Book Nook: Pure Charcuterie

I recently had a chance to review a book on a topic that I honestly don't know much about - PURE CHARCUTERIE: The Craft and Poetry of Curing Meats at Home by Meredith Leigh. This book, a good companion to her earlier book The Ethical Meat Handbook: Complete Home Butchery, Charcuterie & Cooking for the Conscious Omnivore, makes a beautiful gift for anyone interested in taking their meats to the next level.

This is an extremely comprehensive book. It covers cutting and storing meat, where to get ingredients, and some of the science behind the different processes of curing meat. I learned a lot about good mold and bad mold, appropriate ingredients, and using creativity to blend the art and science of working with meats. There's even a section on building a smoker.

Not only does it talk about the how, it talks about the what - what to do with the meats, with some great unique recipes throughout the book.

I'm happy I got to review this book. It's given me some great ideas, and inspired me to be a little more confident and experimental with meats.