Charcutería: The Soul of Spain Hardcover – March 25, 2014

Finally, I've finished reading Weiss’ “Charcuteria; The Soul of Spain.” In short, good book. Esthetically pleasing with the quality of print, paper, illustrations, etc. No disrespect to the highly esteemed guru on the subject in USA Francois Vecchio, but by the price\amount of info, his and Weiss’es books not even comparable: three times more content with half of price. As on Weiss' book…on all the books that I have on the subject of charcuterie\dry curing in English, I have to state that this one is the best put together. Pros: 1) all ingredients are based on 1 kg, listed in metric units, with percentage; 2) recipes are detailed, but not too detailed ( good for those who mastered both Testaments of the Charcuterie’s Holy Writ in the States, written by the holy prophets Rulman and Polcyn; which -- I assume – includes all who come to places like this group ); 3) As I stated above, the material is well-organized, and thought through: it is clearly written with the mind of the questions that ignorant guys like me would ask. Just when I have one, there is an answer on the next page. Cons: 1) Too many Spanish words and terms, even when they are not necessary. Weiss certainly gives translation\rough meaning to all of them and there is a glossary at the end; however, from time to time I have to think: “What in the Hell is Manteca or bodega.” 2) Not that Weiss lists short amount of recipes, but more would be better, especially on the dry cured side…maybe one day he or someone like him would write a book that would cover just long-prolong list of various recipes from various regions of Spain. 3) For the purists that shy of the…somewhat irreverent language, there is some unholy vernacular in the book. Buy hay, In my old country, we say, “he swears like a butcher” ; so, I guess, it comes with the territory. Yet, Weiss is the pretty witty guy with sharp sense of humor. I’ll just give you one quote: before the recipe of Butifarra D’ou, he describes observing “two little older Catalan ladies” fighting over a sausage with “a colorful conversation regarding one another’s sexually liberal proclivities with a donkey.” So, if you plan to buy the book for your mother or a priest (unless your priest happens to be an Episcopalian, like mine), be careful…So, in short, I recommend the book. I’ll start curing some Salchichon and Papatera tonight. The decision to go with salchichon is simple: I don’t have plenty of pimenton left. I’ve ordered some in large tins from La Trienda (where I ordered some meats before I got wiser and started curing them myself) yesterday, but it will be a week before they come. And the urge to do something now – you know how it is – is too overpowering…The only wish remains: now we have – in English, of course – a decent book on Italian dry curing, Spanish one, and some of info on German\Polish\East European. We need a good charcuuterie book dedicated sole to the “frenchy.”

REAL is the word to summarize this 'how to' book and its Spanish focus on charcuterie--the curing, smoking and preserving of meats, poultry, fish and vegetables in ways they are served in places like tapas bars or can be purchased in specialty shops. Jeffrey Weiss graduated from the well-regarded Hotel and Restaurant School at Cornell University--say, as good as the Culinary Institute of America, but with a broader focus. Down the road, he worked for José' Andres--a great Spanish-American chef whose cookbooks I love. Real is also what the reader gets with Mr. Weiss' 'writing voice': he has a vulgar turn of mind that sometimes finds its way onto the page, as already noted by other reviewers. He also lets a few too many Spanish words dance upon the page without providing explanations in English for Anglophone readers. 'Adobo', 'Escabeche' and 'Embutidos' come quickly to mind as examples. Of course, this is a book that means to celebrate Spanish culture and America has plenty of residents who speak plenty of Spanish.The genesis of the book is the year Jeffrey Weiss spent as an ICEX fellow studying foodways in Spain and that is where the authenticity comes in. The author begins with the famous Iberico breed of pig, explaining how it is raised and slaughtered, in this case, in a convivial group setting at a farmhouse. He takes the reader step by step through breaking down the carcass into some basic cuts and covers grinding, seasoning, stuffing into casings, linking, fermenting, smoking, drying and so on. Chapter four provides a detailed explanation of brines and brining; cures and curing. There is a brining table that contains information on brining whole and selected cuts of beef,chicken, turkey and, of course, pork. Other chapters present categories of dishes: marinated items under the headlines of 'Adobos', Escabeche, and so on. 'So on' includes: Conserves and Confits, Pates and Terrines, Garnishes and Salsas and other accompaniments (simple desserts) and appropriate beverages. Recipes are provided for curing a traditional ham, for preserving lard and bacon, for salting anchovies, for making typical tapas from salt codfish, partridge, pork products, vegetables like mushrooms and mixed vegetables--selected items the author likes and offers at his restaurant that are also typical of Spain. Pictures of products and platings go with each recipe so we can see how they come out. Making the recipes, in a good many cases, also requires the reader to have read, understood and remembered the foundational chapters on tools, materials and techniques. This level of commitment may be beyond the needs of 'coffee table book' readers and it will not be necessary for readers who are along primarily to enjoy the food tourism!The photography in this book is excellent. It was provided by Nathan Rawlinson and there are fine illustrations by Sergio Mora. These skilled craftsmen deserve to be recognized on the cover and they are! I only wish that the editor had insisted on suitable captions for each picture. This is a glaring omission.Still, I love this book because I make things like these and this book's recipes tell me how to make more things exactly like these. Were I to continue to travel in Spain (as I have) I would also want to read this book to help me to recognize items for a 'pick up picnic' or to order from a fine menu.Text, pictures, information: this book is a 'must have' for home cooks who want to make a cross-section of 'charcuterie' in the Spanish manner. It is not a classic of cookbook writing style, nor is it intended to be a comprehensive treatise on the subject.

Great writing style, a book to read as well as wonderful recipes and ideas.I am an enthusiastic amateur charcutier, It complements the others in my selection, including Salumi and Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Le Charcutier Anglais (Marc Frederic), so that covers Spain, Italy, France and England.Highly recommended!

A brilliant evocation of Spanish charcuterie from nose to tail. It offers language insights (all the titles are in Spanish with translations), historic perspectives, a range of executions from farmhouse rusticity to high end restaurant, practical and useful recipes, is sensitive to we verbally-challenged by visually-sophisticated food folk (lots of useful images), and there's wit and charm galore. A tour de force, perhaps the best book on charcuterie of any kind in many years. Plus it has very little American loudness - in the nicest possible way it's written by an American chef who's of the Bourdain species and would undoubtedly be great company if you ever found yourself in a bar with a bottle and some tapas.

I'm not a professional cook but I found this book fascinating to read, not only for the recipes, etc but for the information on the Spanish culture. I plan to try a number of the recipes on my husband!! Its a beautiful book and excellent value for money

This is a really lovely book. I already have the two written by Michael Ruhlman and his chum, and whilst these too are good, this one is less 'technical' with a leaning more towards showing what Spanish Charcuterie is all about. I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone interested in the culinary art of dry curing.

Most enjoyable read loved it!