TYPES OF CHARCUTERIE

Mousse (moose). A mousse is a light, airy mixture usually containing eggs and cream, that can be sweet or savory. While savory mousses can have pudding-like consistencies just like chocolate mousse, a greater proportion of meat, fish or vegetable, creates a solid-form mousse. It is much lighter and spongier in texture than a pâté, and therefore more spreadable or malleable for hors d’oeuvres.

​​

Boudin (boo-DAHN). Boudin describes a sausage that is generally created from a blend of beef, rice, and/or pork.​
 

​Pâté (pah-TAY). Pâté is the French word for paste, indicating elegant, well-seasoned ground meat, fish or vegetable preparations with a paste consistency.​
 

​Galantine (gah-la-TEEN). A preparation of boned meat or whole poultry that is stuffed or rolled, cooked, then glazed with gelatin and served cold. Unlike a pâté, the meat is not ground, and it is not spreadable. Galantines are most often served as a first course.​
 

​Fromage de Tête Not a cheese, but a terrine of meat from the head of a calf or pig (sometimes a sheep or cow) that would not otherwise be considered appealing. Originally it was made entirely from the meaty parts of the head, but now can include meat from the feet, tongue, and heart. It is usually eaten cold or at room temperature as a luncheon meat.​
​

Poitrine (pwah-TREEN). Poitrine is a breast of meat or poultry, but when the word is modified, it refers to bacon. Poitrine demi-sel is an unsmoked slab bacon; poitrine fumée is smoked slab bacon; poitrine roulée is rolled bacon.​
 

​Saucisse (so-CEASE). A small, fresh sausage. Variations include saucisse chaude, warm sausage; saucisse de Francfort, a hot dog; saucisse de Strasbourg, a redskinned hot dog; and saucisse de Toulouse, a mild country-style pork sausage.​
​

​Rillettes (ree-YET). A highly spiced spread of meat or poultry first cooked in seasoned fat and then minced or pounded into a paste, and served as an appetizer with crackers or bread. Classic French rillettes are pork or rillettes d’oie, goose; but the spread can also be made with duck, fish or rabbit. After the rillettes are made, they are commonly placed in a ramekin and sealed with a thin layer of fat.​
​

Saucisson (so-see-SEWN). A large air-dried sausage, such as salami, eaten sliced as a cold cut. When eaten fresh and warm, it is called saucisson chaud, or hot sausage. ​
​

Terrine (tuh-REEN). A terrine is an earthenware dish named after the French word terre, meaning “earth.” It denotes that the dish has been baked in an dish. Traditionally, pâté baked in pastry were made in long, loaf-shaped earthenware terrines. Today, metal forms with releasable sides are often used for ease in removing the pate. See also Pâté. 
​​

​Ballotine (bal-oh-TEEN).Meat, fish or fowl that has been boned, stuffed, rolled and tied in the shape of a bundle. It is then braised or roasted and is normally served hot but can be served cold. Often confused with Galantine, which is poached and served cold.

Assorted Cured Meats

​​