Charcuterie has been around for centuries, but now it is a sensation.

Ariel Torres admits she was sometimes bored at home all day with some of her children, waiting for the others to finish school. To combat the doldrums, she put together a charcuterie tray and posted images on social media. Almost immediately there were 15 orders.

“It blew up from there,” says the Salinas resident, who went from being bored to The Board Mama, the name of the catering company she started in November 2021.

Cheese and charcuterie boards are a social media phenomenon that has lasted. In 2020, site administrators for the Facebook group “Bon Appétit Test Kitchen” begged its members to slow their charcuterie-sharing roll. At the beginning of this year, the grocery company Kroger named the platters as the leading food trend for 2023.

“There’s nothing better when having a conversation and a glass of wine,” observes Fabian Di Paolo, executive chef at Carmel’s Shearwater Tavern. “When you are with a couple of friends, it’s easy to share.”

While the practice of arranging – or merely placing, with no desire for artistry – cured meats, cheeses, bread and such on a plate or table dates back many centuries, the recent American craze is not easy to pin down precisely. Many credit the Covid-19 pandemic. Like Torres, Salinas resident Calyssa Longoria began crafting boards for friends during the shutdown. The response was so promising that an idea crept into her thoughts: “What if I make this into a business?” Longoria recalls. She launched The Cheese Fairy Charcuterie, a catering operation. “It ended up being a big hit.”

Food historians, however, suggest the trend is a recent rediscovery – smorgasbords, relish trays and fondue parties were fads of previous generations – in the evolution of American food culture. On her blog The Food Historian, Sarah Wassberg links the current wave to the rise of cheese plates in the 1990s and early 2000s.

And, of course, a colorful tray of meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables is ready-made for sharing on Instagram.

“It’s an artistic way to eat with your eyes first,” Longoria explains. “I’ve always been inspired by the art.”

As a chef, Di Paolo dismisses the social media aspect, scoffing at trays decorated with bright fruits and flowers. Although he imports fine cured meats from Italy, at Shearwater Tavern the emphasis is on local ingredients. Honeycomb comes from Carmel Valley; vegetables from area farms are pickled in house; for cheese, he visits Schoch Family Farmstead; and bread is warm from Lafayette Bakery. “Great quality speaks for itself,” Di Paolo says.

No need for salami roses… although the decorative meat petals certainly stand out on the tray. “It’s pretty easy,” Torres assures – to make. Pulling them apart is another matter.

Yet versatility and the balance between function and fancy is part of the attraction. Torres suggests starting with salami, prosciutto and coppa on the meat side. An aged cheddar and brie (“everybody loves brie”) anchor the cheese selection. The rest of the board is based upon seasonal flavors and personal preferences.

Longoria recommends four cheeses of distinct textures and flavors, including a soft, a hard, a sharp, and a tangy goat cheese.

When it comes to meat, the trend leans toward Italian, with prosciutto and salami as musts. Again, however, this varies by culture and tradition. In Germany, sausages and pâtés are more popular. Scandinavian smorgasbords feature pickled fish. In other places, smoked fish are mainstays.

“Everybody does it differently,” Torres says. With the seasons in mind, she notes dried fruit becomes more popular in the fall, candied nuts at Christmas.

There is agreement on why shared plates of meats, cheese and other small bites have resonated over the centuries, whether at dressy dinner parties of the ’50s and ’60s or rustic ploughman’s lunches carried into fields.

“It’s the variety of the board – sweet, savory and salty,” Torres says. “All the flavors and colors.”

Come the holidays, charcuterie and cheese boards are more than a social media hit. They are almost expected.

“That’s what people like,” Longoria adds. “It’s a fancy snack. It brings people together.”