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www.gourmetnews.com n JUNE 2019 GOURMET NEWS 7 4 What to Look for as American Charcuterie Movement Rises By Greg Gonzales Dry-curing meats was a matter of survival hundreds and thousands of years ago, but in today's United States, charcuterie is all about flavor. Today's consumer will come to your store wondering where their food comes from and how its origin affects the flavor, and they're part of a growing movement that compares to that of gourmet cheese and craft beer, with no sign of slowing. To catch this rising wave, it's crucial to be able to tell the difference between true gourmet charcuterie and the rest. Being ahead in this movement before it gets big means attracting a customer who can afford high-dollar items. According to Ariane Daguin, Chief Executive Officer of D'Artag- nan, people seeking out American charcuterie tend to have a higher salary, and they care about whether the meat came from a sustain- able farm, whether or not the farm was local and how the animal was treated. And it's cer- tainly possible to stay ahead right now. "I'm still talking about a very small niche, a very small part of the population," said Daguin. According to Phil Gatto, co-Founder of True Story Foods, what makes truly good charcuterie is that craft producers use her- itage breeds of animals that are humanely raised, antibiotic-free and hormone-free. "Those breeds usually take a little longer to grow, and end up with a deeper color, more marbling, which gives them more internal fat, and that natural fat brings a sweetness to the flavor profile," he said, adding that the exercise these animals get out on the pasture also helps with marbling. It's not just pigs – Daguin cited a heritage breed of chicken used at D'Artagnan that eats vegetable scraps and takes longer to raise, which results in a truly unique flavor experi- ence. "A chicken that's 100 days old is basi- cally three times more expensive than a chicken that was processed at 30 days old – and the taste is more than three times better, but the price is three times higher," she said. For Chris Eley, Owner of Smoking Goose, quality charcuterie really is all about the ani- mal itself. "You can't make something great starting with a poor-quality product," he said. "I used to work with a guy when I was young who would always say, 'You can't make chicken salad out of chicken [manure].' So we're always focused on how the animals are raised. That's the key to the quality of our product. Our job – we buy a high-quality ani- mal, a heritage breed raised properly, fed well, it was stress-free – our job is to not screw it up." Any additional herbs or spices, Eley said, are there to bring out the natural flavor of the meats – not to enhance or cover it up. That's not to say there's an absolute rule about ingredients in craft charcuterie. Bill Miner, Owner of Il Porcellino, said his com- pany makes a variety of salamis, some tradi- tional and some non-traditional, to keep curious customers coming back. "We make one salami called a Queso Salami, and we use a cheese in there called Queso de Mano from Haystack Mountain, which is a local creamery here in Colorado," he said. "It's a Manchego-style cheese we put in there, so you get a bite of cheese in your salami. It's not a lot, just a little bit, and it's pretty unique. We're using local wine from Denver, local beers in some recipes, juniper berries, which is an indigenous ingredient from Col- orado. But then we make traditional things like sopressata, finnochionna, coppa, things that people know. You can be different, but you also have to make products people are familiar with so they sell." In addition to how the animal was raised and how the meat is handled, region plays a major role in the final flavor. With factory- farmed animals, location doesn't matter – no matter where they're raised, those animals are manufactured to produce a high quantity of meat that comes out tasting the same – but high-quality charcuterie producers take note of regional flavors. Smoking Goose products, for example, are all about Indiana from ani- mals and ingredients all the way down to the name. Its Rustbelt Salami recalls the era of steel mills – in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois – and it changes batch to batch, using a single-source and single-breed pig from one of those states. "We have stuff from foragers, like locally foraged juniper berries; we use mead wine from a local meadery that makes their mead from Indiana honey," Eley said. "The idea is to represent the flavor profiles of this region of the country, rather than trying to recreate regionally-traditional European styles." As for inspired names, look no fur- ther than Smoking Goose's Dodge City, a salami named for a part of Indianapolis that's since improved – Smoking Goose was part of its redevelopment, so they named the salami out of respect for how far it's come. However, when factoring in which char- cuterie is right for your store, think literally about how a region affects flavor. Pigs raised at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains tend to eat acorns from nearby oaks and hickories, flavors that carry subtly into the meat. "It's called terroir," said Daguin. "It works the same with wine. You take exactly the same grape, you grow it in one place and another, and it makes a very different wine – some- times, it's less than half a mile away, and it makes a huge difference." We can think of charcuterie like cheese, too; milk from a cow that eats dray hay in the winter will taste quite different from milk made by the same cow grazing on fresh green grass in the spring. "You cannot