Pure Charcuterie: The Craft and Poetry of Curing Meats at Home

by Meredith Leigh

"Combines the worlds of ethical meat production with innovative ingredients and techniques . . . a must-own for amateur and professional butchers alike."―Chef Clark Barlowe, Heirloom Restaurant, Charlotte, NC Cured meat products arose from the need for preservation, in a time when cooking and refrigeration were not always available. Today, charcuterie is an embodiment of art in the kitchen, combining precision, balance, patience, and creativity; an economy of ingredients, as poetry is an economy of words. The confluence of these elements, along with the purest of ingredients, can enable anyone to craft cured meats in their home. Pure Charcuterie is a practical and artistic look at the techniques for curing meat at home both as a creative hands-on craft and as a fantastic and sustainable way to preserve highly valuable food. This accessible, beautiful, visual guide walks the reader through the process of making charcuterie, The analogies drawn between art and food, along with creative and accessible photographic discussions of charcuterie technique, make this book an essential primer on the basics of the mystery, the science, the art, and the technique. Ideal for home cooks working in small spaces, Pure Charcuterie is a must-have for experienced and new cooks alike―and any home artisan. "I don't know of anyone that can make a description of making mortadella sound poetic, funny, emotionally engaging and most importantly, to the point."―Rey Tagle, home charcuterie master "Takes the reader on a meaty, and yet artistic journey into the wonderful world of curing meats."―Hank Will, editorial director, Mother Earth News

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

Published November 6, 2017

About the author

Over the past thirteen years, Meredith Leigh has worked as a farmer, chef, teacher, non-profit executive director, and writer, all in pursuit of sustainable food. She has developed a farmers cooperative, catalyzed non-profit farm ventures, raised vegetables, flowers, and pastured meats, owned and managed a retail butcher shop, and more. Currently, Meredith spends some of her time teaching, handling sheep, cooking, and doing outreach at Living Web Farms, a non-profit education and research farm in Mills River, NC. She is a mother to two boys, many plants and fermentation projects, and lives in
Asheville, NC.

Reviews

[Sandra Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love sausages and cured meats, so I was thrilled to check out this book. It is far more than just a cookbook, though. It is informative, entertaining and inspiring to read.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have NOT actually made any of these. My current kitchen is tiny and I need a couple of items to really get into charcuterie that I really don't have room for right now. We are getting ready to move, however, so I am hoping for a larger kitchen so I can dip into this book.

My husband discovered mortadella on our first trip to Sicily, so I was thrilled to see the recipe included here! To make it even more authentic, add some shelled pistachios to the mix before you stuff it! Nduja is another Italian salami that I've wanted to try. I'll be interested to see if I can pull it off!

If charcuterie interests you, I definitely recommend this book! It's fascinating and while it doesn't have a huge number of recipes, they didn't stick with the most simple, easily obtainable types, but gave you a nice variety to choose from.

I received a copy of this book from New Society Publishers through the Lisa Ekus Group for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Kathy Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book. The author is thoughtful about food and it’s source. Almost poetic at the beginning of each chapter. Instructions are simple. Pictures are in color - which I always prefer.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro book and Meredith writes in an engaging way.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

My brother in law has produced some great Charcuterie in the last year and I was curious about the process and the benefits. This is a one-stop guide to everything curing: beautifully presented, informative, and inspirational. The book includes recipes, of course, but also great side dishes that go so well with the various types of items you are curing.

The book breaks down as follows: On Intention (supplies and background); On Precision (sausages, recipes); On Suspension (Pate, Terrine, gratins); On Wholeness (whole meat curing, bacon, pastrama, confit, culatello); On Collaboration (fermentation, molds, koji, salami); On Culmination (cooking, smoking, slicing, storage). Resources rounds out the book.

The presentation is clean and the book integrates recipes with advice and tips nicely. There are several (but not overly many) photographs interspersed throughout. Because this is such a great reference, I recommend the hardback over the ebook to make referencing pages that much easier. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.