31-03-2025
Charcuterie Beyond The Board: Sausages, Pâtés And Terrines
When I discovered that Switzerland, my home country, was about to hold a so-called Swiss Cervelas Summit, I had to recognize that charcuterie had risen to yet a new gastronomic level. The cervelas we gnawed on at recess may have looked like a fat, curved hot-dog, but it is in fact, a stubby, finely processed mixture of beef, pork and spices in beef casing, eaten hot or cold. It has been referred to as the Swiss National Sausage and may have been around for centuries.
Cervelat, also cervelas, servelat or zervela. Sausage on wooden board.
That said, I can assure you that no Michelin-starred restaurant would ever have offered cervelas or any other charcuterie, for that matter, while I was growing up in Geneva.
Things have changed.
When Bar Boulud opened across from New York's Lincoln Center in 2008, it spurred a true French charcuterie revolution. In the words of then New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni, Bar Boulud is a terrine machine, a pâté-a-palooza, dedicated to the proposition that discerning New Yorkers aren't getting nearly enough concentrated, sculptured, gelatinous animal fat, at least not of a superior caliber.
getty
So what is charcuterie? It's not deli meat nor cheddar cheese, crackers or olives, and even though it has graduated into a TikTok trend, especially served on a wooden board, charcuterie in the European sense includes cured meats, fresh and smoked sausages, pâtés and terrines. If culinary history is your beat, you will discover that a pork butcher named Louis-François Dronne, born in 1825, penned the massive Charcuterie ancienne et moderne treatise and contributed to the inclusion of charcuterie on elegant Parisian menus of the time.
Back on this side of the Atlantic, charcutier extraordinaire Aurélien Dufour, now co-owner of Dufour Gourmet, moved from Paris to New York to become the head of the charcuterie program at Bar Boulud.
'It's interesting to note that Italian charcuterie, meaning prosciutto, salami, or mortadella, was very well known in the United States,' said Mr. Dufour. 'But food lovers started getting into French charcuterie thanks to Daniel Boulud and his partner, French charcutier Gilles Vérot.'
A slice of Dufour Gourmet Pâté-en-Croûte
Later on, Mr. Boulud opened DBGB, a restaurant often referred to as a sausage joint on the Bowery (now closed) and today, he still offers charcuterie in several of his Michelin-starred restaurants.
Through Mr. Dufour features a whole line of artisanal products including ready-to-eat sausages and meats such as saucisson sec, a French style salami he just cannot keep in stock, quiche and meat pies, as well as pâtés.
'We make seasonal charcuterie: a pork, pheasant and cranberry terrine for the fall, filet mignon wrapped in puff pastry for Valentine's Day, and of course, foie gras at Christmas.'
But is foie gras charcuterie? Mr. Dufour explains that it fits in the category of terrines, which are similar to pâtés but made with more luxurious ingredients.
So what's next? 'There's always a way to reinvent things with new ingredients and new combinations,' he said. 'Personally, I would love to open a real charcuterie shop with ready-to-eat goodies!'
