Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them by Peter Kaminsky


Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them
Title : Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1401300367
ISBN-10 : 9781401300364
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 304
Publication : First published May 11, 2005

What Bill Bryson did for trees and walking shoes and Mark Kurlansky did for cod, Peter Kaminsky now does for pork in Pig Perfect "I love ham and I love this book." --Annie Dillard Do you crave a juicy pork chop? An old-time country ham? Or maybe some Southern-style barbecue? Then you'll want to join Peter Kaminsky on his pilgrimage in search of the perfect pig. Part travelogue, part cookbook, part naturalist's encounter, and part love letter, Kaminsky's book takes us from Kentucky, Burgundy, and Madrid to the Yucatán and back to Brooklyn to tell the tale of the pig. From the wondrous techniques of tailgate chefs to Mayan home cooking, competitive barbecuing, and the ancient rite of the pig killing that has bound communities together over the centuries, Pig Perfect brings together an oddball pork-loving band of chefs, farmers, and food lovers and offers a tasty history of the oft underappreciated pig.

Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them Reviews

  • Stephen

    Peter Kaminsky loves all things porcine. He loves it from piglets to pork roasts. He loves it from breeding-stock genetics to artisinally-cured hams. In this book, he pursues his love from villages in France and Spain to gas stations and general stores alongside blue highways in the Old South. He tracks the descendents of the pigs which Spanish conquistadors brought to America. He even makes a theological/cultural excursus to consider why pork is prohibited to Jews and Muslims. Recipes, some his own and some lent by others, are interspersed. Kaminsky is a Renaissance kinda guy. He is a good writer with lots of credentials in magazines like "Field and Stream." He is a funny writer, having been the managing editor of "National Lampoon." He is a foodie writer, having written a column called "The Underground Gourmet" for New York Magazine. This excellent book ends with an intense (but not preachy) appeal for sustainable agriculture and husbandry and a condemnation of factory farms. He is, of course, absolutely correct.

  • Cinnamon

    There is some great information in here about the history of swine and how we have interacted with them in the US and in other countries and how their physical evolution is tied to landscape. Also some great, but basic information, about how industrial farming affects the environment, the quality of the food we eat, and the flavor of the food we eat. And after reading how serrano ham is made, I can kinda understand why the US doesn't permit importationg. But I would still totally eat it if I could get my hands on it. That said I wasn't as impressed by the book as I'd hoped. There were far too many "OMG! Midwesterners are so chatty! Southerners are so nice!" Well, bless his heart, he just doesn't understand the ways of the non-New Yorker.

  • Christine

    The book ends in the vein of many popular books about the state of the food industry complex today, reminding me in part of "Fast Food Nation." That was great, but that's only a part of it. The book covers everything from the history of the pig, to what makes a great ham, to the personalities surrounding the resurgence of good pork. Fascinating and salivating, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good piece of pork.

  • Jessica Stern

    As a great ham-lover, I was really looking forward to this, particularly given the glowing comments from Thomas Keller and Mario Batali. I found the writing flat and the research lacking. There were some interesting points made, but in the end, I was frustrated that Kaminsky didn't do more with the material he had, which had a lot of potential.

    Full review here:

    http://desperadopenguin.blogspot.com/...

  • Janie

    Knowledge, care, time, and a little magic. That's what makes the best wine, the best cheese, the best bread. It makes the best ham, too. And if you're going to eat pig, it might as well be free-range black Iberian hog, acorn-fed, salt-cured, smoked, and aged . . . "consumed as if it were a Eucharistic wafer."
    Glad I'm a carnivore.
    Recipes included!

  • Dale

    One man's journey to discover the secrets of the perfect ham. He travels Europe and N America finding answers to breed selection, feeding practices and curing techniques. This is a travel book with great stories about the people and places he encounters.

  • Steve Adkins

    I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I had previously read Culinary Intelligence by the same author. He writes very well and if you love good food and reading about food this book is quite recommendable.

  • Jay

    Hog lovers, this is the book for you. A quest for the best in pork with a few recommendations for hams, barbecue, and how to raise 'em. Also an interesting side trip with thoughts on why the Old Testament forbade God's chosen people to eat pork.

  • Steve

    Good stories about one of my favorites topics: pork! Easy reading!

  • ColleenPA

    A solid foodie micro-history, but didn't really deliver on the recipes. My complete review is at
    http://colreads.blogspot.com/2011/03/...

  • Bruce Humbert

    What a great read - Kaminsky informs and entertains

  • Carolynshivers

    It lead me to my true love, Iberian ham