The Aperitivo Hour Guide

Somebody bring me some ham

One thing I like to do amidst this dreary weather is put together a good apero hour. It can go by many names; even within Italy, there’s a distinction between aperitivi (light bites with drinks) and the Venetian cicchetti (small snacks usually eaten at a standing counter), although you could skip the pretentions and just call it a snack plate. After all, you’ll probably be eating this on your couch.

And although this type of thing is more associated with a trendy downtown wine bar, eating it on said couch tends to beat out a $19 crudité platter.

The below is not a “recipe,” per se, but a loose guide based on how I like to put together these breezy, Italian-ish snacks for a languid afternoon. One important thing to note: this is decidedly different than a charcuterie board. While I won’t argue with a spread of cured pork on a cheap wood slab, I find that charcuterie has been a bit bastardized into excess. You don’t want to spend hours building a snack plate that looks AI-generated. This approach might use more plates, but it will keep things simple.