4 comments about Everything Tastes Better with Bacon: 70 Fabulous Recipes for Every Meal of the Day.

1. Everything Tastes Better With Bacon showcases over seventy recipes to demonstrate how bacon can be utilized in virtually every meal of the day; from traditional breakfast dishes such as Bacon Biscuits to Sizzling Herb Pasta and Cobb Salad. Color photos add to the attractions, while the inclusion of many innovative dishes such as Bacon-Wrapped Zucchini Flans, makes for a delightful presentation.



2. An exquisite book outlining the best ways to add spice to cooking. The rarity of course is the use of bacon as the suppliment to any good dish. This book is a handy guide for any iron chef who is baconly challenged.



3. This is an amazing cookbook. Every recipe I have tried, save one, has been absolutely delicious. The coq au vin and vodka sauce recipes are particularly good, the best I have ever eaten, even when compared to what I have tried in excellent restaurants. Pictures are lovely and the instructions are very easy to follow. I wish every cookbook was so inventive, and so reliable.



4. 
   I found a copy of this book onmy doorstep the other morning. I suspect the neighbor across the street. She isnt part of the Arcticacre clan and sometimes we find her drinking from our hose and isolating certain blades of grass with these small but very detailed sponge figures. I thought one of them was me, until it rained.
   
   So, the book was there on my doorstep. I immediately started reading. I cant tell you how long I read the book, but it must have been three hours and twelve minutes. My favorite part was the part about how bacon is great in all sorts of bacon related food items. I just wish that they had some animated bacon cartoon characters on the cover and in a DVD inserted into the book. I dont like the idea of watching what I eat dance cutely, but with so may bacon recipes perhaps my neighbor has other plans.
   
   cheers, Joe Arcticacre

5 comments about The Complete Meat Cookbook: A Juicy and Authoritative Guide to Selecting, Seasoning and Cooking Today's Beef, Pork, Lamb and Veal.

1. I've always been intimidated by cooking meat...I'm much better at veggies, fish and poultry. This book will take me a lifetime to get through but all my first tries have been hits. Well organized. Lots of variety. THE source on cooking meat.



2. This book helps bridge the gap between those that are accurate for "yesterdays" meats and the extremely LEAN mrats we get today.
   It contains much that will help the Home cook prepare "good" meals.



3. I was sooooo disappointed with my butcher who told me the cut of pork I'd anticipated making a roast from was unavailable. All he had left was lowly pork shoulder!
   
   My meat purveyor came to the rescue with a recipe from this cookbook for Milk-Braised Carnitas. "Wow! Amazing! Fantastic! Awe-Inspiring!" were the words my guests used to describe the melt-in-your-mouth food-gasm that resulted.
   
   Subsequently I bought the book and have learned much from it. Highly recommended!



4. This is one of the finest cookbooks for anyone who has shunned a vegan lifestyle. The marinades and dry rub recipes are worth the price of the book alone, and to be frank, I haven't had one mediocre meal from this cookbook.
   Bruce Aidells makes his livelyhood as a meat packer and sausage maker. In this book you become very aware that he loves his work.
   Buy the book! You will be very pleased with the meals that come from it!



5. This book passes the only test a collection of recipes needs to pass: the food tastes great. I am pretty sure I have loved everything I have prepared from this book, including the chili Colorado, the oven-roasted tri-tip, the garlic-roasted pork loin, the pork and coleslaw sandwich, the roasted leg of lamb, the roasted pork tenderloin with rum pecan glaze over sweet potatoes, the boneless short ribs with tomato and fennel, the Korean short ribs, the Chinese braised pork loin, the Thai pork curry, the Catahoula smoky short ribs and, of course, the pot roast and brisket. Unlike a previous reviewer, I do not find that the recipes call for exotic ingredients, and unlike another reviewer, I do often consult this book for last-minute meal ideas. An excellent reference and kitchen companion.

No comments about Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue.

5 comments about Pig Perfect : Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them.

1. This book is brilliant. The author keeps the readers engaged from cover to cover. It is definitely a book for foodies, particularly those of us who are obsessed with pork, but it would be an entertaining read for most anyone.



