In the Kitchen: Emily McCoy of Wakefield-based Fig and Fromage

It’s hard to believe that until a post-grad trip to Italy, Fig and Fromage founder Emily McCoy didn’t eat or enjoy meat and cheese. But that experience changed everything, including the course of her career. “The way the Italians eat is often different than here; they enjoy small bites and lots of variety,” she says. McCoy began to experiment while there: a cheese here, some salami there, always with fresh bread or crackers and accoutrement such as local honey, mustard, or pistachios. “If you’re going to try different cheeses, Italy is the place to do it.” She found that she loved much of what she ate. “When I got back, I started to find out where I could find what I’d tried in Italy.”

Fast forward to early 2023, when McCoy, working full time in marketing, decided to launch Fig and Fromage, curating charcuterie boards and grazing tables for small dinner parties, picnics, baby showers, and large-scale events for 100-plus, all inspired by rustic, countryside dining. These aren’t your best friend’s charcuterie presentations, unless your best friend has museum-quality artistic tendencies coupled with a bold, refined palate. Think bite-sized, vibrantly colored vegetables and fruits served alongside just-made dips, crostini adorned with fresh goat cheese and local strawberries, miniature croissant sandwiches, artisan salads with house-made dressings, tiny pots of honey, mustards, bowls full of olives and nuts, edible flowers. Special attention is paid to color, scale, and variety. McCoy presentations are sensory show stoppers, looking almost – almost – too good to eat.

While McCoy’s culinary prowess has grown since those pre-Italy days, she has always had a penchant for cooking. “But I also liked boosting the whole dining experience,” she explains. “My mom would remind me that when I was a kid, I liked to play restaurant, making everyone sit down at the table. I’d make menus, do a tablescape. I wanted it to be an experience.”

These days, operating out of the Town Made commissary in Wakefield beside assistant Jess DiMartino, McCoy explains that their charcuterie combinations are not random. “There’s rhyme and reason to the choices,” she explains. “I think, what’s an ideal bite? Which bread with which cheese, which meat, which jam?” McCoy builds out from there, subtly “suggesting” how to build that bite by placing complementary ingredients close by. The combinations are endless.

And therein lies the enduring appeal of charcuterie. While it may seem a recent epicurean discovery, the “trend” has been around since the 1500s, when Italy and France began preserving meat with salt-curing practices. While that is no longer necessary to ensure safety and flavor, there’s no doubt that salt-curing

produces some of the tastiest meats available, such asprosciutto, guanciale, and salami. Modern, artisan charcuterie presentations came to be in the late-90s, inspired by mid-century cocktail party trappings of hors d’oeuvres, relish trays, finger sandwiches, chips and dip – but with decidedly more visual appeal and flair. And unlike those passed small bites of yesterday, a charcuterie board is often too large and heavy to be passed, encouraging gathering and camaraderie. Enter the grazing table; essentially a charcuterie board presentation that covers a larger stationary surface.

Not two months into her new business, McCoy had a transformative personal and professional experience when she was hired to create a grazing table at a private Newport home. Dozens of local women were gathering to meet India Hicks, a British author specializing in design and entertaining who has familial ties to the royal family. Hicks was well-known to McCoy, who couldn’t believe her luck. That day, she had a 12-foot wooden table to adorn. “It quickly became a focal point,” she remembers. “It’s fascinating to witness how a charcuterie spread effortlessly brings people together, sparking conversations as simple as, ‘Have you tried this?’ and fostering connections.” McCoy was particularly struck by the enthusiasm the women invited that day showed not only for the her artful culinary presentation, but for each other. “It was a reminder that in a world where competition between women often reigns, there is immense power in collaboration and sharing our journeys.”

There is even some science to support what McCoy witnessed that day. Deborah Cohen, PhD, professor of sociology at the University of South Carolina, teaches “The Sociology of Food.” She says that most charcuterie businesses are started by women, and 80 percent of their customers are women. Cohen notes that many women feel compelled to or find joy in feeding others. Charcuterie boards represent bounty and variety, allow for creativity and visual appeal, and encourage conversation and connection. Ideas, Cohen says, often embraced more fully by women than men.

Any way you cut it, McCoy, who lives in Wakefield with her husband, dog, and horse, has found her niche and revels in watching it grow. She hopes she will be able to make Fig and Fromage her full-time job soon. Playing restaurant all those years ago is finally paying off.

Check McCoy’s website for information on to-go charcuterie boards, catering services, and private tastings and classes. Wakefield, FigFromageCharcuterie.com