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Amazon.co.uk Review
As you would expect from the quirky and strong-minded Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, The River Cottage Meat Book is a quirky and strong-minded book. This arm-straining volume (weighing in at an impressive and well illustrated 543 pages) is quite the most ambitious volume yet by an author who absolutely refuses to be categorised. Is he a cookery writer? An expert on the sociology and history of food? An eccentric TV personality? Actually, of course, he's all three (and more); and all of his various skills find expression in this, his magnum opus.
The first intriguing question that The River Cottage Meat Book inspires is: what is the author's agenda? The book has so many aims it's difficult to know where to begin. First of all, this is a definitive guide to the preparation and cooking of meat, in all its various forms. Fearnley-Whittingstall deals (in assiduous detail) with such topics as roasting, grilling and preserving everything from turkey to trotters, in a variety of recipes that he obviously knows and loves. But there is far more to the book than this--fascinating sections on the many different types of meat (lamb, pork and so on) are crammed with information on the different cuts of meat and what they should be used for.
But as someone who raises and utilises his own livestock at the River Cottage, Fearnley-Whittingstall is clearly passionate about the welfare of animals bred for food, and provides some unpalatable information on widespread misdemeanours in these areas. If nothing else, this book will persuade you that it's a good idea to buy your meat from butchers who are equally passionate about these issues, or even direct from reputable farms. The concept makes sound ideological sense, but also ensures that your meat dishes will have an unrivalled depth of flavour. --Barry Forshaw
Review
'Unflinching respect for the animal and commitment to the truth sets Fearnley-Whittingstall apart from the rest of the food-writing mob. This is the most honest cookbook I have found, reeking with helpful, hands-on wisdom. It is everything it should be and more ... deliciously funny, well written and neither macho nor sanctimonious. If you eat meat, you will buy, prepare and cook it better having read this book.' (Jill Dupleix, The Times )
'Thumpingly enormous, extremely good, and manages to be at once a recipe collection, a series of tutorials on the principles of cooking, a directory of organic suppliers, a philosophical essay, a timely report on the state of intensive farming and a forceful polemic' (Sam Leith, Daily Telegraph )
'The sheer wealth of information is amazing and it is truly one of the most informative and passionate books you will ever read on the subject. It should be bought by every meat-eating household, as well as every butcher and supermarket manager throughout the land' (Martin Koerner, Waterstones Books Quarterly )
'I have been unable to put it down ... I urge all meat lovers to go and buy it. It is excellent' (Mervyn Hancock, Western Daily Press )
'Carefully researched, revelatory and powerful... The technical bits of the book are especially good and equip you with an understanding that is all too often absent from celebrity chef offerings ... delivered with lively writing and endearingly corny puns' (Felicity Lawrence, Guardian )
'A tome as heavy as a newborn piglet ... brave and deeply challenging stuff... a refreshing and triumphant antidote to dumbed-down recipe writing... positively incendiary' (Joanna Blythman, Sunday Herald )
'The solitary TV regular who can write a decent cookbook ... the enthusiastic carnivore will relish all 550 pages' (Christopher Hirst, The Independent )
'The best new book of the year without a shadow of a doubt, a serious treatise, a meat cookery bible and a supremely appetising recipe collection. Fearnley-Whittingstall is our most important and eloquent food writer today. His finger is always on the pulse. He tells it as it is without pulling punches and without wagging a moralising finger. This is the work of a thoughtful and caring omnivore. Everyone who eats meat should have a copy, and some who have stopped eating meat may find reasons in it to reconsider meat-eating in a fresh light' (Philippa Davenport, Financial Times )
'Thumpingly enormous, extremely good, and manages to be at once a recipe collection, a series of tutorials on the principles of cooking, a directory of organic suppliers, a philosophical essay, a timely report on the state of intensive farming and a forceful polemic' (Sam Leith, Daily Telegraph )
'The sheer wealth of information is amazing and it is truly one of the most informative and passionate books you will ever read on the subject. It should be bought by every meat-eating household, as well as every butcher and supermarket manager throughout the land' (Martin Koerner, Waterstones Books Quarterly )
'I have been unable to put it down ... I urge all meat lovers to go and buy it. It is excellent' (Mervyn Hancock, Western Daily Press )
'Carefully researched, revelatory and powerful... The technical bits of the book are especially good and equip you with an understanding that is all too often absent from celebrity chef offerings ... delivered with lively writing and endearingly corny puns' (Felicity Lawrence, Guardian )
'A tome as heavy as a newborn piglet ... brave and deeply challenging stuff... a refreshing and triumphant antidote to dumbed-down recipe writing... positively incendiary' (Joanna Blythman, Sunday Herald )
'The solitary TV regular who can write a decent cookbook ... the enthusiastic carnivore will relish all 550 pages' (Christopher Hirst, The Independent )
'The best new book of the year without a shadow of a doubt, a serious treatise, a meat cookery bible and a supremely appetising recipe collection. Fearnley-Whittingstall is our most important and eloquent food writer today. His finger is always on the pulse. He tells it as it is without pulling punches and without wagging a moralising finger. This is the work of a thoughtful and caring omnivore. Everyone who eats meat should have a copy, and some who have stopped eating meat may find reasons in it to reconsider meat-eating in a fresh light' (Philippa Davenport, Financial Times )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
93 of 94 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is not just a cookbook, but an almost poetic expression of a passionately-held philosophy about food.
