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The Art of Charcuterie ReviewThis book attempts to position itself as a reference for both the home cook and the professional, and unfortunately fails to serve either market. At first glance, the book appears to be a slick, well-designed volume typical of the CIA's other books. Upon closer inspection, however, it appears that the polish is only skin deep. In fact, it appears that a large portion of the material is purely filler, serving no real purpose and providing no useful information. The book goes so far as to include seven pages of content attempting to describe the flavors of various herbs and spices. I can't imagine that anyone in this book's target audience needs a paragraph describing the flavor of basil, nor are any of the passages specific to charcuterie: it appears to be a copy-and-paste job from some other reference. There are numerous tables in the book that serve no purpose: an "herb and spice chart," a sugar temperature chart for making candies, page after page of metric-to-imperial conversion charts (all recipes in the book are given in both, as usual for the CIA series), etc. It has all the appearance of material added to boost the page count.
The book contains a large amount of food safety information, some useful and some not. The extensive listing and description of the various possible bacterial infections is interesting in an academic sense, but contains little practical information other than "prevent cross-contamination," "cook everything to death," and "chill quickly." It spends pages on trichnosis, although it is now exceedingly rare in the US and easily mitigated against. And there, at the very end, is a single paragraph on "harmful molds in sausages," an area crucial to understanding the production of dry-cured items. It contains no actual useful information, simply instructing you to use a mold inhibitor to prevent its growth. The remainder of the chapter is a copy-and-paste job from every other Food Production Safety 101 textbook on the planet. I would hope that at a culinary school a course like that would be a prerequisite for entry into a charcuterie class: no need for it here.
The chapter on forcemeats is large and well-illustrated, but covers exactly the same material as Garde Manger: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen (Culinary Institute of America) (the CIA seems to have a real fascination with terrines... 50 pages worth seems excessive to me when that material is almost completely duplicated from another book in the series). The chapter on sausages (70 pages) contains some useful checklists for sausage production, and a nice discussion of the various types of casing. The recipes included are uninspiring, however, and there is virtually no coverage of dry- and semi-dry sausages: a few recipes and a few cursory comments, but no useful, practical advice, despite their prominent placement on the cover. If you are interested in dry-cured sausage this book provides virtually no useful information. They finish up with a quite extensive chapter on condiments, which seems to be a standard in charcuterie books.
If you are new to charcuterie (either as a professional or a home cook) I strongly recommend purchasing Ruhlman and Polcyn's Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing: it provides and excellent foundation, and while not as "slick" as the present volume, is far more readable, and properly emphasizes things like temperature control when mixing, and a realistic view of food safety and cooking temperatures. If your interest is in terrines, I'd then add the CIA's Garde Manger: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen (Culinary Institute of America) (which I should note also contains quite a bit of charcuterie information which overlaps with Art of Charcuterie). If your interest is in dry-curing, I recommend Marianski's The Art of Making Fermented Sausages---it is not very well written, but it contains a goldmine of information in excellent detail: exactly what Art of Charcuterie is missing. Finally, there are a number of books that include more interesting recipe ideas than either this volume or Ruhlman and Polcyn's book (which focuses on classics): Polish Sausages, Authentic Recipes And Instructions, Bruce Aidells's Complete Sausage Book : Recipes from America's Premium Sausage Maker, and Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing.
The upshot is obviously that this book presents nothing new, nor does it present anything particularly well.
Pros
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* Useful checklists in the production sections
* Good production values
Cons
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* Poor presentation and organization of the material
* Uninspiring, uninspired recipe collection
* Missing critical details in many aspects of production
* Not well-written
* Mostly filler (insert sodium tripolyphosphate joke here)
The Art of Charcuterie OverviewA comprehensive, professional-level guide to the making of sausages and cured meats
The art of charcuterie has been practiced since the fifteenth century, but in recent years interest has escalated in this artisanal specialty. Pâtés, cured meats, terrines, and gourmet sausages are staples at upscale restaurants as well as cocktail and dinner parties. Modern charcutiers have introduced new and exciting techniques and flavors for delicious (and even healthy) charcuterie. Written by John Kowalski and the experts at the CIA, The Art of Charcuterie covers every aspect of this rediscovered culinary art: curing and brining, smoking, terrines, pâtés, sausages, herbs and seasonings, sauces and relishes, and kitchen sanitation.
Features thorough explanations of tools of the trade, kitchen equipment, and ingredients
Includes technical and nutritional explanations of all the meats used in the charcuterie kitchen and how to best prepare them
Heavily illustrated with 200 full-color photographs, including techniques and finished items
The Art of Charcuterie is the ultimate companion for professionals and dedicated home cooks who want to master both traditional and contemporary techniques.
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