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Mini: Charcuterie Boards · Why We Do What We Do

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Why we do what we do? Welcome
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: to Why we do what we Do Mini. I am
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  Speaker 1: your host, Abraham, and I'm your host Shane. I listed
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  Speaker 1: like a host bit like we do in our full lengths.
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  Speaker 1: We are a psychology podcast to talk about the things
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  Speaker 1: that humans and non human animals do, and then sometimes
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  Speaker 1: we do that in a very short format, which we've
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  Speaker 1: decided to call a mini because it's small meaning short,
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  Speaker 1: but gigantic in its implications and wisdom.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, And so y'all aren't ready because today
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  Speaker 2: we're going to talk about snackplates.
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  Speaker 1: Indeed, anyway, these come out on Mondays. Our full lengths
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  Speaker 1: Tell a friend. I'll talk more about those things at
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  Speaker 1: the end of this discussion. But as you said, we're
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  Speaker 1: talking about snackplates, and who does not love a good snackplate.
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  Speaker 2: That's what I'm saying, So like I love to have
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  Speaker 2: something to snack on or it's a graze on, especially
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  Speaker 2: it get togethers Like I like sitting around a table
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  Speaker 2: and just eating all the cheese or whatever it is
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  Speaker 2: that's in the plate in front of me. And it
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  Speaker 2: gives us something to do rather than just small talk.
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  Speaker 2: So like I can snack and not have to worry
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  Speaker 2: about like whether or not I'm saying the right thing
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  Speaker 2: to somebody that I don't want to have a conversation.
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  Speaker 1: With whether or not you're saying the right thing about
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  Speaker 1: the weather.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, I don't want to talk about the weather.
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  Speaker 2: I want to talk about the snackplate. I want to put
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  Speaker 2: my I want to put crackers in my mouth, you know.
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  Speaker 1: And a charcoterie board is not just a snackplate. It's
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  Speaker 1: like an elevated snack plate, right Anyway, that has us
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  Speaker 1: ask the question, this cultural thing that we do of
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  Speaker 1: harkoos boards, why do we do this? Well, thankfully we
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  Speaker 1: have an answer for you here.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, so I wrote this many because my daughter is
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  Speaker 2: obsessed with charcuteri boards. Right now. I was like, where
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  Speaker 2: does this come from? And like what does this look like?
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  Speaker 2: And why are we doing this? And so that's just
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  Speaker 2: so you know that there's like there's an impetus for
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  Speaker 2: aware this started, okay, and it's my twenty year old
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  Speaker 2: daughter has decided that she is like really into charcuterie
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  Speaker 2: right now.
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  Speaker 1: Awesome, love that for everyone involved.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's real great. No, it's cool because she's
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  Speaker 2: trying new things.
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  Speaker 3: And she's like, oh, I don't like that. I don't
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  Speaker 3: like that. I don't like that.
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  Speaker 2: She said the other day that sardines were not food
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  Speaker 2: for humans, and I went, sure, okay, like I wouldn't
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  Speaker 2: put a sardine on a charcuterie board as a vegetarian
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  Speaker 2: or as a human.
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  Speaker 1: But here we are, you know, sure, sure, all right,
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  Speaker 1: Well we do need to start by defining our terms.
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  Speaker 1: So charcuterie boards are a appetizer served on either a
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  Speaker 1: wooden board or a stone slab some kind of delivery
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  Speaker 1: tray if you will, yes, And the foods that are
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  Speaker 1: included in our charcuterie board are usually preserved foods, such
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  Speaker 1: things like cured meats, cheeses, crackers, breads, and along with
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  Speaker 1: a variety of other spreads and snackables.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, things that are easy to eat in
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  Speaker 2: a quick bite. Now, charcoterie comes from the old French chair,
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  Speaker 2: which is flesh, and cute, which is cooked. I'm not
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  Speaker 2: pronouncing those in French because I have a hard time
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  Speaker 2: pronouncing French, but I believe they are shall.
