British Charcuterie

I can’t remember who I was talking to about this, but the fact is 20 years ago British charcuterie wasn’t even close to being the established trend it is now, writes Josh Barrie. 

These days, there are countless producers, whether based on a Yorkshire farm or in a ramshackle East London warehouse, and it’s improving all the time. Specialist cured meats like coppa and saucisson sec were once the preserve of the Continent. We in Britain stuck to sausages and black pudding. 

Few if any who reads CODE will be unaware of Britain’s surge toward fine curing. I suspect we have all enjoyed an exclusively British-made charcuterie board. It was most likely strewn with Trealy Farm chorizo, Suffolk Salami, and Andrew Rogers’ North by Sud Ouest range (if it wasn’t, it should have been). 

Lately, though, restaurants have stepped their own game up and chefs are dedicating more time to the art. As we continue to press for higher-welfare, slower-grown, native breed meats, charcuterie is a natural marriage, and it’s very exciting. 

We have, among so many others, Graham Garrett doing marvellous things down in Kent, Mark Birchall making everything from smoked lonza to pancetta at the imitable Moor Hall, and Gareth Stevenson (a young chef to watch) from Palé Hall in north Wales turning out a promising batch of mallard pastrami. 

I was moved to write this after eating a plate of Chris Leach’s mortadella at the new Manteca in Shoreditch last week. I remember trying it for the first time back when he was cooking at the Soho site. It was just as good, if not better this time around. It’s the sort of situation that makes it impossible to even consider going vegan. Sorry, Greta.

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