This species of wood (Bubinga) comes from Africa and has a beautiful variation of colour. We laser engrave Family Themed sayings on these charcuterie boards. If you want to use these as a cutting board we suggest cutting on the non-laser engraved side this way you can display the beauty of the board when you are not using it. This is a hardwood which will resist a lot of scratches. All our boards are finished with food safe mineral oil and bees wax.