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Charcuterie—a culinary specialty that originally referred to the creation of pork products such as salami, sausages, and prosciutto—is true food craftsmanship, the art of turning preserved food into items of beauty and taste. Today the term encompasses a vast range of preparations, most of which involve salting, cooking, smoking, and drying. In addition to providing classic recipes for sausages, terrines, and pâtés, Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn expand the definition to include anything preserved or prepared ahead such as Mediterranean olive and vegetable rillettes, duck confit, and pickles and sauerkraut. Ruhlman, coauthor of The French Laundry Cookbook, and Polcyn, an expert charcuterie instructor at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan, present 125 recipes that are both intriguing to professionals and accessible to home cooks, including salted, airdried ham; Maryland crab, scallop, and saffron terrine; Da Bomb breakfast sausage; mortadella and soppressata; and even spicy smoked almonds. 50 line drawings

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition (November 17, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393058298
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393058291
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 1.2 x 10.3 inches
Reviewer: B. Marold
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent Coverage of a Very Important technique. Buy It!
Review: `Charcuterie' by leading culinary journalist Michael Ruhlman and Charcuterie expert and chef, Brian Poleyn is the sort of book foodies should really be buying instead of the long parade of celebrity chef cookbooks to which we have been treated for the last several years. This joins on my shelf some other recent books on specialized cooking techniques such as Beth Hensperger's `Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook' and James Peterson's classic work on `Sauces'.Before we go any further, you may want to get permission from your cardiologist to even open this book, as it is dedicated almost exclusively to techniques which make heavy use of both salt and fat. But even if both of these things are `streng verboten' from your diet, you will still get great pleasure from learning about this very, very old technique for food preservation and flavoring.It struck me that the range of mastery with this technique seems to be almost the same as that of leavened bread. More exactly, it's greatest range lies in a band running through the center of Europe, sandwiched between the northern dominance of butter and the southern realm of king olive. One can almost plot a line from Spanish hams (Serrano) to Bayonne hams and other Charcuterie of southwestern France (see Paula Wolfert's great book on the subject) to the procuitto of Parma and San Daniele and the great Salume techniques of northern Italy to the sausages of Germany and their Westphalian hams. I hypothesize that this all arose out of the conjunction of the European hog raising tradition with the availability of salt from the Mediterranean. All this is pure conjecture, but it certainly frames the issue neatly, as the primacy of pork stops dead at the borders of Islam with their prohibitions against eating pork and their access to less abundant salt sources (The Mediterranean happens to be a lot saltier than the broader oceans beyond Europe).One of the more interesting facts I discovered in this book is that pig husbandry originated with the Celts who taught it to the Romans. While other meats such as poultry and fatty fish have been traditionally raw material of Charcuterie techniques, it is the pig that rules in this world. This is because lard is much lighter (less saturated) than suet (beef fat) and there is a greater variety of flavor in the meat from one cut of the pig to the next. One aspect of the difference between lard and suet is that the former is really healthier since it is less highly saturated, but don't quote me as an authority on this to your doctor.The heart and soul of Charcuterie is in the preparation of fresh and cured sausages, cured ham, terrines, pates, and confits. The stars are the pig and the duck. The lingua franca is fat, salt, and smoke. I will not argue with these experts on the sense of the word `Charcuterie', but I suspect they bring in a lot more material than many other authorities would include. The Larousse Gastronomique, for example, defines `Charcuterie' as techniques applied to products based on pork meat of offal. The authors choose to extend the term to include virtually all preservation techniques based on fat, salt, and smoke such as smoked and salted fish. They even take it so far as to include some products based on fermentation such as pickles and sauerkraut. None of this diminishes the value of the book. In fact, it makes the book more interesting, albeit just a tad less true to tradition. This drawing outside the lines also includes a very good essay on the techniques of brining that not only involves non-piggy meats; they also involve techniques that have nothing to do with preservation.In other ways the authors, especially wordsmith Ruhlman, also show that they are relying heavily on the writings of others rather than having become an expert in the field themselves. For example, much of the chapter on salt is taken, with full credit being given, from Mark Kurlansky's excellent books on `Salt' and `Cod'. I was especially tickled when Ruhlman described salt as an especially concentrated form of the elements sodium and chloride. Chloride is not an element, but the ionized form of chlorine. And, aside from health concerns, the fact that salt is composed of sodium and chlorine is virtually irrelevant to culinary discussions. Salt, from a culinary point of view, is a basic ingredient.I was positively tickled when Ruhlman stated that the methods of Charcuterie are NOT meant for quick cooking. He makes no bones about the fact that almost all Charcuterie techniques take a lot of time and a lot of attention to detail. This reinforces my analogy between Charcuterie and yeast baking.The authors make a great case for the important answer to the question on why Charcuterie techniques are still used today in the age of freezing, vacuum packing, and refrigeration. The long and the short of it is the fact that sausages and ham and bacon and terrines and pates and confits taste so darn good. One may also ask the question of the survival of this technique an environment where fat and salt are tools of the devil. Like caffinated coffee, chocolate, and wine, deep research would probably show that Charcuterie products in moderation are also good for you. The only aspect of the Charcuterie technique that may have real health concerns is the substance hiding behind the innocent name `yellow salt'. This is not sodium chloride, but a combination of nitrates and nitrites, added to maintain color in preserved meats.As I said at the outset, this book is probably more valuable to the dedicated foodie than two Nobu cookbooks and the collected works of Brillat-Savarin. The recipes for terrines and pates and the great technique illustrations are worth the price of admission. Both will become immediately more familiar if you realize that a meat loaf is merely an example of these techniques.Excellent reading, too!

Reviewer: LFM
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Bimodally-distributed reviews make sense. Here's why:
Review: To some, this is a -great- book. Reflecting the fact that it was written by a, you know, author, rather than chef-with-help, it is the rare well-written, verbose and descriptive cookbook. There are no food-porn glossy (and utterly fake) photos here -- just illustrative line drawings and page after page of glorious facts, editorialization, and idolization. This is a book written by people who -love- food, and aren't just "not afraid to show it," but, in fact, revel in that love and pursue improving their product and themselves with an enviable vigor.That said, I could absolutely see it turning off people who don't enjoy reading, or don't -really- enjoy cooking and food, and I understand the negative reviews. The book is old, but I was confused by the 1 vs. 5 star reviews, and thought I'd try to address that disparity.There's a great acid test on the very first page of the forward, by Mr. Keller: "Our experiences of charcuterie gather and we learn that those baloney cold cuts we took for granted as kids have their roots in mortadella and the other emulsified sausages popularized in Bologna; that packaged grocery store salami is a descendant of the dry-cured sausages called _salume_, works of great craftsmanship and great flavor" -- that sentence alone should make the decision for you: If that strikes you as "blathering nonsense," go buy a book with recipes involving sticking toothpicks in marshmallows. If it fires up your interest to learn more (and maybe going to assemble a cheese plate before continuing reading), grab this book.It is a -great- book... for the right audience.If you are looking for "coffee table cookbook to impress my friends, but none of us know which end of the spoon goes in the pot and which end you hold" look elsewhere. (I humbly suggest _Michael Mina: The cookbook_, there. Fantastic art direction, but will anyone ever make anything out of it?)If you are looking for, "I don't know how to cook, and hate to spend more than 20 minutes in the kitchen," look elsewhere... perhaps there is a book written by committee, published by conglomerate with a face you recognize from tv on the cover.If you are quickly confused by a kitchen implement more sophisticated than a sauce pan or a technique more complex than "30 seconds on high," well, move right along. (But do continue your learning! Come back later if the bug catches you!)On the other hand, if you could see yourself saying something like, "You know, Chez Panisse only got its Michelin star as a long-overdue acknowledgement of what it meant to American restaurants; it really hasn't done much lately," this book is for you. If you could see yourself thinking, "today is a great day to spend four hours prepping something that won't be ready for weeks, but it'll be absolutely fantastic when it's done!" this book is for you. If you enjoy reading a well-written (though fraught with grammar and punctuation errors -- egads! It'd be four star at best if the topic wasn't so great or the passion so evident.), detailed book about making great food, grab _Charcuterie_ and be ready to spend a lot of time reading, learning and cooking.

Reviewer: abujungo
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book
Review: well written easy to follow recipes and full of know how and info on the subject

Reviewer: Rustypipe
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great recipes, unusable index
Review: On the positive side, this book is useful for both beginners and experienced cooks interested in charcuterie. The recipes are well laid out, and the background information is sufficiently detailed to be truly useful. The passion of the authors is evident, and some of the sausage recipes, in particular, are not usually found in standard works on the subject. An excellent example is the Country Venison Sausage.Items that need improvement are: There is cross-referencing from recipes to technique sections, where the technique is at odds with the specifics of the recipe. Also, the index is absolutely useless in the Kindle book - headings and subsections are indistinguishable due to lack of indentation, and there is no hyperlinking. Obviously page number references are pointless. This is a serious shortcoming with the Kindle edition, and I sincerely hope it can be rectified in future Kindle editions of this otherwise excellent book.

Reviewer: N. Sartori
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This book offer information for all sausage makers, from beginners to more experienced ones. Loads of information to understand the process of properly making your charcuterie items in a safe way as well as many recipes to try.

Reviewer: Christoph Fink
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: leider fehlen einige kleine details, die bestimmte wurst erzeugnisse geschmacklich wirklich zu dem machen, was sie sein sollen.aber alles in allem nicht schlecht

Reviewer: Peter B
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I bought this book after reading a number of recommendations on the Internet, when I wanted to make my own smoked bacon. It has not disappointed. Firstly, it is very interesting to read. Secondly, it is informative and comprehensive, with clear curing and smoking instructions for the budding home charcutier. It is mostly about pork, but also includes poultry and some beef and vegetables, covering sausages, pates, salamis, hams, bacons, and much more, with some recipes. My first two slabs of dry-cured bacon were excellent, and I smoked them in my Weber kettle barbecue. Now I want to have a go at hams, rillettes and lots of other good-sounding things - it could become my new fun and satisfying hobby!

Reviewer: PepperGrinder
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Great book!

Reviewer: JamJam
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: When I first opened the book, I was a little disappointed. I am so used to glossy photos of everything in cookery books that I expected the same here. I got over my initial surprise and began reading. What a wonderful book. There is an indepth description of each recipe, and how and where they came from. Then there are selective sketches beautifully done on various things from terrine tins to meat grinders. I find it has the warm feel of a book written in the early/mid part of the 20th century. And I especially like the generous section at the back explaining various sauces which are vital to making the meats even more special. This book is well worth buying!