2. real informative book on how to raise a pig the old and real way.raising world class hams



3. Most ham is the U.S. is barely edible. There are exceptional country hams put up in the South, but these are seldom available to the casual shopper. If you do love ham, you just have to try the Pure Bellota Iberian ham from Spain.
   
   Now what this book does is illustrate, educate, and sharpen you taste buds for the incredible delight of eating great ham. There are taste matches made by the Creator: Iberian Pure Bellota ham with an ice-cold glass of Fino Sherry is one of them.



4. I am a lover of all pork products. This book presents the history of pigs, ham, and how it has evolved to what we know today. The author has an entertaining style, and his love of ham shines through. I was moved to buy a Kentucky Country Ham, just after I had finished the first third of the book. My knowledge on the history, raising, breeding, and processing of hogs has increased dramatically from this book. An interesting look into the present and future of pigs is given. This brings back memories of Fast Food Nation, and its description of the cattle industry.



5. God, I loved this book! At times fascinating (why is pork eschewed rather than chewed by millions of muslims and jews?), funny (the stuffing of sausage), and evocative (virtually every description of a meal well set), I was enthralled by this most excellent jaunt through the porcine world. Kaminsky pulls off a difficult balance: making us admire and care for the pigs even as we long to eat them as soon as we can apply some of the author's recipes. He makes a valid argument that we must eat them in order to save them, offers a call to arms to take back pork production from the industrial torture chambers that pass as 'agriculture' and return to a more humane and respectful treatment of this remarkable animal.

5 comments about Professional Charcuterie: Sausage Making, Curing, Terrines, and Pâtés.

1. I particularly like the spice combinations presented in the different recipes. It covers sausages from around our planet. Procedure-wise, methods can change depending on where we are in the globe but this book is an effective guide to charcuterie-making as a whole !!
   ... I really do not know what the other reviewers were looking for in a charcuterie book, though !!



2. This is quite an advanced book. If you are looking for something suitable for the home kitchen, see if you can locate a copy of Jane Grigson's <>. It's out of print, but readily available used at Amazon.com.



3. Oh my god I just read Thomas kellers book it's the Best!! This book on the other hand, is mediocrity at best. The author takes up countless pages of out dated equipment and definitions of things like what a crushed red pepper is. I can only say that as a Professional chef this book is a total disappointment. Don't spend your money on the Rytek book either the only book is Thomas Kellers



4. I was pleasantly looking forward to this book, since there are not many books that cover this subject. Sadly, this one is rather inadequate. The explanations and essays are scatterbrained and perfunctory, although I thought the recipes were `interesting'. I do not recommend this book, unless you are already knowledgeable on the subject and are only looking for recipes and can distinguish good recipes from bad.
   
   Starting right off in the Preface, the author steps into the proverbial cow-pie. `We wanted to address the professional chef, student, and the dedicated amateur-anyone, in fact, who wants to explore the art and practice of fine charcuterie'. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is not nearly enough educational material for an `amateur' let alone `anyone'. Page ix has a long winded essay on nutrition, yet the writing is laughably circumspect, vague, and non-committal.
   
   The author makes a number of statements that I have serious issues with. I will dismiss them as a simple difference of opinion, but I believe the author to be simply wrong. IMHO, this book is not a source of unimpeachable information on charcuterie or anything else.
   
   The entire issue of fresh charcuterie, cured charcuterie, drying, brining, and smoking is a critical subject that all must thoroughly understand before undertaking any recipe in this book, yet all the author devotes to the interweaving of these important subjects is a couple of confusing sentences on page 51. The author does not demonstrate why curing is necessary, what the difference is between wet and dry brines, when to use each one, or what changes in the meat occur, but just skips ahead to discussions of Prague powder and different types of injection needles. The author does not describe why meats were smoked in the first place, why it is still done today, and even if you really have to smoke your charcuterie if you really do not want to or cannot do so because you do not have the proper equipment or expertise. He cannot even bother to describe sodium nitrate, what it is, what it does, and why it is necessary (answer: it is not necessary, but if you leave it out your meats will be various, unappealing shades of grey or brown, and not the happy pink people expect).
   
   The information on safety and sanitation is brief, inadequate, and lacking in practical particulars. This can actually be dangerous, since the uninitiated may attempt the recipes without knowing the necessary precautions required in all charcuterie, cured or otherwise (listing various types of bacterial poisoning and their symptoms is nice, but worthless unless you also describe how to avoid them in exacting detail; even here, the author fails: he does not mention Listeria, a much more common and serious bacterial contamination than the ones he lists, ditto for E. Coli).
   
   The first 75 pages are devoted to essays, explanations, and information. Yet, the author does not go into any subject in any depth. The material tends to be vague and perfunctory, sort of like brief excerpts randomly pulled from a student's lecture notes. About the most charitable thing I can say about this section is that it might serve as refresher material for a foodservice professional who may have forgotten some aspects of charcuterie. It is certainly not adequate enough to serve as an educational or learning resource by itself.
   
   Happily, I did like the recipes very much. There are some 150 recipes, presumably tested, professional ones from a cooking school. Most, but not all, recipes are for sausages. Sadly, even here, there is a serious format problem. They are listed in alphabetical order, not very helpful. It would have been more useful (and educational) to have them categorized: cooked, cured, fresh, wet brine, dry brine, hot smoked, cold smoked, hams, sauces, etc. Also useful would have been a complete listing of all recipes and pages numbers in the beginning of the recipe section.
   
   Perhaps the recipes for simple, fresh sausages are within easy reach of any home cook, but a better source is a cookbook devoted entirely to the subject: Bruce Aidells's Complete Sausage Book : Recipes from America's Premium Sausage Maker is specifically aimed at the average home cook.
   
   Even in the recipe section, however, I have some doubts about; based on the first 75 pages, I found it difficult to take the recipes seriously. Many of the fresh sausages seem to have too much added liquid and not enough fat. There is no mention that chunks of meat should NOT be trimmed of fat, or that extra-fatty pieces of meat work better in sausages than lean ones. The recipes do not list the expected fat % of the finished product, nor is there advice anywhere in the book about controlling the fat content of sausages. Many recipes use soy protein concentrate, but the author does not cover this ingredient in his essays; this is a serious deficiency, as few people, even professionals, have ever used it or even know what it is, much less know why it is included in various sausages or how to handle it.



5. This book is not worth the price! It is light on the educational aspects required for successful and SAFE sausage making. The art of sausage making is not difficult, but some of the techniques can be challenging for a beginner to understand without examples, such as drawings, photos, etc . . . this book contains VERY FEW illustrations, and NO PHOTOS. This book appears to primarily be a recipe collection, of which I've noticed that a number of the recipes are strikingly similar to those found in other, far superior books available. I would highly recommend either 'Great Sausage Recipes & Meat Curing' by Rytek Kutas, or my absolute favorite, 'Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing' by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn over this book. Either of the alternative titles would be a much better match for someone just venturing into, or expanding on their skills in sausage making or any other type of charcuterie.

4 comments about Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork: A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat.

1. The author's name is not only above the title, but part of the title of `Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork'. And, the book fully lives up to its title and subtitle, `A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat'. The book includes absolutely every subject on pork I can think of, including several I did not even expect because I thought they may be too obscure for even a 320 page book on this single subject. Not only do the authors cover their territory; they do it very, very well.
   
   As Aidells states early in the book, this work is for people who like to create their own recipes with pork. While pork may be the world's favorite meat, it may also be one of the most difficult, especially today in the United States, where so much fat has been bread out of our porkers that older James Beard and Joy of Cooking recipes for pork may simply not even work any more, in that there is not enough fat moisture in some cuts to support exposure to high heat for the time needed to get the inside of the meat up to the old standard temperature to insure that chance of trichinosis or botulism is removed. One of the greater ironies of meat cooking is that if you cook pork loin or pork tenderloin with wet heat over 160 degrees Fahrenheit for very long, you will end up with dry, stringy meat in spite of the cooking in water.
   
   So, one of the first and most important parts of the book is how to select cuts of pork and match them to the appropriate cooking method. Regarding selecting meat, I must have been incredibly lucky or terribly inattentive, as I have never seen many of the pathologies against which Aidells warns us. Still, it is very rewarding to know of these things and feel much better prepared to select meat at unfamiliar location such as the new farmer's market or warehouse store.
   
   One surprise in the matching of meat to method is Aidells's counting leg and shin meat among the more tender cuts. The usual rule is that the further from the hoof or the horn, the more tender the meat. Well, I guess this doesn't work for pigs, as they have no horns. But, the principle of cooking tender meat by dry methods (grilling, roasting, sautéing, frying and broiling) and tough meat by wet methods (braising, stewing, poaching and steaming) is as true for pork as it is for beef. One thing that is true of pork and other `white meat' and not true of beef is the efficacy of brining in making the final cooked product moister. Brining pork is a very popular subject which has been explored by all the usual authorities such as Shirley Corriher and Harold McGee. The virtue of Aidells's book is that the technique is discussed in great detail, in connection with all the appropriate recipes.
   
   Aidells's range of recipes for pork is not only broad, it is also of a very high quality. One of the first recipes I examined was for a strata made from sausage meat. As I just finished making a strata recipe from Wolfgang Puck's new book, I was really unhappy that I had not seen Aidells's recipe first, as it appears to be a much more interesting preparation. I was also very pleasantly surprised to see a recipe for a Philippine pork adobo recipe that was better than the one in my Philippine cookbook. The book does not cover every conceivable recipe. There are several famous dishes such as Chinese pork Dim Sum style steamed dumplings that are not in the book, but then, this recipe is more about the technique involved in the dumpling than it is with the pork.
   
   The very best thing I found with this book is that all recipes use relatively simple techniques and equipment. One can spend tens of thousands of dollars on expert smoking equipment, but Aidells shows us how to do it with nothing more than a $100 Weber dome grill. I definitely approve of this. Also, he gives us instructions on how to make fresh sausage using a manual meat grinder, a KitchenAid meat grinding attachment, or a food processor. While I would not want to go through the difficulties of this technique, he even describes how to stuff sausage using a piping bag. I draw the line here and I have no difficulty in investing in the proper KitchenAid apparatus.
   
   In addition to fresh sausage, the authors cover virtually every other pork processing and preserving technique such as making bacon, hams, and cured sausage such as salami. I was especially pleased to see the authors open the chapter on terrines by associating this technique with meatloaf. This association should immediately make pate and Terrine techniques friendlier to a reader who may associate them with old school French cuisine, done by no one who is not wearing a toque. My favorite recipe in this chapter is for a Polpettone Napoletano. I have seen Mario Batali make a polpettone (Italian for large meatball), but it has never quite inspired me as well as Aidells' dish. As written, it serves 12 to 16, so it is a super entertaining dish for delivering protein economically to a buffet crowd of unknown size.
   
   As pork curing products are not standard items even at good local butcher shops, the author provides an excellent list of suppliers including both familiar (Nieman ranch, Dean and Delucca, Penzey's) and unfamiliar sources for speciality meats and materials.
   
   The best thing I can say about this book is that it is every bit as good as expected. And, as this is one of the most useful kinds of books for the creative chef or wannabe creative chef, I say buy it now. You will find what you need and a lot of pleasant surprises as well.



2. Bruce Aidell is one of my favorite cookbook writers. Every book he has written has been solid gold in its use and depth of knowledge. For people who are fans of his _complete meat cookbook_ this is the volume to have. the first book is a masterwork for those who need to not only cook meat but to understand its background and want to have substantive knowledge on every aspect of it.
   
   Taking off and enhancing the information found in the pork section he goes truly in depth on the subject of pork. The section on brining today's industrial pork is well worth the price of the book. I am pleased to say that he does not repeat anything from his earlier book so you are definitely getting new material.
   
   Aidell is renowned as one of the early members of the northern California cooking scene and is known to some as the chicken sausage king - yes, it is THAT Aidell who sparked the gourmet sausage movement so, trust the man on his meat.
   
   Everyone can cook from this book since it does not use complicated cooking methods and the spices and ingredients are readily available through the supermarket or from a trusted butcher (uncommon cuts like shin or cheek) it is accessable to anyone.
   
   Highest recommendations for the cooking library and for cooks who prepare a great meal.



3. This is an excellent book, with a few minor shortcomings.
   
   STRENGTHS:
   
   * This is a solid book, written by an expert on the topic - a butcher and an acclaimed expert sausage maker. He knows his stuff, and he does a passable job of passing along some very useful information ... such as the real story about trichinoa and how to protect yourself without ruining the meat by overcooking, how to spot substandard pork that wasn't slaughtered properly and/or which is getting a bit old/off, how to grind meat without ruining it, etc. That's important stuff which most authors neglect to cover in reasonable depth, if at all.
   
   * Good explanations, and well written head notes for all recipes.
   
   * Tasty, well honed recipes, from around the world, and using good techniques and varied seasoings. I also like the fact that the author borrowed Julia Child's "Master Recipes" system, for covering with one swell foop many recipes at once that differ only in their seasoning/ingredient profile ... the technique is the same, so describe the technique, so that all the related recipes are just variations on a theme. It's the culinary equivalent of give a man a fish vs teach a man to fish.
   
   COMPLAINTS:
   
   * Once again, here is a book that's broken down by chapter, but within those individual chapters all recipes appear to be in random order ... and there's no recipe index to help you shop for, much less find in a hurry, a given recipe, even if you know what you're looking for. I mean come on ... how hard can it be to rename recipes like (this is a fictional example) "Billy-Bob's Foot Stompin Tamarind Tenderloin" into say "Tenderloin, Tamarind Marinated", and then sort the whole chapter alphabetically so that everything appear by order of cut and key ingredient/flavor ? If you wanna include a "Billy-Bob Foot Stompin ..." credit somewhere, the place for such things is in the head notes of the applicable recipe, NOT the title. In general I'm not really concerned with who "Billy-Bob" (or whoever) is ... if I want a recipe for, say, tenderloin, I want to be able to do it easily, without having to flip page by page through entire randomly ordered chapters to find it. It's a recurring peeve of mine with a lot of culinary books.
   
   * The author includes a credit for a graphic artist / food stylist. HOWEVER, aside from a diagram of a pig (and it's basic primal cuts) in the in-leaf, there are NO PHOTOS and NO GRAPHICS anywhere in this book. I mean come on ... for a hardcover that includes a overview of meat butchery, and provides recipies for things like ribs, pates, terrines, roulades, and the like (all of which CRY OUT for full color photos) ... for a book like that not to have a single picture is ... well, words fail me. Why even bother mentioning a food stylist / graphic artist if there are no graphics in the book?
   
   * I also wish the author had devoted much more space to basic butchery in his opening chapter, in which he covers only the basic primal cuts of pork. He could have, and should have, given information on how to do things like the following (this is just one example):
   
   > How to buy a whole bone-in loin roast primal, ask the butcher to shave off the chine bone, and then do any number of things to it when you get it home ... such as transform it into a standing rib roast or crown roast (photos please !), break it down into nice thick chops (hence the removal of the chine bone earlier), or how to debone it entirely into a boneless loin (and butterfly and stuff it ... photos please) and make other uses of the bones. I know how to do all those things, but most readers dont - and a book claiming to be "The Complete Book of Pork" should cover such things. I also dont see any recipes for offal yet ... but {as of this writing} I'm still reading.
   
   BOTTOM LINE: This is a great book, with solid techniques and flavors. I'm looking forward to cooking my way though it. Recommended.



4. There is a lot to admire in Bruce's large tome on the preparation and cooking of pork; along with chicken, the world's most popular meats. I salute his dedication to detail and his philosophy on the 'flavour brining' of pork, which does work, IF YOU HAVE DECENT PORK TO BEGIN WITH. Something that is NOT Bruce's fault, however, is the world's seeming obsession, and pig producers' obsession with breeding animals without enough fat. Yes, animal fat, is a 'dirty word' in many, health-conscious minds these days but they, as Bruce knows, have got it all wrong. FAT = FLAVOUR. You don't have to EAT the pork fat, but at least, for heaven's sake, have it there during the cooking process. Here, in Australia, we used to breed big, fat, HEALTHY pigs with good coverings of fat. Now, the poor things are more like Twiggy than Miss Piggy! Bruce's book would be of far more benefit to the dining, cooking world, if pig producers stopped listening to the cardiologists and started to take notice of good chefs and cooks, like Bruce.
   Let's face it, pork just doesn't taste like pork used to. And, there is that old hangover from the post-WW2 days when a lot of pork was diseased so it had to be cooked to death, thus drying it out and making it unpalatable, even rubbery. Pork meat is RED meat that has had the blood removed. It can now be safely treated like red meat, except for very rare.
   Bruce's book is a great book but it shouldn't be necessary, and wouldn't be, if pig producers did the right thing and produced better, rare breed, fatty pigs. However, if you are a lover of good pork, no matter what your supply quality might be, this book will help you make the best of a poor situation. It's a little too detailed for my liking, as a cookbook, but it is an important and wide-ranging work. Good on you Bruce!
   William Kenneth Halliwell
   Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

3 comments about The Meat Buyers Guide : Meat, Lamb, Veal, Pork and Poultry.

1. The guide is easy to follow and logical. The pages are laminated so that the guide can be used in kitchen environments



2. At $65.00, this book is primarily intended for libraries, but also for those who often buy and cook meat. It is an encyclopedia with lots of color illustrations of the various animals, and cuts of meat.



3. I bought this book based on a review in Saveur. It did not give me the information that I wanted and at $50+, I thought that it was very overpriced.

3 comments about CHARCUTERIE AND FRENCH PORK COOKERY.

1. `Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery' is the prominent 20th century English culinary writer, Jane Grigson's first book, first published in 1967. Like her last book, `English Food' and unlike many of her intermediate books, this is a very scholarly book that may not have much appeal to the average amateur cook. It is much closer to a technical book on how to make and cook with forcemeats and cured pork products than a source for the home cook. As I will discuss later, that doesn't mean it has no value for the amateur cook, especially those for whom cooking has become a hobby or avocation.
   
   Grigson is one of the most prominent disciples of the great English culinary writer, Elizabeth David, who, through Grigson, Alan Davidson, Jill Norman, Claudia Roden and American, Richard Olney has influenced a large share of a generation of English language culinary writers and restaurateurs. David is a palpable presence throughout this book with references to her works and her London cookware shop sprinkled liberally throughout the text. In a sense, this book is an extension to David's own `French Provincial Cooking', as Grigson picks up on one of the most important specialities of French home and commercial cooking.
   
   I sense an increased interest in `charcuterie' throughout the American culinary reading public. Of course, the Food Network has not yet come out with a show on `charcuterie' but I have seen on DVD an episode on sausage making done by Julia Child and at least two of Alton Brown's `Good Eats' shows have been dedicated to these subjects. The most convincing evidence is the publication of the recent book, `Charcuterie' by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Poleyn and certainly the easily satirized Emeril Lagasse exclamation that `pork fat rules'. Although it sounds like a gimmick, it is certain, confirmed by millennia of practice, that pork fat (lard) is by far the most useful animal fat, far more useful than beef s suet, chicken fat, or lamb fat. It has the finest consistency and by far the best taste, as evidenced by the high value placed on bacon fat as a flavoring throughout the European cuisines, most especially in the cuisine of the southern United States. As Grigson so neatly summarizes at the end of her book, pork fat is to ambient temperature meat preservation what sugar and acid is to fruit and vegetable preservation (pickling and preserves).
   
   For those with no sense of what `charcuterie' is, let me identify the most common examples. These are ham, breakfast sausage, `Italian' sausage', meat loaf, pates, and scrapple. As this book includes recipes for things to do with `charcuterie' products, I recommend this as a source of recipes for things to do with ham. Outside of the thousands of uses for the famous dried hams such as Italian procuitto, German Westphalian Ham, Spanish Serrano ham, and Bayonne hams, I am often at a loss when looking for something to do with a small ham dish for one or two people. I will also recommend this book to all those who are fond of brining techniques. I can't say this with any authority, but I suspect the current wisdom about brining springs from Grigson's writings, as interpreted by writers such as Shirley Corriher.
   
