Italian Food (6)
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Italian Food (6)

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The following applies to the whole of Italy, not just Tuscany.

If you want to order a charcuterie board—a selection of cured meats and cheeses—in a restaurant, look for something called tagliere on the menu. The full name is usually either tagliere di salumi (cured meats) or tagliere di salumi e formaggi (cured meats and cheese). To add to the confusion, cheese may also be served in the former. More sophisticated versions include jam, honey and marmalade. A charcuterie board is usually for two people, so I recommend asking the waiter about the portion size—il tagliere è per una o due persone? will do.

Here’s the thing. A tagliere is like a box of chocolates; when you order it, you never know what you’re going to get. I like to think of charcuterie boards as a measure of a restaurant’s professionalism: if they can’t do the most basic thing, which is to source quality delicacies and cut them up to order, then they really don’t give a damn about their customers.

Of course, restaurants aren’t the only place to find cheese and cured meats. There are two main options. The first is to go to a well-rated rural farm-to-table guesthouses (agriturismo), where the products are sourced locally or produced in-house. I recommend making a reservation weeks or even months in advance. Highly rated agritourisms are often booked solid for the next few weeks. The second option is to go to a shop, be it a grocery store, a salami shop (salumeria) or a cheese shop (formaggeria/bottega del formaggio).

I'd be very interested to hear about the charcuterie boards in your country.

Headline image by jonko on Unsplash

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