How to put together a charcuterie bouquet aka salami flowers. A delicious arrangement of cured meats and other supporting edibles such as pickles, cherry tomatoes, bread sticks or pretzels, cheese cubes, grapes...
A charcuterie bouquet can impress and reap great rewards where ordinary flowers would normally fail, regardless of the sex of the recipient. Add a bottle of their favorite craft beer and you can be sure your gift will be appreciated and remembered.
Ingredients You Will Need
- salami (dry cured), beef jerky, smoked mini hot dogs, etc. Select types the recipient likes best.
- cheese - cut in cubes, or mozzarella pearls or sticks. Select types that go well with the salami you picked.
- peperoncini, olives, pickled okra, cherry tomatoes, grapes, bread sticks, etc. Select accompanying ingredients liked by the recipient and pleasing to the eye.
- edible greens such as parsley or spring onions or chives to use as finishing touches for the arrangement.
Household Items You Will Need
To create the arrangement you can rely on a few common household items (possibly with the exception of the butcher paper, see below).
- a bottom heavy, wide top vessel to serve as a vase. You really need a steady, heavy base for such a top heavy arrangement. I used a heavy half liter mass/beer stein made of thick glass and it worked well.
- long bamboo skewers and a good pair of scissors to trim them with in order to create varying height for the 'flowers'.
- ribbon/bow or even twine to tie around the finished bouquet.
- in advance make adequate space in the refrigerator to store the salami arrangement once assembled and prior to being gifted. Cover it with plastic wrap so it will not dry out. Most likely this is something you will present in a home environment. If you can get away with making the bouquet and immediately gifting it - do it!
- butcher paper to wrap the arrangement and to help support it. Find the kind that is coated on one side. Non-coated paper will develop unsightly grease spots upon contact with the ingredients. You could also use freezer paper or wax paper.
TIP: The proper name for coated butcher paper is polyethylene coated freezer paper. It is expensive when sold in bulk. The best way to obtain some is to buy bacon or sausages or whatever you want from the specialty meat & seafood section of the grocery store and they will most likely wrap it up in freezer paper after plastic bagging it first. The paper will most likely remain in perfect shape to be reused. Or simply ask them for a clean sheet.
How to Make a Charcuterie Bouquet
The most important thing is to make sure that the arrangement does not topple once completed.
This depends on how heavy and numerous the salami and other ingredient skewers are and how stable and heavy the container.
- If needed weigh the bouquet container by placing something heavy on the bottom - for example pickling weights or a few clean decorative pebbles/rocks or marbles. Wrap them in gift tissue paper or similar first, to protect the container from breaking. Do your best to create a stable base for the top heavy bouquet.
- Cut and skewer the various ingredients and set aside.
- Fold the paper in such a manner that the coated side faces inwards towards where the salami flowers (and friends) will be placed. Nothing, not even sub-par charcuterie bouquet arrangement skills will have as adverse of an aesthetic effect as the oil blotches that will appear on the paper when in contact with the meats if it were not the coated.
- Once the paper is in place begin arranging the skewers. Decide which ones you'd like to stand lower/higher and trim the bottoms with kitchen scissors accordingly.
- Arrange any bread sticks or pretzel sticks as needed - use them to fill in gaps between the 'flowers'.
- Place the edible greens around the skewers - as many or as a little as you'd like. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Beyond the Salami Bouquet - more DIY gift ideas for beer lovers
If you feel that assembling a flowerless bouquet might be too much work, consider these easier gift ideas.
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome
What a fun idea! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party!
annie@ciaochowbambina
Oh yessss! This bouquet will definitely reap great rewards! So clever and just as pretty as any floral bouquet I've ever seen...no - prettier! Well done!
CraftBeering
Blushing:) Thank you for the kind comment, Annie!
Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond
Oh my goodness this is certainly a different idea for the 'foodie'. Thanks for sharing at #BloggersPitStop and have a great week!
CraftBeering
Thank you, Sue:)
Cathy Lawdanski
What a clever idea! I have never seen anything like it!
CraftBeering
Thank you, Cathy:) It is very customizable, lol.
Leslie
Looks like an awesome gift for Father's Day! Yum! Thanks so much for sharing at the #happynowlinkup!
CraftBeering
You've got it:)
betty - NZ
Now, that is original! It's one gift that won't sit on a shelf collecting dust!
CraftBeering
Most certainly not:) Thank you, Betty!
Mary
Happy Valentines Day!! This charcuterie bouquet would make my boyfriend faint, he would love it if this was our V Day dinner. I love the salami flowers but I really love the peppers on a stick and the pickled okra 🙂 So creative and unique, great idea for entertaining. I also love that you arranged this in a beer stein.
CraftBeering
Yeah! Pickled okra is so good. On a stick - even better, right? Thank you, Mary!
Sandra L Garth
You wind the award for the most creative gift idea ever and don't get me started on how gorgeous the pictures are.
CraftBeering
Thank you so much, Sandra!
Trish
I love this idea! What man would reject these flowers? Honestly, I would love to get this bouquet myself. A great excuse to enjoy my bouquet and watch the Olympics!
CraftBeering
That's a great idea! Cheer for the US athletes and snack on little 'petals':)
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen
This is the best alternative to a regular bouquet I've ever seen! I'm with you guys when it comes to society telling me how I should feel on a given day so Valentine's is not my favorite. . .but if someone were to present me with a charcuterie bouquet I think I could be convinced that today is a holiday worth celebrating 🙂
CraftBeering
Very much on the same page, Kelsie!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
This is the most fabulous Valentine's treat I have ever seen! So creative and absolutely beautiful 🙂 Have a great Valentine's Day!
CraftBeering
Happy Valentine's Day to you too:)
Linda Barnby | Hello Sweet Life
This is so original! Love it!
CraftBeering
Thank you, Linda!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
I'm pretty confident that when I lay my little head on my pillow tonight and fall into a slumber, I'll be dreaming of this charcuterie bouquet. Do you know how much I love charcuterie? It is pretty much up there with my love of cheese. Yep. If someone gave me this instead of flowers, you wouldn't hear a complaint out of me. Throw in some beer or wine and I'll be dancing around the kitchen 😉 Love it!
CraftBeering
You are right:) A salami bouquet along with some cheese and your choice of booze = heaven:)