(above) photo by Lanewood Studio
Annual Food & Drink Issue
Charcuterie
by Katie Faulkner
When prepared meats are arranged beautifully enough to hang on your wall, you know enjoying them will be an other-worldly experience. These local creations feature delicate ribbons of delicatessen that frame silky smears of cheese and are dotted with house pâtés and rillettes. For foodies there’s no greater gift.
An ideal charcuterie board is built with balance – enough complementary flavors to push and pull your palate in the right directions. It should give the diner all the tools they need to create a uniquely delicious experience while still being creative with their consumption.
Cured, brined, smoked, or otherwise preserved meats, and luscious cheeses from some of the finest places in the world – prosciutto from Parma, salami from Tuscany, cheese from the Poe River Valley – join with world-class ingredients created here in Chattanooga to compose these sensual smatterings of flavorful arrangements.
Flying Squirrel
1 Sweetgrass Dairy Asher Blue
This mild blue cheese contains earthy flavors of mushrooms, fresh cut grass, and pine needles with a creamy and crumbly texture, giving it great contrast. Pairs well with fruit jams or light pickles.
2 Sequatchie Cove Creamery Nickajack
A soft-ripened cheese with a hard cider washed rind. Very meaty and buttery. Pairs well with saltier and more acidic foods.
3 Maestri Speck
Speck is a slow cured and smoked prosciutto, creating a soft delicate ham that is rich with smoke and herb flavors. Mildly salty and fatty.
4 Housemade Pork Pastrami
Made from the pork collar, it is cured with black pepper and salt for a month, cold smoked for 24 hours, and finally treated sous vide style for another 24 hours. The result is mildly spicy, salty, and full of smoky flavor.
5 Cypress Grove Midnight Moon
Aged at least six months, this goat’s milk cheese has a firm and crumbly texture. Similar to a parmesan, it pairs well with just about anything, especially figs and stone fruits.
6 Fra’Mani Toscano
A Tuscan-style pork salami made with a more tender texture, seasoned with fennel pollen, garlic, black peppercorns, and wine. Pairs well with firm, older cheeses like Midnight Moon.
Photo by Terry Henson
Beast & Barrel
1 Oaxacan Chorizo
This Mexican style sausage is spicy, smoky, and boasts flavors of paprika and cayenne.
2 Salmon Pastrami
A unique take on pastrami, this light treat is smoky, sweet, and briny all at once with a sashimi texture.
3 Cambozola
A creamy and rich blend of Camembert and Gorgonzola cheeses with a savory nuttiness.
4 Pecorino Romano
A harder cheese with a crumbly and waxy texture, it is sharp, salty, and nutty in flavor.
5 Excalibur White Cheddar
Very sharp, buttery, and grassy.
6 Drunken Goat
Sweet and smooth, delicately grapey, with a gentle, pliable texture and mild fruity flavor.
7 Duck Prosciutto
It’s rich, salty, and unctuous.
8 Smoked Cotto
A smoky and savory meat with notes of black pepper.
Photo by Lanewood Studio
Il Primo
1 Soppressata
Traditional salumi infused with spicy Calabrian peppers. More than just heat, soppressata begins mellow and grassy but ends with a smooth spicy finish.
2 Grana Padano
A semi-firm cheese produced with only cows’ milk from the Po River Valley in Northern Italy. Very rich, flavorful, and creamy.
3 Speck Alto Adige
Prosciutto which has been lightly smoked after curing.
4 Ubriaco del piave
Showcasing a wine-washed rind, Ubriaco del Piave is semi-soft, very aromatic, and pairs with a wide variety of Italian wines.
5 Mountain Gorgonzola
Pungent Northern Italian cheese. Green veining throughout the cheese imparts a soft, spreadable textured flavor resembling blue cheese, only slightly milder.
6 Prosciutto di Parma
Pork shoulder, salt-cured then dry-aged and cellared for 18 months. The finest prosciutto in the world is sourced from Parma, Italy.
Photo by Lanewood Studio
Main Street Meats
1 House Salami
The house version of a salami di casa, or casalingo salami with beautiful pork fat flavor and a touch of spice.
2 Olympia Provisions Loukanika
A Greek twist on salami, produced by some of the best salami makers in the U.S.
3 Goodnight Bros. Country Ham
A great representation of Southern cured and aged ham with light smokiness, even though it’s not smoked, just aged very well.
4 House Country PâtÉ
House pâté featuring local pork, seasoned with our blend of spices and herbs and set with a panade then baked.
5 House Bacon Rillette
Bacon ends braised into a savory shredded pork then whipped with traditional seasonings including herbs, spices, and Dijon mustard.
6 Thomasville Tomme
This is the Benchmark Tomme of the South at the moment, and is always consistent with a great texture.
7 Green Hill
A lovely fresh cow’s milk soft cheese from Thomasville that is easily approachable.
8 Sequatchie Cove Farms Bellamy Blue
A lovely local blue cheese aged with a touch of smoked
sea salt.
Photo by Lanewood Studio
