Customer Reviews

The Whole Beast: Nose To Tail Eating

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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I know, I'm the publisher. But that's just it -- I committed early here, bought into this book in a big way. Anyone can publish "the famous chefs," but as a publisher, and a reader and user of cookbooks (my 10-year-old daughter thinks I'm a talent in the kitchen), how often do you get the chance to be part of a groundbreaking movement? A style of cooking that combines soul and taste, with a nod to "economy" - waste not want not! I've been told by many along the way that this is truly a counter-intuitive enterprise. In response, I wish only to say that THE WHOLE BEAST is a book that has already given the serious food world (chefs, cookbooks writers, reviewers and discerning eaters) tremendous pleasure. It's a book that will always be part of my starting team in the kitchen. There's nothing like it - a book that proves once and for all that offal is awesome.

Fergus Henderson, the chef author of this book subtitled 'nose to tail eating' is a cult hero among foodies and among heroes of foodies such as Tony Bourdain, who writes the introduction to this new edition and Mario Batali, a major advocate himself of using the whole animal.

For several reasons, this book is likely to have little to no value to the average person who cooks and who may refer to a cookbook now and then. The recipes commonly use ingredients that are simply unavailable outside better butcher shops and farmers' markets. The recipes also commonly use techniques that are the antithesis of fast cooking and low fat cooking. There are some recipes that literally require up to two weeks to complete.

The true audience for this book aside from culinary professionals are those who religiously watch Alton Brown's 'Good Eats' , read John Thorne's books and newsletter as if they were gospels, and study books by Paul Bertolli, Eric Rippert, Judy Rodgers, and Jeremiah Tower for subtle new techniques to squeeze the last ounce of value from their primo materia.

Just to be sure it is clear to you what this book is all about, it's primary subject is preparing in a cuisine absolutely everything but the oink, as the saying goes, from a pig and other animals. To this end, the author presents us with recipes for pig's head, pigs jowls (Mario Batali's favorite guanciale), pig's ears, pig's tail, livers, hearts, tongues, and the most beloved stomach as used in preparing the old Scottish classic, haggis.

If this were the limit of the author's novelty, there would probably be little interest in the book among chefs. The author pushes this point of view to cover culinary techniques which are either not commonly used by the average chef and which are generally unknown to the average cook. The two best-known methods are brining and preserving in oil as in a comfit. Brining has probably become much better known among American foodies thanks to the efforts of Alton Brown and Shirley Corriher. It is a method of soaking meat in a solution of salt, sugar, and aromatics to impart moisture to the meat. Creating a comfit involves storing meat in fat rendered from the meat and fatty parts of the animal from which the meat was taken. The method is best known as a method for preserving duck legs, but it may be applied to many other meats. The author applies both techniques to a wide variety of foods.

If any part of this book may have use to the average reader who takes cooking seriously, it would probably be the author's lessons on the creation and use of stocks. Unlike chefs at the cutting edge of American haute cuisine such as Judy Rodgers, Henderson's stock techniques are beautifully simple. He does recommend the uncommon method of creating a raft to clarify stocks. I have not seen this method used outside of Culinary Institute of America texts, but the author presents it so simply that one need have no fear that it is too complicated for them. That is not to say it does not take time. This is an example of why the nonprofessional will want to read this book. It is just chocked full of unusual techniques, some as simple as they are unexpected. The author goes against a tidal wave of preference for the Italian flat leafed parsley and chooses to use curly leafed parsley in most recipes including an utterly simple method for flavoring salt with the herb and adding it to a simple sauce.

While the focus of the book is on meat, it does cover the very typical range of dishes with chapters on Stocks, Soups, Salads, Starters, Main Dishes (mostly the odd body parts are here), Birds and Game, Fish and Shellfish, Vegetables, Sauces, Puddings, and Baking. The refreshing iconoclasm extends even to the discussion of routine sauces where the author is clear to all that aioli is NOT mayonnaise with garlic, but a thing onto itself. He probably also breaks a few hearts by mixing olive oil for both mayonnaise and aioli in a food processor.

The book should also be a treasure for armchair foodies who get no closer to a Garland range than a read of reviews in 'Cooks Illustrated'. This chef has a way with words. You may almost think of him as a literate Jaime Oliver who suggests you put terrines 'in the fridge for 24 hours to allow it to find itself'. I sometimes find it tedious to read even good recipes. There is no such problem with this book.

Highly recommended read for all professionals and foodies. Great source of ideas, even if you never make any of the recipes.

The best endorsement for a cookbook is that you cook from it. I have done the usual skim through the pages as with most food books. Fergus' manner of explanation is very down to earth and amusing at the same time. The recipes are not at all complicated and invite you to try some of these "heritage style" dishes.

good eating
Brent

Outstanding book
Excellent for at home as well as professional cooks.
The food is defenetly on the more rustic side, but extremely flavorful and worth overcoming any squeamishness about any of the cuts of meat used.
The recipes are very easy to follow and the notes from Fergus are insightful and helpful.
Worth buying, i only wish i could have found it in hardcover

Even if I never cook a single recipe from this book, I will treasure it for Fergus Henderson's voice. "Find the happiest tomatoes you can." The writing is charming, and most encouraging for those of us who love to eat the odd bits but never cook them. And not only the odd bits -- many of the recipes for the more usual parts and for accoutrements sound wonderful, too.

This book is centuries behind its time and years ahead of its time-a great book for anyone who cares about food, cooking or eating. Thank God for Henderson's work and craft. He's a marvel. More people in the United States ought to be familiar with his work. I hope this book is just the beginning.

After having the most fantastic meal at St. John, I was compelled to buy the book. Although some of the recipies may seem a bit strange, there certianly are enough recipies that the adventurous home cook can try. I'm really looking forward to trying the "Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad".

I might just be a regular old cook at a regular old restaurant, but I, too, have been a fan of St John and Fergus Henderson since I first had crispy pig's tails there. But, as great as this book is, let me encourage people to seek out Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Cookbook. Same new-old British farmhouse fare, some very very good writing (think a british John Thorne) and he not only tells you what to do with all manner of pig parts, he tells you how to raise your own pig! Nose to tail and soup to nuts all in the same book!

Review above mine.
And I meant every word.

fergus henderson's nose to tail eating is the most interesting and provocative cookbook i have seen in a time where the bulk of all of the cookbooks released have 75 recipes for chicken and 30 for cream cheese and pasta. This thoughtful tome starts with delicious and easy to make soups with simple ingredients like pumkpin, bacon and garlic and proceeds to reveal a zen master restaurant chef at the peak of his game. This is not a pasta and grocery store driven book for the rookie cook, but more for the cuisine enthusiast with a couple of great recipes in their repetoire, looking to expand to the slightly different and flavorful world of simple and poetic cooking of one of the great restaurants of the world.