The Butcher's Apprentice: The Expert's Guide to Selecting, Preparing, and Cooking a World of Meat

by Aliza Green, Steve Legato (Photographer)

The masters in The Butcher’s Apprentice teach you all the old-world, classic meat-cutting skills you need to prepare fresh cuts at home. Through extensive, diverse profiles and cutting lessons, butchers, food advocates, meat-loving chefs, and more share their expertise. Inside, you'll find hundreds of full-color, detailed step-by-step photographs of cutting beef, pork, poultry, game, goat, organs, and more, as well as tips and techniques on using the whole beast for true nose-to-tail eating. Whether you're a casual cook or a devoted gourmand, you'll learn even more ways to buy, prepare, serve, and savor all types of artisan meat cuts with this skillful guide.

Genres: Cookbooks

742 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2012

About the author

Aliza Green is an award-winning Philadelphia-based author, journalist, and influential chef whose books include The Fishmonger’s Apprentice (Quarry Books, 2010), Starting with Ingredients: Baking (Running Press, 2008) and Starting with Ingredients (Running Press, 2006), four Field Guides to food (Quirk, 2004-2007), Beans: More than 200 Delicious, Wholesome Recipes from Around the World (Running Press, 2004) and collaborations with famed chefs Guillermo Pernot and Georges Perrier. A former food columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, Green now write regularly for Cooking Light, and is known for her encyclopedic knowledge of every possible ingredient, its history, culture, and use in the kitchen and bakery. Green’s books have garnered high praise from critics, readers, and culinary professionals alike, including a James Beard award for “Best Single-Subject Cookbook” in 2001 for Ceviche!: Seafood, Salads, and Cocktails with a Latino Twist (Running Press, 2001), which she co-authored with Chef Guillermo Pernot.
--bio from Making Artisan Pasta

Reviews

[Gemma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be poorly edited with poor expository writing. Instructions for trussing a chicken with string did not seem to correspond with the photos at all, and instructions were vague. Also, some techniques were done in an amateur fashion, for example, when tying a loin roast, you don’t need to cut the string at all like in this book! By using a series of loop knots, the string can remain intact and the result will be much more stable! Instructions for boning a chicken had photos in wrong order for removing the wishbone, and should come before you start working your way around the ribcage. Poorly worded, cumbersome writing. Very disappointing! La Varenne or Several other illustrated cookbooks have far better illustrations and clearer writing.

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very indepth book and one that I want in my reference library