say, 'I have the best terroir to raise a beef,'" said Daguin, but the origin certainly can be an in- dication to charcuterie-seeking customers of what flavors to expect. Enamoring your customers to craft charcu- terie is partly a matter of education. Even though consumers have constant access to a smorgasbord of beautiful charcuterie with a single search of #charcuterie on Instagram, they'll likely be more engaged with your prod- ucts if your staff can tell them all about the meats from your area, or how the wagyu beef raised in Texas you carry is truly one of a kind. Your customers will thank you. "In many cases, it's subtle, but the people who can sit down and take the time to eat the product taste a difference, and it's greatly appreciated," said Gatto. "So part of this is about educating peo- ple about which characteristics good-quality crafted products let you experience." Eley said he's part of a group working on a charcuterie certification exam, like the Cer- tified Cheese Professional Exam, which could help retailers decide which meats are the best. However, according to Angela Bozo, Education Director at the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association and one of the people making the exam a reality, it won't be ready for another two years at best. Meanwhile, these meats continue to get more love than ever in the U.S. In other words, there's no better time than now to become a charcuterie expert and start stocking the best meats in town. Buholzer Brothers Brand Cheeses from Klondike Klondike Cheese Company's new Buholzer Brothers™ brand is crafted by six Wisconsin Master Cheesemakers and dedicated staff and includes four flavorful varieties of Muenster, Brick, Havarti and Dill Havarti. Brick cheese has a deliciously complex, earthy flavor with a touch of nuttiness when young but turns pungent and tangy when aged. Try Brick cheese on a Detroit-style pizza or slice to top a juicy hamburger. Buholzer Brick comes in a 6-pound loaf. Muenster is an orange-rind cheese that is semi-firm with a creamy texture that gets even creamier with age. Perfect for grilled cheese, scrambled eggs or pizza. Buholzer Brothers Muenster comes in a 6-pound loaf and 15-pound long john. Havarti is a great melting cheese with its creamy, rich buttery flavor. Slice for grilled cheese, cube on salads, or serve on a char- cuterie platter. Buholzer Brothers Havarti comes in 4.5-pound and 9-pound loaves as well as 15- pound long johns. Dill Havarti is available in 4.5-pound and 9- pound loaves. Klondike Cheese Co. is a fourth-generation cheesemaking family, crafting award-winning cheeses in the same location in Monroe, Wisconsin, since the late 1800s. Klondike's 2018 best of class awards include first place for Brick, second place for Muenster and third place for Havarti at the World Championship Cheese Contest and first place for Dill Havarti at the Wisconsin State Fair. The secret to Klondike's excep- tional quality is the combination of using state-of-the-art equipment, pro- prietary recipes and time-honored tra- ditions of cheesemaking. The recent 20,000 square-foot plant expansion at Klondike Cheese Co. demonstrates a commitment to providing high qual- ity, authentic and consistently flavor- ful products. For more information, go to www.klondikecheese.com. Nutiva Offers Squeezable Organic Coconut Manna By Virginia Watkins, Trade Marketing Man- ager, Nutiva At Nutiva, we're on a mission to build a bet- ter future. One where food is sustainably sourced, trade is fair and good global citizen- ship is not just a responsibility, but a source of purpose and pride. The care we take with every Nutiva product is vital to that mission. It's the commitment we make to you and the way we work to revolutionize the way the world eats. Since 1999, we've invested 1 percent of our sales revenues in programs that spark change in the food industry by supporting regenerative farming practices to create healthier communities. With every product sold, we're helping make the world a little better with meaningful changes to the way food is farmed and support for the people who farm it. That's over $4 million dollars to date. Nutiva produces organic, plant-based food, supplements and body care products, and we protect what's best about them, at every step of their journey to you. That way the benefits of ingredients like organic co- conut and hemp reach you intact, to enhance your diet, care for your body and energize your life. We intro- duced our Squeezable Organic Coconut Manna™ pouches at the 2019 Winter Fancy Food Show. Available in three delicious fla- vors – original Coconut, Almond and Choco- late – all three are gluten- and dairy-free and contain less than 1 gram of sugar per serving. The innovative, portable and mess-free pouch is perfect for on-the-go keto snacking, kid-friendly recipes and travel. Our Squeezable Organic Coconut Manna is heavenly tasting and equally nourishing. This tropical melt-in-your-mouth treat con- tains fiber and nourishing fats that support a ketogenic diet. An ideal spread that can re- place cream cheese, butter and nut butter, you can also add Co- conut Manna to smoothies, oatmeal, desserts and baked goods. Made from pure, organic ingredients, our Coconut Manna is a wholesome addition to your family's snacks and meals. When you choose Nutiva products, you can feel confident that the food that sustains you also sustains ethical organic farming communities and supports regenerative farming techniques. Together, let's revolu- tionize the way the world eats. For more information, visit www.nutiva.com. Follow the company on Facebook and Insta- gram.

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