The Best Charcuterie for Your Holiday Party

Ready to move beyond the cheese board at your next dinner party? Give guests their choice of America's best charcuterie--in a mix of flavors and textures--and save the cooking for later

Photograph by Diane Fields

1. Speck: Olli Salumeria, Manakin, VA
   Imagine prosciutto that took a trip to Northern Italy, spent a few hours in a smokehouse, and got dusted with pepper. $11 for 4 oz., sliced; murrayscheese.com

2. Mocetta (Bresaola Piccola): Creminelli Prime Meats, Salt Lake City
   Think of bresaola--paper-thin air-dried beef--as jerky with an Italian accent. $75 for 2.2 lb.; creminelli.com

3. House-Made Rabbit Pate: Formaggio Kitchen, Cambridge, MA
   It's hard not to like rabbit when it's combined with pancetta, Madeira, and pistachios and then wrapped in prosciutto. $13 for 1/2 lb.; formaggiokitchen.com

4. Chorizo Navarre: Olympic Provisions, Portland, OR
   Spanish chorizo (don't confuse it with the fresh Mexican variety) gets its fiery red color from smoked paprika and cayenne. $10 for about 6 oz.; olympicprovisions.com

5. Finochietta: Salumeria Biellese, NYC
   Classic Tuscan salami (flavored with both fennel seed and fennel pollen) from a legendary maker. $15 for 1 lb.; salumeriabiellese.com

6. Nduja: Boccalone, San Francisco
   The idea of soft, spicy salami may sound odd, but slathered on warm bread, this Calabrian-style paste will no doubt become your latest addiction. $24 for about 8 oz.; boccalone.com

7. Iowa White Spread: La Quercia, Norwalk, IA
   An unctuous blend of cured prosciutto fat, ground coriander, rosemary, and bay leaf. If butter went to heaven, this is what it would taste like. $10 for 1 lb.; laquercia.us

8. Coffee Lomo: Salt & Time, Austin, TX
   One of the crowning achievements of America's recent charcuterie boom: Spanish-style pork loin rubbed with wood-roasted coffee, chile, and cumin, then cured for four months.$7 for 2 oz., sliced; saltandtime.com

--Andrew Knowlton