Pure Charcuterie - (Homegrown City Life) by Meredith Leigh (Paperback)

About the Book

Create beautiful cured meats at home, revel in the delicious combination of craft and thrift, and discover creativity and empowerment through charcuterie practice. Meredith Leigh makes a case for meat preservation both as a means of artistic expression and flavorful eating, in a beautiful, accessible guide for the everyday cook.

Book Synopsis

"Combines the worlds of ethical meat production with innovative ingredients and techniques . . . a must-own for amateur and professional butchers alike."--Chef Clark Barlowe, Heirloom Restaurant, Charlotte, NC

Cured meat products arose from the need for preservation, in a time when cooking and refrigeration were not always available. Today, charcuterie is an embodiment of art in the kitchen, combining precision, balance, patience, and creativity; an economy of ingredients, as poetry is an economy of words. The confluence of these elements, along with the purest of ingredients, can enable anyone to craft cured meats in their home.

Pure Charcuterie is a practical and artistic look at the techniques for curing meat at home both as a creative hands-on craft and as a fantastic and sustainable way to preserve highly valuable food. This accessible, beautiful, visual guide walks the reader through the process of making charcuterie, including:

• Sourcing ingredients
• Clear explanations of charcuterie technique
• Creative recipes balancing tradition and invention
• Smoking meats and building your own smoker

The analogies drawn between art and food, along with creative and accessible photographic discussions of charcuterie technique, make this book an essential primer on the basics of charcuterie: the mystery, the science, the art, and the technique. Ideal for home cooks working in small spaces, Pure Charcuterie is a must-have for experienced and new cooks alike--and any home artisan.

"I don't know of anyone that can make a description of making mortadella sound poetic, funny, emotionally engaging and most importantly, to the point."--Rey Tagle, home charcuterie master

"Takes the reader on a meaty, and yet artistic journey into the wonderful world of curing meats."--Hank Will, editorial director, Mother Earth News

From the Back Cover

Salt, sausage, smoke -- THE ARTISTRY OF CURING YOUR OWN MEATS

I don't know of anyone that can make a description of making mortadella sound poetic, funny, emotionally engaging and most importantly, to the point. -- REY TAGLE, Instagram: @home_charcuterie

This book will make you hungry. It'll make you dig out the meat grinder someone gave you years ago. It'll make you want to change the world. -- REBECCA MARTIN, Managing Editor, Mother Earth News

CHARCUTERIE is an embodiment of art in the kitchen, combining precision, balance, patience, and creativity; an economy of ingredients, as poetry is an economy of words. The confluence of these elements, along with the purest of ingredients, can enable anyone to craft cured meats in their home.

Pure Charcuterie is a practical and artistic look at the techniques for curing meat at home both as a creative hands-on craft and as a fantastic and sustainable way to preserve highly valuable food. This accessible, beautiful, visual guide walks the reader through the process of making charcuterie, including:

• sourcing ingredients
• clear explanations of charcuterie technique
• creative recipes balancing tradition and invention
• smoking meats and building your own smoker.

This book is an essential primer on the basics of charcuterie: the mystery, the science, the art, and the technique. Ideal for home cooks working in small spaces, Pure Charcuterie is a must-have for experienced and new cooks alike -- and any home artisan.

Pure Charcuterie is the book I've been waiting my whole career for. ... this is a book for advanced professionals and unknowing beginners alike. -- JEREMY UMANKSY, Larder Master/Owner, Larder Delicatessen & Bakery

MEREDITH LEIGH has worked as a farmer, butcher, chef, teacher, non-profit executive director, and writer, all in pursuit of sustainable food. She is also the author of The Ethical Meat Handbook: A Complete Guide to Home Butchery, Charcuterie, and Cooking for the Conscious Omnivore .

Review Quotes

Some cookbooks live on the coffee table. Others live in the kitchen, their stained pages a pragmatic guide to what's for dinner. Farmer, chef, teacher, mother, activist, and writer Meredith Leigh has penned a profound how-to that's equally at home in the larder or on the nightstand beside collections of verse by Tracy K. Smith and William Matthews. - Jason Tesauro, Esquire.com

About the Author

Over the past 15 years, Meredith Leigh has worked as a farmer, butcher, chef, teacher, non-profit executive director, and writer, all in pursuit of sustainable food. She has developed a farmer co-op, founded and catalyzed non-profit ventures, grown vegetables, flowers, and meats, owned and managed a retail butcher shop and restaurant, and more. She is the author of The Ethical Meat Handbook: A Complete Guide to Home Butchery, Charcuterie, and Cooking for the Conscious Omnivore.