Reviewing "Charcuterie"

By: Katherine Montalto | August 03 2010
Posted in Find It - Detroit

I opened the almost-two-pound box with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning, knowing that my copy of Charcuterie, co-authored by culinary journalist Michael Ruhlman, and Brian Polcyn, owner of Five Lakes Grill in Milford, Michigan, was inside. On the cover was not the wide grin of celebrity chef pretending to chop oversaturated produce, but what should be on the cover of a cookbook: food. Specifically, the food I'd be learning to make: handmade salami, pickles, and ham. 

Photo: Amazon

The black and white sketches used to illustrate the techniques reminded me of my culinary school text books. I thumbed through the 300-plus pages, saying each recipe name out loud with rising excitement before finally landing on the recipe for my favorite salami: Saucisson Sec. I whispered the name to myself as I ran my fingers slowly across the printed words. I imagined myself in the kitchen, carefully crafting a batch, wearing a frilly apron, high heels, and pearls. I slept with the book under my pillow that night, dreaming of encased meats.

Not long after we climbed down from the treetops of the forest and began hunting in the savannahs did we began been using smoking, salting, and curing to preserve meat. The French would later call it "Charcuterie," and it played as big a part as boats and horses in moving people around the world. From the Celts to the Romans, to later pirates, sea-faring explorers and American pioneers preserved meats were indispensable in the course of human expansion (both globally and in girth).  

These days, we have refrigerators, freezers, and vacuum-packing to perfectly preserve food. So why bother with cured meats? Because they taste amazing! Sausage, jerky, pâté, confit, and terrines (sigh), just because we don't need them to survive next winter doesn't mean we shouldn't serve them at our next holiday party.

Charcuterie is a book for people who are passionate about pork and cooking as an art, bringing back childhood memories of making sausage in your grandfather's basement. It's a cookbook not filled with recipes but techniques, some of which take days and require complicated equipment.  That may sound intimidating, but it needn't; everything is catered to the home cook. If you have a Kitchenaid mixer and some time, you can make most of these recipes.  Many of the required cuts of meat will not be found in most supermarkets, which makes for a great excuse to venture to the local butcher shop.

It's time for Americans to get reacquainted with their food and how it's made. Charcuterie is a step in the right direction.