At the beginning of my Food for Thought blog I began to discuss my love for antipasto platters. This love grew from a young age at family gatherings in New Zealand where we would always start with h'orderves, which usually consisted of what I feel a traditional Kiwi antipasto platter should entail: cheese (often a few types), olives, sundried tomatoes, gherkins, a dip of some sort usually hummus or a pesto inspired concoction, salami crackers and / or sliced French bread.
This love for antipasto platters has never wilted, however there seems to be a severe lack of antipasto options on many menus over here in the UK, hence the lack of posts and ratings on the blog! More so they seem to call them a 'chacuterie board' which they have inherited from their French neighbours. Which is all good and all when they actually have it on the menu. You tend to have to go to a particular delicatessen or charcuterie to actually get a proper selection of meats and cheese for example Gordon's Wine Bar, one of London's oldest wine bars (definitely recommend!!). However, pubs and restaurants are catching on with a selection of cheeses to have after your meal. The English tend to save cheese for a post dinner and dessert snack usually consumed with a glass of port or whiskey. This does seem to make sense to me considering when we have antipasto platters as h'orderves they tend to fill us up so much that we then are either too full to have a proper meal or for those of you like me, tend to still fill up the dinner plate and overeat!
Sharing platters are also common over here, usually consisting of a selection of deep fried seafood, a Greek mix of tzatziki, koftas, olives and pita or a meat platter with an assortment of sausages and processed meats. Despite these great efforts to catch on over here I have missed a good ole classic Kiwi antipasto platter. So recently on one snowy Friday night in London, I decided to make my own. One that would conjure good memories of back home with the family, one that would make them proud and one that would certainly be jam-packed with all the goodness of what I truly consider to be the ultimate antipasto platter. Of course consumed with a bottle of red... Voila!
One thing to note: There can never be enough cheese... I have a love for cheese that can be satisfied at any hour before during or after dinner - There is always time for cheese! However I do consider myself more on the English side here that cheese after a meal served with a glass of red or port is one true delicacy that will never fail to delight me.
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