Olympia Provisions: Cured Meats and Tales from an American Charcuterie [A Cookbook]

by Elias Cairo, Meredith Erickson

A rigorous exploration of what American charcuterie is today from Portland’s top-notch meat company, featuring in-depth techniques for crafting cured meats, recipes from the company’s two restaurants, and essays revealing the history and personalities behind the brand. Portland’s Olympia Provisions began as Oregon’s first USDA-certified salumeria, but it has grown into a mini-empire, with two bustling restaurants and charcuterie shipping out daily to all fifty states. In his debut cookbook, salumist and co-owner Elias Cairo dives deep into his distinctly American charcuterie, offering step-by-step recipes for confits, pâtés, sausages, salami, and more. But that is only the beginning. Writer Meredith Erickson takes you beyond cured meat, exploring how Cairo’s proud Greek-American upbringing, Swiss cooking adventures, and intense love affair with the outdoors have all contributed to Olympia Provisions’ singular—and delicious—point of view. With recipes from the restaurants, as well as extensive wine notes and nineteen frankfurter variations, Olympia Provisions redefines what American charcuterie can be.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Reference, Nonfiction

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 27, 2015

Reviews

[Cristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Rented from my library and finished it before my trip out to Portland. I try to read a book about my trip destination before I go. Ate in Elias Cairo's restaurant and actually bought a signed copy of the book! Very cool!

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recipes, and the stories are a treat

[Short Sorceress · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sent a copy of the book by Ten Speed Press for review purposes. As always, all opinions are my own.

I'm a former vegetarian, so this may seem like an odd cookbook to catch my attention, but I've become completely enamored with charcuterie over the past few years. It all started with a trip to France back in 2014 when I spent two weeks wandering the streets of Paris with my husband. I was in a food-lover's paradise and hardly a day went by when I didn't enjoy a fresh loaf of bread, a selection of meats, and a nice glass of wine.

Back in the States it's much more difficult to find high-quality charcuterie, but I'm glad to see that is slowly changing. I may have to make an hour round trip drive into Madison (Wisconsin) to get my fix, but we're fortunate to have several trailblazers in the field located in our area. Since procuring the items for my favorite mid-day meal isn't as easy as walking down the block I don't get my charcuterie fix very often; that's why this cookbook caught my attention. It's a step-by-step guide to making quality charcuterie at home by a leader in the field, Elias Cairo of Olympia Provisions (formerly Olympic Provisions.)

Cairo has teamed up with Meredith Erickson, co-author of Le Pigeon: Cooking at the Dirty Bird, to bring us a fabulous book that carnivores everywhere will enjoy. The passion he has for his craft comes through loud and clear as he walks us through recipes such as Duck Confit and Rillettes, Capicola, Pancetta, Breakfast Sausage, and Salami Cotto. While many of these recipes take hours, if not days to complete, not to mention special ingredients that may be hard to procure, don't let that stop you from tackling the recipes in this book. Take Cairo's advice and start with the rillettes recipe in chapter one, all you need, in his words, are a knife, an oven, and a pan.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book on a whim at the library. My appreciation of charcuterie mostly ends at the eating part, and I've never been terribly interested to know how the sausage is made until recently.
I am in every way a novice to this sort of thing. While the author begins with easier recipes before getting into the more complicated items, you would have to devote a lot of time, energy, and investment into making anything past the first few things. Even something as simple as a completely sanitized workspace would be difficult for most people like me, let alone the climate controlled box you'd need for the important and long curing process. Also, while the author might make a recommendation for what type of casing to use for say, sausage, he doesn't tell you where to get it or what exactly you're looking for in a good casing. I understand that buying locally is an important aspect of their mission, so he's not going to give you a .com that ships nationally and makes it easy for you, but I am telling you it's a daunting prospect.
The stories and the pictures are all very good. And the pictures do include some recognizable parts of various animals that might shock a kid, but nothing out of what you would expect from such a book. The recipes from their restaurant towards the back of the book are good but not worth the price of the book if you're not serious about getting into smoked, cured, old, molded meat.
So, I recommend buying this book if you are considering taking that next step towards making your own cured specialty meats. Borrow this book from the library or a friend if you are idly curious. I don't recommend this book if you are a vegan, unless you like to torture yourself beyond just being vegan.

[Mazzou B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Large and impressive, this slate-toned hardcover cookbook is sure to delight a variety of chefs and adventurous spirits. With the unique design on the cover and the rustic photographs inside, this book is not only great for women but men as well. It would make a perfect Christmas gift for someone this holiday! The book seems to be in depth and detailed, covering a variety of meats from sausage to salami and smoked delicacies and even fermented and dry-cured creations to more comprehensible roast meets and sides. I was surprised by the amount and wide selection of recipes contained within the large pages of this book! Even included are sides such as english muffins, gravy, salads, and sauces! There is no way any meat lover will be disappointed by this book!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks!

[Misty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to begin my warning all readers of the disturbing pictures in this book. There are pictures of butchered animals. One picture actually made me want to vomit. It was a picture of a amputated pig's head. The book is filled with information about meat and meat techniques, but the recipes themselves are hard to find as they are randomly scattered about. The recipes themselves do have a nice layout though. They have serving info, needed items, and ingredients. I was sent this book for free for only my honest and unbiased review.

Full Review: http://hubpages.com/literature/Olympi...

[Happy Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olympia Provisions is an integral part of Portland’s love affair with good food. I was delighted to learn that one of OP’s owners, Elias Cairo, had written this cookbook cum culinary memoir of OP’s delicious charcuterie. There are not only recipes for confits, pâtés, sausages, smoked and cured meats, but also recipes from OP’s restaurants.

This book is highly recommended for the foodie in your life.

Full disclosure: Read the ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher.