A charcuterie board? For the holidays? Groundbreaking. A charcuterie tower, stacked tall with a sticky honey glaze and interlaced with salty, crisp potato chips? Mesmerizing.
The idea was sparked by a dish at Ernesto’s, a Basque restaurant on New York’s Lower East Side. There the kitchen team behind chef Ryan Bartlow slip tender, paper-thin slices of Ibérico ham between layers of warm house-made potato chips.
Inspired by both Ernesto’s and exceedingly popular Korean honey-butter chips, BA and Epi test kitchen associate Jessie YuChen constructed her own chip tower. Jessie starts her version by crisping up thin rounds of salami, which mimic the shape and texture of crunchy kettle-style potato chips. She then drizzles floral honey into the rendered salami fat and cooks it down with butter, a dash of cayenne, and black pepper. Finally, she pours the caramelized salami-laced honey-butter mixture over the chips and crispy salami, tossing occasionally to evenly distribute the wonder and awe.
This is not spa food. This is party food. Preferably served with a few festive cocktails (someone, please, dial up the hot negronis) and a hefty serving of Christmas music.
Jessie says that “the rich honey glaze acts like a glue so that you can build your tower tall.” As the mixture cools, it hardens. Some bites shatter; others offer a pleasant chewiness. The fun is in seeing what you get when you go for a handful: Will you peel away a single chip? A sandwich of potato and salami held together by chewy, savory honey caramel? A snaggle of deliciousness in which you quietly luxuriate, as you tuck yourself into a corner so as to enjoy a moment’s respite from the raucous merriment happening behind you?
Jessie told me that she’s “obsessed with the combination of salty, sticky-sweet, and smoky savoriness” that this holiday appetizer offers. Frankly, I am too.
