Forget charcuterie – ‘jar-cuterie’ is the perfect Covid-safe party food

Entertaining this festive season?

Gone are the days when it feels right to put out platters of cheese or cold cuts, and let people fondle their way across olives, crackers and grapes – or, God forbid, do a double-dip into the chutney. Nope, now we have to think out of the box a little – because while we realise people still love a good cheese board or charcuterie, serving it in communal form just doesn't cut the mustard anymore. Which is why we got all sorts of excited when we came across the genius trend of 'jar-cuterie' – single-serving charcuterie boards packed into a cute little jar or container.

@deliciousboardsJarcuterie jars #jarcuterie #charcuterie #masonjars #food #deliciousfood #deliciousboards♬ All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

And can we all agree ja-rcuterie is just what we needed in the age of Covid safety? Another bonus is that it helps us all manage our portions (unless you’re like us, in which case you’re helping yourself to a second or third jar anyway…). Needless to say, social media have fallen head over heels for adorable jar-cutierie jars, and a simple Pinterest search will yield tons of ideas. Some creations have all the usual suspects, like meat, cheese, olives, sliced fruit and nuts. Others include both sweet and savoury ingredients, like dried fruit, fresh herbs, honeycomb, dark chocolate and breadsticks. Stores like Tiger or Søstrene Grene is great for cheap and cheerful mini jars, and to display everything, all you need are skewers or toothpicks. If you don't want to invest in a ton of mini jars, we also came across the idea of wrapping brown paper around your treats like a bouquet or using affordable paper cups. Want to go even further? You can also tie pretty ribbons around the jars and stick nametags on them for an even more Insta-worthy presentation.

Works for dessert too

And while we love the idea of serving cheese board or charcuterie this way, we also couldn't help but notice Pinterest telling us it is also perfectly OK to serve up dessert or sweet treats jar-cuterie style. Dessert jar-cuterie is trending, and some of the most delicious-looking ones we have seen include everything from chocolate covered pretzels to lollipops to skewered sour gummies. Yum!