Post-war America grew so big and so fast that convenience and industrialization beat into submission the traditional ideals of fortitude and craftsmanship.
Nowhere is that more evident than on our dinner plates.
Generations of Americans queuing under the golden arches or buying prepared, plastic-wrapped meats from big-box stores have missed out on the handmade, artisanal, slow-food approach of our ancestors.
But a modern movement continues its buzz against the grating corporate cacophony. Charcuterie, the art of making sausages, other cured or smoked meats, along with cooked preparations such as p tés and terrines, is on the rise in this country, and the Monterey Peninsula is no exception.
First, a brief primer. Charcuterie is one of the principal categories of garde manger, which encompasses various techniques for preserving foods that date from an era before refrigeration. Cured meats allowed early people to maintain a food inventory and to use the entire animal. Most of the bits and scraps ended up as terrine — a moist, rich loaf cooked in deep, lidded molds of the same name. This loaf, sliced and served with condiments such as mustard, cornichon and mixed salad, is often mistaken for p té, which is technically defined as any terrine mixture enclosed and baked in pastry, called en croute.
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