pickled fish pâté. Alex Au-Yeung of Phat Kitchen in Katy used scrambled eggs, red onion, cucumber, anchovies, toasted peanuts, curry chicken skewer and sambal coconut rice sticks. Georgia James chef de cuisine Greg Peters saw the exercise as an homage to pork rillettes, which he said is the “original jarcuterie.” He used a cocktail rocks glass to layer pork rillettes with Creole mustard, house-made pickles and shaved 34month house-cured beef wagyu. Mayank Istwal, executive chef of Musaafer restaurant at the Galleria, incorporated flavors of north India: apples, lotus root, apricots, walnuts, cumin-spiced blueberry chutney, and chili and coriander cottage cheese.
JD Woodward, head chef of 1751 Sea and Bar, filled his jar with scallop conserva, radishes, dill, olives and panko-fried shrimp and garnishes of edible flowers. Chef Justin Yoakum of Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette jumped in with a jarcuterie using campechana, avocado, Spanish chorizo, prosciutto, pickled cocktail onions, pickled peppers, gherkins, jumbo poached prawns and king crab leg.
“I think that it’s a great option for small gatherings to replace the ever-sopopular grazing board that’s on the table at every party,” said Jess DeSham Timmons, chef/partner at Cherry Block Craft Butcher & Kitchen, who created her
jar using shrimp, crackins’, candied bacon, pretzel stick and mini pimento cheese tea sandwiches. “Not only does it allow a host to provide hors d’oeuvres without asking people to share utensils, it also can get more creative than the typical cheese and meats that everyone is doing.”