First the bit you would expect: tons of great recipes, covering both the more familiar cuts of meat (roasts, pies, casseroles) and weirder ones (innovative ways with liver, sweetbreads, brains and more). So far so good: a really solid meat cook-books
But now comes the good bit: the book is also a sensitive and educational exploration of why we should eat meat, how farm animals should be treated, and how to select meat so that it tastes good. The author argues passionately that it is both our moral and our culinary duty to buy good meat: animals that have been well treated taste better. He also includes a very well thought-out section on the ethics of meat-eating, which far from being the standard diatribe against vegetarians is subtle, educated and immensely convincing.
102 of 104 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The man with the most appealing sounding lifestyle in Britain, carries on his real-food campaign with panache in this immensely usable and useful volume. I often scour stacks of cook-books looking for a recipe or instructions for a particular cut and type of meat, now there's a single volume to answer that need. He's always going to make enemies in the Vegan sector, but who could fail to be moved by his passion for quality and standards in food and especially meat. It's also a clarion call to us as consumers to think before we buy and to act on our ethics. He makes you believe you can contribute to ending the stranglehold of intensive chicken rearing for instance.
To top it all, the book is well written, beautifully designed and lvishly illustrated. What more could you ask from a cook book - oh, yes recipes! Well, those are excellent, reliable and oh-so tasty. He make's me re-think my hostility to TV-based food programmes. Hugh, you are a good thing indeed.
61 of 62 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It seems a little ironic that a pilgrimage to Manchester to see arch-vegetarian Morrissey's home-coming show should give me the opportunity to notice this book but a cursory flick through the pages confirmed my hope that it would take me to the next rung on the hobbyist cook ladder.
Most cookery books answer the "how?" questions with varying degrees of success but I suspect that after the third or fourth Recipe Collection Christmas Stocking-Filler, many people would like to have a few basic "why?" questions answered to satisfy the need to be able to improvise when ingredients (or even equipment) aren't available or simply to satisfy their creative urges.
The book is therefore split into two so that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall can first deal with what you should know about meat before he deals with how you can best cook it. HF-W's combination of concise facts about the meat industry and cutting - sometimes very comedic - observations will give any reader the armoury and terminology to be more intelligent about what they buy (how many people really have more than a rudimentary knowledge about which part of an animal provides which kind of meat and what it's good for?) but as he appears to agree himself, this book is only a starting point and you'll have to establish a good relationship with a good butcher to really get the best ingredients and the best use of what you do buy.
Once you do all this, the rewards are the recipes in the second half of the book. HF-W runs through a number of well-known meat dishes and as usual, some are more adventurous than others. His easy going style and his refreshing honesty about when "the right way" is simply his own opinion makes you realise how accessible good cooking and good ingredients actually are.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very brittish
You can't expect a cookbook to be so comprehensive so as to cover every aspect of cooking meat - this comes close! Read more
Published 2 months ago by hazza
nice!!
great book, very informative in terms of different cuts of meat...backed up with plenty of great dishes...hugh delivers again!! very happy to add it to my cook book collection
Published 4 months ago by zenman
A monumental work
I received this book as a wished-for Christmas gift this holiday season and immediately dug into it to read. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Lilith
River Cottage Meat
Really interesting and informative book. Highly recommend it to anyone who takes an interest in the meat they're eating and where it comes from.
Published 6 months ago by Leo
Thought provoking for a former vegetarian
I've never sat down and read a cookery book from cover to cover before - but then this is not an ordinary cookery book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mrs. Cao
Rustic home cooking and much more.
Don't confuse a "Meat book" to a "River Cottage Meat book".
As with all River Cottage titles, this is a rustic British cookbook for the home. Read more
As with all River Cottage titles, this is a rustic British cookbook for the home. Read more
Published 9 months ago by G. Walton
The River cottage Meat book
I really enjoyed the River Cottage television series and went on line to view more information.
I have a passion for proper food which hasn't been pumped full of chemicals,... Read more
I have a passion for proper food which hasn't been pumped full of chemicals,... Read more
Published 10 months ago by 270tu
Good
This is a good book, and why can be seen from the many previous reviews. The book well deserves three amazon stars. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Toad
River Cottage Meat Book - utterly first class
This book isn't for the squeamish - it is simply an honest-to-God, first-class cookery book dealing, in this case, with meat. Read more
Published 16 months ago by David B. Neale
River Cottage gets even better
I really enjoyed reading this book. It conatins a lot of Hugh's life philosophies and his particular slant on the world. Read more
Published 17 months ago by John Melville
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