It’s not enough these days to lay out some cured meat, cheese, crackers and olives and call it a charcuterie board. To truly be ‘gram-worthy you’ve got to add a little panache to your appetizer plate. Fortunately, it’s totally easy to do this. Your guests will be impressed with your use of a food hack to make “salami roses.”
Janelle Elise Flom (@janelleelise) posted a TikTok video demonstrating how to make these edible flowers in a champagne glass.
@janelleeliseThis is pure magic. ##cheese ##charcuterie ##cook ##hack ##food♬ This Magic Moment – Drifters
As you can see, Flom overlaps the pieces of salami around the wine glass rim, making several layers. Then she flips the meat-rimmed glass upside down on a charcuterie board and removes it to reveal a perfect salami rose. Her mom also makes a salami rose on her first try, so this looks very doable.
Using smaller-rimmed glasses will create tighter salami roses and wider-mouthed glasses create more spread-out meat flowers. You can even use a shot glass!
Salami seems like a perfect cured meat for this decoration since the slices are thin and malleable and stick well together. Other cured meats like prosciutto work well too. Thinly-sliced deli meats would probably work in a similar way.
You could consider making an entire charcuterie bouquet, which could be wrapped up as you would a bouquet of flowers or laid flat on a cutting board. Be sure to fill your board with salami roses and other meat flowers, plus cheeses, crackers, herbs, vegetables and fruit.
Not a fan of the salami roses but like the idea of a rose shape on your charcuterie board? You can turn strawberries into roses too. This video from Cooking Haru shows how to cut strawberries several ways into roses, tulips and butterflies. It takes some patience but turns out some impressive edible art!
How about cucumber flowers? YouTuber Gala demonstrates how to make these delicate decorations with thin slices of cucumber secured together by one bottom cucumber holder.
Looking for some more inspiration for your next charcuterie board?
Consider a birthday charcuterie board that features all of the birthday guy or girl’s favorite treats — or, in winter, hot cocoa charcuterie board.
You could also make a charcuterie chalet, a “dog-cuterie” board for your favorite pooch or a french fry board for the fry-lover in your life.
Whatever the food medium, it’s clear that you can get as creative as your imagination allows with a few clever tricks that transform ingredients into art.
Would you choose salami for your roses or another ingredient? What’s on your ultimate charcuterie board?