Charcuterie board
Also known as: Cured meat platter, Charcuterie platter, Charcuterie plate, Cold cuts platter, Salumi board
A charcuterie board is a platter of sliced cured meats such as dry-cured ham and salami, served with bread, cheese or fruit; producer consortia advise on slicing and serving temperature.
A charcuterie board (also charcuterie platter, cured meat platter) is a platter of sliced cured meats served with bread and other accompaniments. It has no official definition, so everything below comes from producer consortia and food-safety rules: how to slice, when to take meat out of the fridge and how long chilled food may stand on the table.
The base of the board is Dry-cured hams and shoulders and Dry-cured sausages: Prosciutto di Parma, Prosciutto di San Daniele, Jamón ibérico, Salami. A wider choice is gathered on Cured meats & charcuterie.
The Prosciutto di Parma consortium describes a classic antipasto as three or four slices with Italian cheeses and bread. With the ham it suggests fresh figs or melon, as well as ripe pears, papaya, pineapple or kiwi, and white wines to drink. There is no need to trim the band of fat on a slice: it balances flavour and texture.
The Spanish association ASICI advises slicing ibérico ham thin and even, 2–3 mm, when the room is at 20–24 °C, eating it at 24 °C and serving it on a plain white plate. Parma is cut paper-thin. The San Daniele consortium adds that machine slices come out cleaner if the ham is chilled first, and that the first slice after a break is best set aside.
How long should meat wait after the fridge? Advice varies. Pre-sliced Parma comes out about 15 minutes before serving, and San Daniele trays are opened 5–10 minutes ahead. Vacuum-packed ibérico ham is another story: take it out at least 2 hours before, dip the pack briefly in warm water and open it 30 minutes before serving.
UK government guidance for businesses allows chilled food out of the fridge for up to 4 hours, after which it must be thrown away; if less time has passed, it can go back in the cold. In hot weather the Food Standards Agency advises not leaving food out longer than two hours. These rules cover chilled ready-to-eat food in general; the sources do not say whether dry-cured ham or a whole dry sausage counts, and the consortia give no time limit on the plate.
Leftovers have rules too. Re-wrap an opened pack of sliced Parma and eat it within 3 days. Keep San Daniele sliced at the counter at +1 to +7 °C and eat it within 12 hours.
Why this matters to you: each product on the board has its own serving temperature, from 15 minutes out of the fridge for Parma to two hours for jamón.
Facts
| House range | Dry-cured hams (Parma, San Daniele, ibérico) and sausages (salami) |
|---|---|
| Cut | Ibérico ham in 2–3 mm slices; Parma paper-thin |
| Temperature | Ibérico ham: slice at 20–24 °C, eat at 24 °C; keep sliced meat at +1 to +7 °C |
| Duration | Chilled food out of the fridge up to 4 h, up to 2 h in hot weather (UK government) |
How it connects to Cured meats & charcuterie
Charcuterie board → kind of → 🥓 Cured meats & charcuterie
Links
- What it contains
- Jamón, Salami, Prosciutto di Parma, Rillettes
- Part of
- 🥓 Cured meats & charcuterie
- In other topics
- 🧀 Cheese, 🧀 Parmesan, 🫒 Olives, 🍯 Honey, 🍷 Sherry
Frequently asked questions
What goes on a charcuterie platter (cured meat platter)?
Dry-cured hams and sausages such as Prosciutto di Parma, San Daniele, ibérico ham and salami. The Parma consortium suggests Italian cheeses, bread, figs, melon or pears with the ham.
How thin should ham be sliced for a board?
ASICI advises even 2–3 mm slices of ibérico ham, cut when the room is at 20–24 °C. Parma is cut paper-thin.
How long can a charcuterie board sit out?
UK government guidance allows chilled food out of the fridge for up to 4 hours, 2 in hot weather. The sources give no separate limit for dry-cured ham.
What wine goes with a Parma ham board?
The Prosciutto di Parma consortium says the ham is excellent with white wines.
Is it true that cured meat must come out of the fridge at least an hour before serving?
It depends on the product. Sliced Parma needs about 15 minutes, San Daniele trays 5–10 minutes, while vacuum-packed ibérico ham comes out at least 2 hours ahead.
What to read next
- 🧀 Cheese — A dairy product made from casein curd; on average about 7 kg of milk per 1 kg of cheese in the EU. Hundreds of varieties, 272 names in the EU register.
- 🧀 Parmesan — Parmigiano Reggiano, a hard cheese from Emilia-Romagna and part of Lombardy, aged from 12 months.
- 🍷 Sherry — Protected wine from the Jerez de la Frontera area of Andalusia, aged in oak casks in the solera system; 14 to 22 % alcohol.
- Rillettes — Rillettes are pork or poultry cooked slowly in fat until the meat falls into fibres, then potted under fat; Rillettes de Tours has been an EU protected geographical indication since 2013.
- 🫒 Olives — The fruit of the olive tree, pressed for oil or cured and eaten as table olives.
Similar
Sources
- Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma, press kit (2025)
- Consorzio del Prosciutto di San Daniele, instructions for use
- GOV.UK: Food hygiene for your business, chilling and freezing
- GOV.UK: Food safety in a heatwave, advice for consumers
- ASICI, dossier de prensa 2023