Our overriding ambition is to have happy customers eating our delicious meats. Charcuterie in Britain goes back to Roman times with products such as “Sagi” – cured lamb. More recently artisan producers have started producing Charcuterie, as we have some of the best meat in the world.
We have developed the skills needed to make some delicious Charcuterie, but we also understand that food safety is paramount in anything we make. We have worked in partnership with Dacorum Council to develop processes and plans that means everything we make is not only delicious, but is made to the highest standards of food hygiene. We are a five-star rated establishment.
We are making modern Charcuterie but we are aware of the 4,000 year history of this style of cooking.
The practice of preserving meats is nearly as old as mankind. While recorded recipes date back more than 4,000 years, the fundamental methods were likely used in the earliest civilizations.
The Romans were first to regulate meat preservation, but it was the fifteenth–century French Charcutier that transformed the practice into a form of culinary art. Pâté, rillette, terrine, galantine, head cheese, confit and a slew of other devilishly delicious products are all born from this era of master Charcutiers and highly esteemed trademen’s guilds.
Derived from Old French – chair meaning flesh and cuit meaning cooked – the term charcuterie originally referred to shops that sold products made from pork. Today, Charcuterie more often refers to the meat products themselves with their accoutrements.
Charcuterie boards, commonly called meat and cheese boards in the UK, primarily feature an array of cured and preserved meats, artisan cheeses, and breads. Additional accoutrements can include pickled fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, olives, nuts, mustards, jams, etc.
Charcuterie is based on a two-stage process, the stages are:
- Cure the meat in salt for a time period. This effectively cooks the meat in salt, enabling the meat to preserve.
- Air Dry – Hang the meat to air dry to lose moisture and to complete the product. This period can range from 10 days to 2 years depending on the product.
If you would like to learn more about how our products are made, please feel free to contact us.