HAPPINESS ON A PLATE
Our holiday charcuterie board is stacked with world-class meats, cheeses, and fish created right around the corner.
By James Norton
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
"Entertaining" is such a generic word that it's difficult to parse anymore - around the holidays, it's pure filler, stuck willy-nilly at the top, in the middle, and at theend of feature stories and lists. It's used as a generic gray paste to cover all aspects of having guests in your house, but in practice it generally just means "you should feed people when they enter your house to visit."
Not wrong - but not helpful. To put a finer point on "entertaining," you should feed people WELL. You should surround them with culture that makes them feel welcomed and, well, entertained: that's the art on your walls, the music you're playing, the drinks you're serving, and the spread laid out on the table. It's also the conversation you're having, which can be facilitated by all of the above.
A good appetizer board can go a long way toward entertaining your guests because not only is it tasty and visually compelling, it's a good excuse to talk and connect, particularly when you're centering some of the tremendously good meat, cheese, and fish that the Upper Midwest produces with real talent and verve.
Take for example, the selection below, which we sourced 100% at Eastside Food Co-op in advance of a book talk and sample session last week at the public library in Winthrop, Minn. It's hella tasty, sure. But it's got some great stories behind it, too.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
Juusto | Pasture Pride | $7 for 6 oz.
One of the most interesting developments in Wisconsin snacking over the past couple of decades has been the rise of juusto, a salty twist on a traditionally sweeter baked Finnish cheese that is heated (typically before a football game), and sliced into snackable squares that are perfect tooth-pickable bites of dairy richness.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
Mustard Melange Gouda | Marieke Gouda | $18/lb.
We told the story of Marieke Penterman (above) and her remarkable cheese business on the Heavy Table website last year. Her cheese is delicious, terrifically authentic to her Dutch roots, and creative as all get out, with a remarkable and ever-evolving selection of varieties riffing on the buttery, mellow, compelling flavor of gouda. If you're ever in the vicinity of Thorp, Wisc., you owe yourself a visit to Marieke Gouda HQ, which offers tours, a sprawling cheese and gift shop, a restaurant, and a massive outdoor trampoline that's fun for kids (and, well, adults too.)
Savory mustard seeds give this gouda variety a bit of heat and added depth. And like all Marieke Gouda, it's made with raw milk aged for 60 days (or more), which ensures food safety without compromising complexity of flavor.
Truffle Gouda | Marieke Gouda | $25/lb.
The earthy, complex flavor of truffles give this gouda a little bit of added depth and help it pair with savory mains and meaty appetizers.
Super Aged Gouda | Marieke Gouda | $26/lb.
18-24 months of age give this gouda a slightly crystalized, lightly butterscotchy profile and make it a great pairing for hazelnuts, quince paste, and brown spirits like bourbon or Scotch.
Little Lucy Brie | Redhead Creamery | $27/lb.
Grassy and light when young and a little richer and funkier if you let it age out in your fridge for a couple of weeks, this mellow domestic brie is made in Minnesota and fills a "spread it on a baguette" niche on any charcuterie board.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
MnDuja Spreadable Pork Sausage | Lowry Hill Provisions | $9.50 for 4 oz.
The journey of Lowry Hill Provisions is a long one - chef-turned-butcher founder Erik Sather was at Seward Co-op before launching his own ambitious Upper Midwestern charcuterie business that held down a gorgeous shop space in theLowry Hill neighborhood for seven years. Now based out of the Food Building in Northeast Minneapolis, Lowry Hill produces things like MnDuja, a local spin on Calabrian 'Nduja, a very soft, spreadable sausage that packs heat and depth.
Cajun Spice Salmon and Smoked Atlantic Salmon | Northern Waters | $35/lb.
The team at Northern Waters in Duluth are wizards of smoke and spice, and can transform plain but lovely pieces of fish into complex works of art. Their Cajun Spice and Smoked Atlantic salmons are amazing on sandwiches but also compelling on their own in the context of a charcuterie board.
James Norton / Heavy Table
Rush Creek Reserve | Uplands Dairy | $23.39 for 12 oz.
This is one of the great cheeses of America, full stop, no qualification needed. Almost a savory custard, this incredibly spreadable and rich cheese is made from the last of the Uplands cows' summer milk, and it does everything that butter does on sandwiches or a charcuterie board, but better. If you can get your hands on some of this, serve it last, like a dessert, after warming the cheese in the oven. A crusty baguette is a perfect pairing.