Naomie Olindo's 'Gas Station Food Board' Is A Traveler's Gift Come True
Jay Pritchett of "Modern Family" echoed the sentiment of many in 2012, exclaiming, "That's charcuterie? I've been avoiding that on menus for years. They are killing themselves with that name!" While charcuterie boards have been around for centuries, it would take another eight years for the entire world to get on board. Fueled by social media, grazing boards took over the internet in 2020, extending beyond traditional meat and cheese offerings to encompass any food served on a board and enjoyed communally. TikTok, where many food trends originate, currently delivers over 1.5 million #charcuterieboard videos providing foodie inspiration and cured meat origami tutorials for the creative epicureans looking to make salami roses.
According to Business Insider, food boards are a cost-effective and manageable meal option for even the greenest host, allowing home cooks to cull together store-bought and homemade items presented creatively. Amanda Hasaka, of the Facebook group Bon Appétit Test Kitchen, appreciates the democracy of food boards, stating, "I live in LA, and I don't have a beautiful, sprawling kitchen with all this space where I can cook some intricate meal, but I have enough room to make a little board with meat and cheese. You don't need a gourmet kitchen to put something like that together."
Naomie Olindo of Bravo's "Southern Charm" is testing the boundaries of the food board trend, assembling a finger-staining selection of snacks she's calling a 'gas station food board' that's perfect for travelers from I-5 to I-95, in a similar age group.
Gas station food board
In September 2022, Justine Doiron took the board craze a little further when she created a stir with her 'butter board,' garnering over 1.1 million views on TikTok. The controversial board, yes, even butter can be controversial these days, featured softened butter smeared on a bread-shaped cutting board layered with sea salt, fresh herbs, lemon zest, honey, and edible flowers. Doiron's "next charcuterie board" paved the way for other spreadable boards featuring Nutella, cream cheese, and frosting, per Thrillist. Thinking beyond the board, car rides and long days at the beach got a lot tastier with the travel-friendly and portable snackle boxes.
Bravolebrity Naomie Olindo is appealing to the child in all of us with her 'gas station food board.' On December 14, the "Southern Charm" socialite debuted a snack board on her Instagram Story, filled with the grab-and-go junk food you pass on the way to the restroom at gas station convenience stores nationwide. Olindo's sweet and salty board features brightly colored processed food (heavy on the orange) from all your favorite vending machine manufacturers, like salty Lay's potato chips, nacho cheese flavored Doritos, Jack Link's beef jerky, and our favorite square snack, Cheez-Its. For sweets, Olindo added Kinder Bueno chocolates, Nerds' candy, Twizzlers, SweeTarts, and Starburst (via Bravo TV).
The spread, also found at children's birthday parties, could benefit from snack cakes like HoHos and Snoballs and should be served with red slushies for the complete experience.