Pheasant and wild mushroom sausage will be available as part of Jackalope Grill’s charcuterie plate starting in November.

A charcuterie plate can be enjoyed as an appetizer, or it can be a full meal. At the end of the day, there’s nothing like a board of flavorful meats, creamy and spiced cheeses, olives and fruits with a big glass of bold red wine.

Charcuterie is meant to be finger food. Pick up a terrine or pâté and dip it in jams or mustards or wrap a slice of salami around a piece of cheese or fruit. Or create a mini sandwich by topping bread or crackers with some cheese, pickled vegetables, onion and a smear of jam.

Board in Bend

Bradley Wood, owner of Board in Bend, has been a chef at many fine-dining restaurants in Central Oregon. He lights up when he talks about making sausage and finding the perfect artisanal cheeses to go with it. He’s always discovering new cheeses from around the world, so the Board menu simply lists them by type — hard, soft, aged, blue and so forth.

I asked for a sampling of his house-made meats and favorite cheeses. The pork rillette made from pork belly with cloves and nutmeg was perfectly balanced by acidic tomatoes and onions in the accompanying tomato jam. The in-house pork and ham terrine incorporated black mission figs for a sweet and savory flavor. Deli meats round out the platter: Calabrese artisanal style spicy Italian salami; a pepperoni from Olympia Provisions in Portland and a salame rosa, a pink salami with pistachios similar to mortadella.

900 Wall

My server at 900 Wall described the house-made charcuterie mortadella as “fancy bologna with pistachios.” Mortadella is one of four charcuterie meats made by executive chef and co-owner Cliff Eslinger. Spanish chorizo, salami and other high-quality meats finish the platter. Cheese can be ordered separately.

Eslinger buys a hog every few months from local Piggyback Ranch that is used for the various pork entrees and charcuterie. He always makes Italian sausage and varies the other terrines and rillettes.

“We change the garnishes and spice profile on the pork terrine (and chicken liver pâté), depending on what we are excited about.” Making “emulsified sausages” that combine fat and muscle, requires keeping the meat at a low-temperature from beginning to end. Get it wrong, and the terrine will fall apart or be dry and crumbly.

Jackalope

Chef/Owner Tim Garling of Jackalope Grill also described the process of making emulsified sausages. The processor, bowls and ingredients used in making the sausages must be kept cold so that the fat doesn’t melt. This process is used in Garling’s pheasant and wild mushroom sausage he’s been perfecting during the past 15 years.

The pheasant sausage is available now. Moist and mouthwatering with whole grain mustard seeds that pop in your mouth, it is served with sour cream with dill, lingonberry jam and course German mustard. The specialty will be for Jackalope’s charcuterie plate beginning in November. Past charcuterie offerings have included lambs tongue and a seared foie gras mousse.

San Simón

Newly opened, San Simón offers a la carte charcuterie items as part of its bar menu.

“It’s all designed to be served quickly,” explains Ashley Trottier, co-owner of the restaurant with her husband, Brian, and brother-in-law, Kevin. Hard sausage is served with a knife for diners to cut for themselves. Cheese comes wrapped. Olives, peppers and large Greek white beans are served in mason jars.

Proud of their Midwest roots, the Trottiers purchase all their sausage from Underground Meats in Wisconsin, which uses only humanely treated heritage pigs.

I tried the Calabrian and the Wisconsin old-fashioned hard sausages. The meats are inspired by Wisconsin’s Old Fashioned drink recipe: brandy, cherries and bitters muddled with orange and sugar. The sausage includes a zest of orange and cherries. The hints of sweetness complement the savory sausage.

The “conservas” seafood offering is canned and imported from the Basque Country in Northern Spain. Served as it is shipped, the metal top is folded back to reveal fish. I had the squid in olive oil served the “European way,” where the tentacles are stuffed inside the body. It had a slight fishy rich flavor.

Other Bend restaurants offer charcuterie as well. A Pacific Northwest charcuterie platter is available at Greg’s Grill. Currents at the Riverhouse has a meat and cheese board. Primal Cuts has boards for $7 and $14. But most boards run $20 and are enough for a small entree or a shared appetizer.