Gingerbread houses are certainly a sweet, old-fashioned craft to cobble together for the holiday season. But for those of us looking to build something a little more savory, there’s a trendy new twist on the gingerbread tradition. Imaginative foodies have designed charcuterie chalets that make the adorable cookie houses look like child’s play.
These cottages built out of meat and cheese are basically 3D architectural versions of one of the year’s biggest food trends: charcuterie boards.
Valbella Gourmet Foods threw down the gastronomic gloves last holiday season with a cabin that looked like a meat-lover’s dream. The company shared an image on Twitter last year that had fans drooling. The photo is now making the rounds again on social media as the holidays are upon us.
The Valbella Christmas Charcuterie Cabin is here!
Who wants to move in?#ValbellaChristmas#FillYourValbelly#CharcuterieCabin#CharcuterieChalet#Charcuterie#Local#Canmore#Banff#MountainMade pic.twitter.com/TkMJiT4Eh3
— ValbellaGourmetFoods (@ValbellaMeats) December 17, 2019
Where do we even begin with this edible holiday cabin? The siding looks to be made of bacon, which many consider the holy grail of meaty flavor, while some prosciutto seems to be on the cabin’s front eaves. Instead of the typical peppermint sticks that decorate a gingerbread house, Valbella opted to use pepperoni sticks. And according to the shop’s Instagram post, the shingles are made of salami.
A keto-friendly cottage also showed up on Cast Iron Keto’s Facebook page last year, complete with festive rosemary and pomegranate decorations on a house that was built using low-carb crackers, cheese and carefully-placed slices of meat.
In case you’re looking to try this yourself, the Cast Iron Keto writers offer helpful tips for building your own meat-and-cheese holiday house.
The New Jersey-based custom charcuterie board company Dream Boards also got in on the fun last year with this adorable rustic cabin made out of cheese, pretzel rod “logs” and pepperoni “shingles.” The creator says they even found sweet little chocolate mushrooms at Five Below.
What a salty little holiday home!
Fast-forward to 2020 when Sorrenteaux dreamed up this delightfully cheese-forward creation, featuring a “Lincoln Log-esque” cabin crafted out of pretzel twists and surrounded by artfully-shaped cheeses and veggies. Check out the photos and description, posted to the Sorrenteaux Facebook page on Nov. 12.
There’s even a couple enjoying a soak in a “hot tub” of cheese!
What do you think about these charcuterie cottages? Could they replace the classic gingerbread house in your home this year?
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
