October 22, 2021
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When Tanya brought the idea of making a lifestyle blog all about charcuterie boards to our View Marketing & Creative team, one of the first questions we had is, how do you pronounce charcuterie? We’re all quite familiar with how to make a board, and they’re gorgeous to look at. But pronouncing the word charcuterie isn’t as easy.
In fact, we’ve asked each of our team members how they pronounce the word… and we got all kinds of answers.
While charcuterie boards have become a modern trend, when we researched a bit deeper, we found that the the term charcuterie is not new. So entertainers serving appetizers and sharable goodies at home or party planners building big, beautiful boards for swanky parties, read on!
How to pronounce charcuterie?
Charcuterie (in English) is pronounced “shahr-koo-tuh-ree”. If you want to listen to how it’s properly pronounced, Google has a great audio clip here.
The French pronounce it slightly differently; sha’kuew-T’REE.
How will you choose to pronounce charcuterie?
When deciding how to pronounce charcuterie, you may want to decide whether you feel more comfortable with the widely accepted English pronunciation or if you'd like to adopt the French pronunciation.
The word charcuterie comes from the French words “chair” and“cuit”, which mean “flesh” and “cooked”, respectively. When trying to remember how to pronounce charcuterie, it may help to remember these root words.
In 15th century France, shops would sell all varieties of pork products and were called by these French terms. Those who value sustainability will appreciate that these charcuterie shops practiced with the belief that no part of the animal should be wasted, and made cooked, smoked, salted and preserved sausages and other treats from the whole animal.
Where to serve Charcuterie
Here's the real beauty of charcuterie: you can serve it at the most casual picnic lunch or the most formal, black-tie affair. Head to Aldi and pick up some supplies for the next football game and watch kids and adults alike build sweet and savory bites of cracker, fruit, jam, meat, cheese and hummus. (If you haven't checked out our blog about building an Aldi Charcuterie board, click here). If you're planning a more upscale affair, like a wedding or other celebration, you can kick it up a notch by heading to a Marianos or local cheese shop to find finely aged cheeses, honey comb and even caviar. Keep it simple for casual boards and dress it up for fancier spreads by adding springs of rosemary and edible flowers. Serve your selections on chilled, marble boards and watch guests swoon (and eat!). And hey, maybe you can use the English pronunciation while serving your game-day guest and switch to the French pronunciation of Charcuterie when preparing boards for fancier affairs. It's your charcuterie board, your choice!
Charcuterie board ideas
Now that you know how to pronounce charcuterie in both English and French, you can browse our charcuterie board ideas from the blog to get inspired for your next board:
· Best crackers for charcuterie board
Or, if you’d rather learn more about charcuterie, we’ve got some info on the history of charcuterie.
Our team has lots more inspiration coming your way, so be sure to follow us on social to stay up-to-date!