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  Speaker 1: And q probably qui actually qui.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that makes more sense for my friends who speak French.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sorry that I hurt your ears. Now, these words
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  Speaker 2: were combined and then turn into a reference to a
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  Speaker 2: small shop, which is where the ree comes in charcout
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  Speaker 2: de ree.
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  Speaker 3: So basically it just means cooked flesh.
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  Speaker 1: Shop, flesh cooked shop.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, But.
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  Speaker 1: Cooked flesh shop does sound very appetizing. Sure, So that's
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  Speaker 1: that's sort of the history here of and understanding what
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  Speaker 1: they are. And just like any good trend that has
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  Speaker 1: believed that laborers were first to invent charcuterie boards as
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  Speaker 1: simple meals during medieval periods. However, of course the rich
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  Speaker 1: saw it and said we want that, and so it
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  Speaker 1: evolved into a high society affair, probably with became very
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  Speaker 1: gaudy and less practical and full of things that were
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  Speaker 1: not even food anymore.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, these boards have taken on life of their own,
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  Speaker 2: with an estimated sales or like an industry in twenty
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  Speaker 2: twenty landing around nine hundred and fifty million dollars per year.
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  Speaker 2: That's a lot of shetta, you know what I'm saying.
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  Speaker 1: That is a lot.
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  Speaker 2: It's industry in itself, Like I mean, when we talk
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  Speaker 2: about it, it's it's You've got like specific delis that
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  Speaker 2: produce foods just for charcuterie boards. You've got classes, you've
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  Speaker 2: got specialized charcuterie boards, utensils, all these things that go
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  Speaker 2: along with it, and like specific books and designs and
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  Speaker 2: all that.
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  Speaker 3: Like it is really truly.
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  Speaker 2: It's become like an industry specific, like a very influencer
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  Speaker 2: industry because they're very pretty to take pictures.
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  Speaker 3: Of and like to post them on your social media's.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, if you can design one well and like have
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  Speaker 1: things look nice on them, they're really cool to look at,
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  Speaker 1: Like they kind of are artistic and like have a
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  Speaker 1: sort of picturesque sort of scene to them.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: I think I mentioned we got a whole book that
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  Speaker 1: was like vegan boards that are ways to make these
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  Speaker 1: big sort of charcuterie board like things that are vegan.
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  Speaker 1: So there's you know, olive based ones where you have
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  Speaker 1: a bunch of different olives, and ones where you sort
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  Speaker 1: of you know, mix and match your own snacks with things. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: and they'll even put like little decorations on there, so
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  Speaker 1: you might have like a little sprig of rosemary that
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  Speaker 1: just goes on the board to look nice. Yeah, it's
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  Speaker 1: also a food, but it's really there to just help
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  Speaker 1: tie the whole ambiance together. But ideally, what you'll never
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  Speaker 1: have on a charcuterie board as an ad ew not
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  Speaker 1: tasty at all. Okay, we're back. Don't eat ads. They
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  Speaker 1: taste bad, bad ads. So we talked a bit about
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  Speaker 1: the history of boards here and understanding the culture around
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  Speaker 1: them a bit. Not really, but we talked about the
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  Speaker 1: fact that they happen.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about how to make a board.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're probably asking Shannon Abraham, how do I
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  Speaker 2: make a board to dazzle my friends? Well, we're gonna
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  Speaker 2: give you a quick cow too. One of my favorite
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  Speaker 2: types of episodes to do is a how to episode.
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  Speaker 2: So we're gonna give you a step by step process
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  Speaker 2: on how to make a fantastic charcouterie board. First step
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  Speaker 2: number one, get a slab of wood.
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  Speaker 1: Say I want my board.
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  Speaker 3: I want my board. That's beautiful.
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  Speaker 2: I wasn't expecting an Irman two reference today, so thank
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  Speaker 2: you for that. Yeah, so get a slab of wood,
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  Speaker 2: maybe a stone slate. Ideally it is like treated so
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  Speaker 2: it's nice and prepared to serve food. But you want
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  Speaker 2: to have something that you can serve food on.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, if it's putting slivers and dirt and grime into
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  Speaker 1: your food, it's not suitable for serving.
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  Speaker 3: Right with right exactly.
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  Speaker 1: Anyway, for whatever ingredients you do choose to add to
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  Speaker 1: your board, you should aim for about two ounces per
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  Speaker 1: person per item to help you proportion things the way
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  Speaker 1: that you need to to stack your board. But that's
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  Speaker 1: about the way you're looking for is two ounces per
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  Speaker 1: person per item.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I think people get really worried about overdoing it or
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  Speaker 2: underdoing it, and that if you know you're gonna have
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  Speaker 2: a certain amount of guests, that's a good standard to
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  Speaker 2: look for.
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  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 2: Sep Number three is you're going to select your meat
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  Speaker 2: or your protein or whatever you're going to use for
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  Speaker 2: your plant based folks, and this could be deli meats,
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  Speaker 2: or substitute to match the quote unquote cured meat selection.
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  Speaker 2: There are vegan delies out there that do produce things
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  Speaker 2: like pershudo and bacon and like in salamian stuff that
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  Speaker 2: you might put on a board and do that in
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  Speaker 2: a vegan style. So there is that as well, and
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  Speaker 2: also you don't have to have that on there if
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  Speaker 2: you don't want to.
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  Speaker 1: Sure. Next you've got your cheeses, you should vary the
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  Speaker 1: shape and intensity of the cheese selection. Hard cheeses something old,
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  Speaker 1: our age longer and have different flavor profiles. Soft cheeses,
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  Speaker 1: something new, tend to be creamier or milder. Then you
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  Speaker 1: can maybe get some cheese from a friend that'd be
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  Speaker 1: something borrowed and maybe a blue cheese and blue yeah,
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  Speaker 1: and anyway you could throw some goat cheese, blue cheese
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  Speaker 1: or plant based cheese to meet this level. To accomplish
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  Speaker 1: whatever cheese selection you need to have.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Step five is going to be your spreads.
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  Speaker 2: You can have small bowls or ramikins that can include
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  Speaker 2: things like hummus, green tahini, dip, honey or a gave
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  Speaker 2: nectar or whatever. Maybe like fruit jams or spreads or
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  Speaker 2: like we have a roasted onion jam or a roasted
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  Speaker 2: onion jelly or roasted garlic roasted onion garlic jelly.
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  Speaker 1: Wow.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like it's interesting, but it's like one of
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  Speaker 2: those ones you can just kind of like have as
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  Speaker 2: an available option for folks.
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  Speaker 1: Then, of course you need a delivery system, and that
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  Speaker 1: is to say that the spreads are only so good
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  Speaker 1: as how they make it to your face. Yeah, and
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  Speaker 1: this is where crackers come in. So the vessel, this
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  Speaker 1: is how I always feel about hummus, is like whatever
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  Speaker 1: I'm eating it with is just a vessel for the hummus.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't matter that much, although obviously I want that
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  Speaker 1: part to not taste bad. I just need the hummus
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  Speaker 1: to get to the face.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: So anyway, you get some different flavors textures. Breadsticks are good,
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  Speaker 1: Sliced bread can be good, Those crackers can be good.
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  Speaker 1: You want to be mindful about the texture and the
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  Speaker 1: flavor of the cracker delivery system, but that is what
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  Speaker 1: you need to have on There is a delivery system
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  Speaker 1: for the spreads, dips and the like proteins, cheeses and
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  Speaker 1: whatever else you got on there.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: Step seven is where you can add a little bit
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  Speaker 2: more zest to your board too. You can add some
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  Speaker 2: roasted nuts, fresher dried fruits, pickled items, something that's a
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  Speaker 2: little bit sweet or with a little bit of zing
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  Speaker 2: maybe something like with a little bit of vinegar or
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  Speaker 2: pickle to it. Something that you can kind of add
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  Speaker 2: different things that kind of like fill out the board
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  Speaker 2: a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: It's the whole fat, salt, acid, heat thing, I think.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly.
