Customer Reviews
Informative and inspiring - By: Bluebell, 29 Oct 2008 
This massive tome has a wealth of information about everything to do with the meat we buy & eat. The pictures of what happensin abatoirs are salutary & remind one that to eat meat is a privilege. It's much more than a recipe book: more an instruction manual about which cuts to choose & how to cook them.
The author is convincingin his discussion of the ethical issues connected with different types of farming & the necessity to use every part of a carcass if an animal has been rearedin a humane way. But it's far from being a polemical book: one can almost smell the aroma as he describes meat sizzling & browning & there are loads of inviting recipes that inspire one to getin the kitchen.
There's also a long list of suppliers of good meat.
Outstanding book, more of a meat encyclopedia than recipe book - By: A. Wareing, 08 Jul 2008 As many others have mentioned this is a truly outstanding book. Aside from the chapters on the ethics of meat, which many others have covered, this really is an encyclopedia of meat. The various chapters explain all the different cuts of meat, what good cuts look & feel like & the appropriate way of cooking. It does have many recipes but its much more than that it gives a great overall idea of all the different cooking processes. These sections are particularly useful & give great background info on each method the likes of which i have foundin no other cookbook. It has increased my confidencein choosing, buying & cooking meat no end. Since buying this I have had the skills to cook much more varied species & cuts of meat, cooking them using many different methods. Whilst i have made many of the tasty recipes, I use the book almost daily as a reference title. If your a meat eater & can only buy one cookbook this is the one.
I really need this book. - By: Mrs. D. L. Cox, 22 Jan 2008 Fantastic book. I have learned so much from this book & I have developed a whole new respect for the meat I eat.
This book is an eye opener educating about...
animal farming/welfare
what cuts of meat work for what purpose
how to recognise good quality
pricipals of different styles of cooking & why they work.
I also highly value the chapter on meat thrift. Using leftovers to their best advantage. There is no doubt that this book deserves all the praise it gets..well done hugh!
A Wonderful Book! - By: Skinny Malinky, 11 Jan 2008 Please please please - everyone buy this book. Infact, everyone buy every book Hugh has published about food! This man is a hero. Yes, it is a cookbook but it is also soooooooo much more. A real education about meat - the whole process & not just skirting around the issues. Hugh states that he is a meat eater but that he is not a meat eater at ANY cost. He cares passionately about the conditions animals are keptin & how they are treated/live their lives whilst they are among us. Added to this - the recipes are absolutely fantastic. This book is a must for anyone who loves to cook, wants varied, interesting & easy to follow recipes & also cares about what they put on their plates. