Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork: A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat Review
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.
Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork: A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat Overview
Long the world's favorite meat, pork has surged in popularity in American kitchens thanks in part to high-protein diets, but mostly because of its adaptability to just about every taste. Whether you like spicy Asian flavors, flavorful pan braises, or light and healthy grills, pork fills the bill. Now Bruce Aidells, America's leading meat expert, presents a guide to pork's endless versatility, with 160 international recipes and cooking and shopping tips.
This comprehensive collection contains everything cooks need to know about pork, including how to choose from the many cuts available, how to serve a crowd with ease, and how to ensure moist pork chops and succulent roasts every time. Aidells offers temperature charts for perfect grilling, roasting, and braising, as well as a landmark chapter with step-by-step instructions for home curing. With Bruce Aidells as your guide, you will be making your own bacon, salami, and breakfast sausages with ease. If you are looking to enhance everyday dining, there are recipes here for quick after-work meals, as well as dramatic centerpiece main courses that are sure to impress guests. Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork is a matchless all-in-one guide that will become a kitchen classic.
Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork: A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat Specifications
With such past triumphs as Hot Links and Country Flavor, Real Beer and Good Eats and The Complete Meat Cookbook Bruce Aidells has established himself as a god-like carnivore among mere mortals. His taste buds know no bounds, his thirst for the next best recipe absolutely unquenchable. "I am a restless cook and adventurous eater," he says in the beginning of Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork, perhaps his greatest cookbook yet.
Maybe the dog has been hooked up with humankind longer than the pig, and has wandered into regions pigs knowingly eschew, like the Arctic. But pigs and people share a long, delicious history the dog can only sniff at, and longingly at that; an intimacy, if you will, unmatched in any other cross-species relationship. Aidells celebrates this connection. He gives the reader a brief history of the pig, then delivers definitive instructions on how to select great pork, and, in a general overview, how the flavor it and cook it to best advantage. He honors his subject and elevates his reader.
The recipes that follow have only one thing in common: Bruce Aidells loves them. They come from all corners of the world, from friends and from professionals, and from deep personal experience. They cover breakfasts treats, hors d'oeuvres, appetizers, and salads (Chopped Grilled Vegetable Salad with Grilled Pork Medallions); chops and steaks, scallops and cutlets (Smoked Pork Chops with Sour Cherry Sauce); kebabs and ribs (North African Marinated Pork kebabs on Couscous with Apricot Sauce); roasts, ham, pot roasts, stews, baked pastas, and casseroles (Grill-Roasted Pork Shoulder Cuban Style).
In each shift among the pork primals Aidells discusses the fitting master recipe, the umbrella technique beneath which truth and beauty unfold. He's a champion of flavor brining and his instructions eliminate any possible confusion. But he saves his soul for the last section, which is given over to some of the best material in print on preserving pork, the making of sausages, pâtés and terrines, bacon and salamis. It's at this point in the book that poignancy kicks in. This final word has the feeling of last word as well. --Schuyler Ingle
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