Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing
Cover of Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing
Author(s)	Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject(s)	Charcuterie
Genre(s)	Non-fiction
Publisher	W. W. Norton
Publication date	2005
Media type	Hardback
Pages	320
ISBN	0393058298
Preceded by	Bouchon
Followed by	House: A Memoir

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing is a 2005 book by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn about using the process of charcuterie to cure various meats, including bacon, pastrami, and sausage. The book received extremely positive reviews from numerous food critics and newspapers, causing national attention to be brought to the method of charcuterie. Because of the high amount of interest, copies of the book sold out for a period of a few months at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.^[1]

Summary

The book covers the various methods of charcuterie, including the "brining, dry-curing, pickling, hot- and cold-smoking, sausage-making, confit, and the construction of pâtés" that also involves more than 140 recipes for various dishes that have been made with the described methods.^[2]

Critical reception

Reviews for the book were overwhelmingly positive. Mick Vann of the Austin Chronicle praised the use of "clear and concise instruction and revealing headnotes" and also said that the "realistic illustrations reinforce the text in an especially illuminating style, making it incredibly easy to follow the methods".^[2] Hilary Hylton of TIME called it a "bible among foodie bloggers, eat-local enthusiasts and cooking professionals".^[3] Lorraine Eaton of The Virginian-Pilot said that the book "eloquently and patiently walks you through everything from bacon to Spanish chorizo."^[4] Alison Arnett of the Boston Globe described how it is a "detailed, even fussy, manual" and also how the author in an interview with her was surprised at the success of the book.^[5] Hsiao-Ching Chou of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said that the book "makes an impassioned case for 'why we still love and need hand-preserved foods in the age of the refrigerator, the frozen dinner, Domino's Pizza, and the 24-hour grocery store.'"^[6] Chou also stated that the "intellectual cook will delight in reading and, perhaps, 'cooking' from this book."^[7] Adina Steiman of the New York Sun said to cooks in her review, "if you love good sausage, quality salami, and honest bacon, you'll find this fascinating reading even if you only make the simpler recipes".^[8] Scott Rowson of the Columbia Daily Tribune called it "approachable, yet exhaustively researched".^[1]

See also

	Books portal
	Food portal
	Bacon portal

• The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating
• Bacon: A Love Story
• The Bacon Cookbook
• I Love Bacon!
• Seduced by Bacon

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Scott Rowson (May 4, 2011). "This blog is the cure for meat lovers". Columbia Daily Tribune. http://m.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/may/04/this-blog-is-the-cure-for-meat-lovers/. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Mick Vann (December 2, 2005). "Cookbooks Gift Guide". The Austin Chronicle. http://www.austinchronicle.com/food/2005-12-02/315687/. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
3. ^ Hilary Hylton (August 28, 2009). "Makin' Bacon: Foodies Are Going Hog Wild Over Pig". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1918673,00.html. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
4. ^ Lorraine Eaton (March 9, 2011). "A shot at charcuterie: making my own bacon at home". The Virginian-Pilot. http://hamptonroads.com/2011/03/shot-charcuterie-making-my-own-bacon-home. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
5. ^ Alison Arnett (February 8, 2006). "Charcuterie holds cure for run-of-the-mill meals". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2006/02/08/charcuterie_holds_cure_for_run_of_the_mill_meals/. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
6. ^ Hsiao-Ching Chou (January 17, 2006). "On Food: Home-cured meat: It's slow good". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/On-Food-Home-cured-meat-It-s-slow-good-1192957.php. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
7. ^ Hsiao-Ching Chou (November 22, 2005). "Charcuterie". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://www.seattlepi.com/ae/books/article/Treat-a-cook-to-a-delicious-fresh-cookbook-1188112.php. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
8. ^ Adina Steiman (December 14, 2005). "Daring To Delve Deeper: 2005's Best Cookbooks". The New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/daring-to-delve-deeper-2005s-best-cookbooks/24457/. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 

Further reading

• Sylvia Rector (December 7, 2005). "Just salt and pork and time". Detroit Free Press. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/freep/access/1778474291.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+07%2C+2005&author=SYLVIA+RECTOR&pub=Detroit+Free+Press&desc='UST+SALT+AND+PORK+AND+TIME'&pqatl=google. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
• Lauren Chapin (September 20, 2006). "The lost art of charcuterie". Kansas City Star. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=KC&p_theme=kc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1144A3474541FE38&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
• "Corned beef a tasty way to celebrate". The Spokesman-Review. March 15, 2006. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SR&p_theme=sr&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1106AA4DF1ECF9B0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 

External links

• Charcuterie at Michael Ruhlman's website
• Charcuterie on the W. W. Norton & Company, Publisher website
• Charcuterie on Google Books