   Even if you have no intention whatsoever to invest in sausage making equipment or a grinder attachment to your Kitchen-aid, this is a great foodie read. And, that is not only for entertainment. The recipes for the dozens of sausages, pates, and other forcemeats can offer a wealth of ideas on making new stuffings for things like cabbage, peppers, and tomatoes.
   
   The only problem one may experience with the procedures in this book is with the scarcity of fat on our new pig. One can only gasp at the comparison between the average American pork chop and the richly fatted chop exhibited on an `Oliver's Twist' show by Jamie Oliver, harvested from an artisinally raised porker in rural England.
   
   In many ways, this is actually a better book than the much more recent Ruhlman / Poleyn book, as it covers a much broader range of procedures and recipes and takes a more critical attitude towards the subject. It is immensely reassuring to find an informed writer say that the Italian sausage, mortadella is really a bit on the bland side. And here, I thought my taste had not refined enough to appreciate this famous Italian product. And yet, for the casual reader, Ruhlman is probably a better choice as all his sources and references are modern, while Grigson often refers to sources which are nothing more than a find memory.



2. I am on an unholy mission to convert a few Amazonians to the pleasures of do-it-yourself charcuterie. My travels in search of gustatory ecstacy have revealed many a depressing deficiency in American food, one of the most egregious of which is the state of this country's meats. Besides the much-publicized and lamented feed-lot economy that guarantees cheap and flavorless meat for all, we have forfeited the rich, varied, and highly-localized meat traditions of Europe. We have replaced flavor, texture, and local nuance with industrial products that satisfy the huge distributors but leave our tongues and bellies beggared. I am writing a series of reviews that laud a few recent books that do a great job in trying to rectify this impoverishment.
   
   Perhaps the most thorough and comprehensive of the bunch is Jane Grigson's. Over almost 350 dense, detailed pages she covers the hows and whys of charcuterie. Everything from tools and methods to the meat itself is presented in lucid prose, with a fine eye to determining what, exactly, the reader needs to know to make good meat products at home. Sausages of every kind and description, pates, terrines, puddings, saltings, fresh pork preparations, sauces, gallantines... the scope of this book approaches the scope of knowledge a Franch charcutier might possess. Few details escaped Grigson's attention, for her purpose was no humbler than to revive charcuterie in Britain. If she accomplished nothing more than to inspire Fergus Henderson to become the greatest meat-man of his generation, she should rest in peace.
   
   The book has many virtues, readability and enthusiasm not least among them. But its real gift is its comprehensiveness and its almost unique ability to guide the reader through unfamiliar territory. This is a real, fundamental, primary cookbook. Anything more basic would be a farming manual. Which brings me to the point I started to make at the beginning of this screed: our American meat situation is bad because we allow much too much mediation between live meat animals and what we put in our mouths. What Grigson proposes is a hands-on, direct, sensory, real involvement with the raw materials. This, as the great French and Italian food traditions demonstrate so unasailably, is fundamental to great food. When you give up the cheap pleasures of supermarket hamburger and try your hand at basic charcuterie, you will enter a world of memorable pleasures and perhaps rekindle that most basic human value: respect for the sources of what we eat.
   
   You may find my review of Fergus Henderson's The Whole Beast useful in your education as a carnivore.
   
   Enjoy.



3. I haven't tested the recipes for accuracy, but cool book. Very informative and a good look at long forgotten dishes. The section on crepenette alone is worth the price of the book.

5 comments about Pork and Sons.

1. If you love pork, then this is the book for you. Not only is it beautiful, but the author treats the humble pig with the love and respect it deserves. So go out and buy some blood sauage and pig ears and start cooking with Pork and Sons as your guide.



2. Excellent book with a beautiful layout. Well described recipes, albeit using ingredients not always immediately available. Well organized with both European and US sources for the many pig parts used. Brought back memories of long ago with my grandparents and their annual fall hog butchering and the wonderful meals that ensued. Will tempt you to try the unusual and forgotten parts of the pig. A great addition to those who love good food, want to know more about how that food gets to the table, and not afraid to be confronted with honest, unashamed views of old country life.



