Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Without the faintest hint of apology, Ruhlman and Polcyn present an arsenal of recipes that take hours, and sometimes days, to prepare; are loaded with fat; and, if ill-prepared, can lead to botulism. The result is one of the most intriguing and important cookbooks published this year. Ruhlman (The Soul of a Chef) is a food poet, and the pig is his muse. On witnessing a plate of cold cuts in Italy, he is awed by "the way the sunlight hit the fat of the dried meats, the way it glistened, the beauty of the meat." He relates and refines the work of Polcyn, a chef-instructor at a college in Livonia, Mich., who butchers a whole hog "every couple weeks for his students." Together, they make holy the art of stuffing a sausage, the brining of a corned beef and the poaching of a salted meat in its own fat. An extensive chapter on p?t?s and terrines is entitled "The Cinderella Meat Loaf" and runs the gamut from exotic Venison Terrine with Dried Cherries to hearty English Pork Pie with a crust made from both lard and butter. And while there's no shortage of lyricism, science plays an equally important role. Everyone knows salt is a preservative, for example, but here we learn exactly how it does its job. And a section on safety issues weighs the dangers of nitrites and explains the difference between good white mold and the dangerous, green, fuzzy stuff. Line drawings. Agent, Elizabeth Kaplan. (Nov. 21) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus Book Review

The first and only comprehensive treatment of a time-honored culinary tradition that's likely to jump-start menus in restaurant and home kitchens everywhere. Sausages, salamis, mortadellas, sorpressatas...the very words are music to the ears of food lovers. But while salted, smoked and cured meats are some of the world's most beloved foods, they have long been inaccessible to home cooks--until now. True, the recipes are unapologetically time consuming and equipment-heavy (not to mention fattening), but the book offers a thorough introduction to a complicated craft, and with the right investment of time and money, these mouth-watering favorites are only a few steps away. Though it's written like a love letter to the humble pig, the breadth of Ruhlman and Polcyn's repertoire is actually quite astonishing. In addition to the more traditional hams and bacons, they also include recipes for seafood, poultry, wild game, preserved vegetables and even snacks like spicy smoked almonds. Ruhlman, a seasoned food writer fascinated by the work of professional chefs (and the co-author of such culinary giants as The French Laundry Cookbook, 1999) and Polcyn, a world-renowned teacher and charcuterie expert, make a dynamic team who together offer both scientific know-how and culinary nuances. An inspired recipe collection, an important reference and an in-depth primer, this is a must-have for anyone serious about food. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Michael Ruhlman was born in 1963 in Cleveland and graduated Duke in 1985 with a BA in literature. His first book, Boy's Themselves (1996), revealed life at an all-boy day school. His second, the Making of a Chef came in 1997 and was re-released in 2009 in a new paperback edition. Michael's other published works include The Soul of a Chef (2000), Wooden Boats: In Pursuit of the Perfect Craft at an American Boatyard (2001), and Walk on Water (2003). He co-wrote The French Laundry Cookbook (1999) with Thomas Keller and A Return to Cooking (2002) with Eric Ripert, chef-owner of Le Bernardin. His latest works include Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing (2011) and Salumi: The Craft of Italian Dry Curing (2012), both with Brian Polcyn.

(Bowker Author Biography)