ANTICA MACELLERIA CECCHINI

I’m modeling my ultimate Italian charcuterie board after an experience at Antica Macelleria Cecchini in Panzano in Chianti one afternoon late in October 2018. I was part of a Sunday afternoon meet, greet and tasting frenzy that surrounds an a gratis sampling of Dario Cecchini’s work. Like attending a gallery showing of a famous artist, fans press through the doorway of the little butcher shop located on a side street off the main piazza. They are offered a wine pour of Chianti from a traditional Italian fiasco and upon entering jostle themselves to a sideboard for a sampling of traditional Chianti salami with wild fennel pollen, lardo made with olive oil, white wine, sea salt and herbs (which Cecchini calls Chianti butter) and Tuscan porchetta that is so good it will bring tears to your eyes. The aroma of herbs, meat, oil, wine wafts like incense through Cecchini’s shop as my visit lingers late into the afternoon.

I cannot hope to duplicate the experience but every time I make a charcuterie board I remember that afternoon in October and am inspired by the master of Italian butchers