Meat of the matter

The finest dining-table spreads can vary greatly in their content. They may display bottles of juicy Beaujolais or batches of pre-made Martinis, sizeable stacks of crumbly cheese or loaves of rustic soda bread, herby dips from the Levant or just a few ramekins of clear olive oil, but they’re all united by a central arrangement of show-stopping aged meat. Though the food whisperers remain dewy eyed about the beauty of market-grade produce and items plucked straight from the soil, it is charcuterie and cold cuts that are the most evocative and coveted of all the dinner party foodstuffs given that they’re fortified by the age-old flavours of salt, funk, flesh and time. With spring in bloom and summer well on the way, here are some choice options to accompany your al fresco affairs.