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  Speaker 1: So as you're setting up the board, the recommended order
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  Speaker 1: is to do this. So set up the board, then
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  Speaker 1: add the cheese first, then add the meats and spreads.
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  Speaker 1: Then fill in the gaps with nuts, fruits, savory bites,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera. Then add the breads, crackers, et cetera the board,
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  Speaker 1: so you can kind of like have bread near by
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  Speaker 1: any of the things you might combine with the bread,
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  Speaker 1: and then that that will have you have the arrangement
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  Speaker 1: have sort of a logical flow to it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, So why do we do this?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's pretty simple actually, Like people like food, so
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  Speaker 2: we like to eat food.
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  Speaker 1: We need to eat food.
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  Speaker 2: We need to eat food. It's it's kind of weld
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  Speaker 2: but it's a space to be creative. It's a place
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  Speaker 2: to connect over food, to do something a little bit
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  Speaker 2: different and creative. It's a fun way to host, to
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: get together and create a centerpiece where everyone can just
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  Speaker 2: chat and be together and admire.
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  Speaker 3: A little bit of creativity with it too.
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  Speaker 2: Like you're not really making anything new, you're just kind
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  Speaker 2: of arranging it and designing it in a way to
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  Speaker 2: be kind of a talking point or a centerpiece for
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: those social conversations. It's really designed to facilitate those types
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: of engagements and can be really really nice if you
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: like to do that sort of thing.
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  Speaker 1: I also think there's an element here that's important, which
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  Speaker 1: is the choice. And a lot of times when you
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  Speaker 1: have something prepared, like people get essentially what you prepared,
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  Speaker 1: and in the charcuterie board, like arrangement. In one of
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  Speaker 1: these boards here you get to choose which things you
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: include and don't include, which things you focus on. You
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  Speaker 1: might be like I don't really care so much for
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: spicy things, someone to just stay away from that. But
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: someone else who really likes spicy can choose to like
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  Speaker 1: I want to include a lot of spicy things in
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  Speaker 1: my little cracker sandwich thing that I'm making for myself.
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  Speaker 1: So you get the opportunity to emphasize the parts that
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  Speaker 1: you want to emphasize and arrange the snacks in a
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  Speaker 1: way that you'd prefer. And I do think that just
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  Speaker 1: that element of choice is something that draws a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people to the charcuterie board type setup as well.
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  Speaker 1: Is you can have a lot of food for a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people and have it be that they get
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  Speaker 1: to choose the kind of food that they want to
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: partake and not necessarily be forced to partake or not
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: because things are combined in such a way that they
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: don't enjoy or prefer those food combinations. Absolutely, all right, Well,
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  Speaker 1: that's how to make a charcuteri board. That's why to
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: do a charcuteri board. And that's where the word charcuterie
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: comes from. I think that's what we have to say
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: about it. And now that you've heard that words so
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: many times, it has become meaningless. You may go out
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: and try your hand at designing a charcuterie board. And hey,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: if you do that and you would like to send
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: us some pictures, we would love to see them. You
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: can post them on social media or you can email
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: us directly at info at wwdwwdpodcast dot com and we
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: do look forward to hearing from you there. If you
• 12:15
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• 12:16
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• 12:19
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• 12:48
  Speaker 1: interested in hearing what we have to say about some
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: of these topics. Maybe people who are really looking into
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: making charcuterie boards. There's a thing they can do now,
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: that's true. Yeah, thank you so much of my team
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: of people without whom I can do this. Thank you
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: everyone for listening. Is there anything that I'm mister you'd
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: like to add before we wrap this one up?
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: Nothing else today?
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: All right? Then, this is Abraham and this is Shane.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Why we do what we do? Mini is out Bye.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: You've been listening to Why We Do What We Do.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: You can learn more about this and other episodes by
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: going to WWDWWD podcast dot com. Thanks for listening, and
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: we hope you have an awesome day.