3. I've never written a review before but felt passionately about how good this book is that I felt I had to add my two cents. Beautifully laid out, with a photograph for each recipe and great background on the pig. Its taking pride of place in my large cookbook collection, highly recommended.



4. Great book by someone who understands and treasures pork as an ingredient and a way of life. Exceptional food pictures accentuate the recipies and other information within the book.



5. This book is definitely one of my go to books when working with pork. I made a version of his pig feet, bacon, caramelized onions dish (page 190) and served it with a homemade mustard...absolutely delicious! Nothing pretentious about this book at all. It's all straight forward.

5 comments about Eat What You Want And Die Like A Man: The World's Unhealthiest Cookbook.

1. Steve H. Graham is the greatest cook among American humorists. (Which, admittedly, is sort of like being "the hot one" at a Rosie O'Donnell impersonators convention. Not that hard to pull off, considering the competition.) But Steve's a real master at both humor and cookery, so don't let that clumsy compliment slow down your enthusiasm for this product. I got my copy in the mail yesterday, and, after three meals, my wife's trying to put together an intervention for me to kick the habit of Steve-inspired recipes. I drove 75 miles out of my way to buy a griddle because of this man's work. That's the kind of awe that these recipes can inspire. This gushing over the recipes isn't to short the humor in the book. Steve's a master of impersonating writing styles, which show in the Tom Cruise and Christopher Walken chapters. (Which will certainly end in Steve's brutal defenstration at Chris Walken's hands, sadly.) That's not the only thing he excels at though, so every chapter's got a ton of new belly laughs in it... and after preparing even one of the recipes, you'll have a ton more belly to laugh with. Steve's also one of the funniest guys I've ever had the pleasure of reading, and we should all encourage book companies to throw giant cash advances and possibly their daughters at him by buying this book. If you've already bought it, order a few more copies for relatives. You'll be doing them a favor.



2. Growing up in a small farming town, I had a Grandmother who made some of the great dishes that Steve recreates here (okay maybe Grandma didn't make it exactly this way, but his results are good!)
   
   Each recipe is intermixed with a lot of humor and story-telling, so don't expect to just open to a page and start cooking. Instead, each recipe is an experience similar to doing a project with a friend; lots of easy banter and humor while getting to eat the results! I started with the Dry-Rub/Rib recipe and then went on to the Baked Beans. The results were great even though I had equipment problems with my BBQ Smoker. Now, I'll need to upgrade my BBQ smoker to take full advantage of the great recipes.
   
   Fair Warning: If you didn't inherit cast iron skillets (like I did), then this book is going to cost you some money as Steve exhorts you to buy real cast iron cookware (see pp.61-64). Forget about the aluminum-teflon skillets; you might as well put your food in aluminum foil and spray it with PAM. That is not what this book is about!
   
   However, if you want a taste of Southern Cooking as it was meant to be (or if you just want to know what cooking was like before the age of unsaturated fats), this is the book for you.
   
   Now, if I could figure out how Grandma did her canning and "Pickled Water-Melon Rinds" recipe, my nostalgia would be complete (somehow I think canning would not be manly enough for Steve).
   
   If you are a man, buy this book...buy it now.



3. Great book. Who would have expected a cookbook with humor? The chapter on pizza alone is worth the price. This weekend I made better pizzas than ever just following his advice.



4. EAT WHAT YOU WANT AND DIE LIKE A MAN is without a doubt the funniest book I've ever read. I love the way he cuts through political correctness and, in his words, gives the "food Nazis" a swift kick in the behind. The recipes are also great. Highly recommended!!



5. This book is not for the faint-of-heart types who use light margarine and canola oil - it's for people who eat butter dipped in lard and topped off with bacon grease. It's for people who think "Gee that would be pretty good if you dipped it in melted butter and put some more sugar on it.
   
   If you are tired of the food police telling you what to eat and what to drink, this book is for you.
   
   The author is a genius, probably because we share the same first name. He's also a bit humorous. (Don't drink any hot coffee while reading, it burns coming out of your nose.)