Charcuterie has become immensely popular. While charcuterie in France, its country of origin, would include items only from France, in other countries items from around the world are served due to both popularity and availability. Proper charcuterie would include various cheeses, pickles, olives, nuts, dried fruits, and jams, as well as pâtés, terrines, and rillettes. But the star items on a charcuterie board are usually the cured meats, sliced tissue thin or cut into bite-sized pieces. Various cured meats can look similar or even identical in appearance, but taste subtly or dramatically different, due to the variety of ingredients used or methods of preparation. Even the breed of animal and its diet differentiate types. Some are specific, many represent items that have dozens of variants and distinctive regional versions. Not all may find their way onto a charcuterie board, but this is a list of cured meats originating everywhere from China to South Africa, as well as Western Europe
