what is charcuterie?

Answer 1

Charcuterie can be simply viewed as the "art" of preparing and preserving meat, usually pork, but beef and duck are also common. However, the main emphasis is preservation via by using one (or a combination) of these methods - curing, smoking, canning, salting and the use of preservatives.

For example, hams, sausages, salamis, confits and corned beef/pastrami.

A good book is the one written by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.
http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196354166&sr=8-1

From the book, it's a French word, but all cultures practice some form of meat preservation. Back in the days before refrigeration, butcher's had to find ways of preserving meat so out of this necessity Charcuterie was "born".

Answer 2

Charcuterie (from either the French chair cuite, cooked meat, or the French cuiseur de chair, cooker of meat) is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as sausage and confit, primarily from pork. The practice goes back to ancient times and can involve the chemical preservation, or curing, of meats. Since charcuterie can greatly extend the lifetime of meat, it is a means of using up various meat scraps that would have otherwise been wasted. All cured meat Hams, whether smoked, air-cured, salted, or treated by chemical means, are charcuterie products. Sausage making is also part of charcuterie.

The main techniques of charcuterie include the standard kitchen repertoire of poaching and baking, as well as salting or dry curing, brining, air drying, and smoking with and without heat. The room-temperature treatments involved in air drying and cold smoking introduce a host of food safety issues, and so curing salts are often used to prevent the spread of dangerous pathogens, particularly C. botulinum, or botulism.

Answer 3

Charcuterie (from either the French chair cuite, cooked meat, or the French cuiseur de chair, cooker of meat) is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as sausage and confit primarily from pork....

Answer 4

charcuterie is the french word for pork products.

Answer 5

It is a butcher shop, a place that sells meat.

Answer 6

put simply, it's a meat deli.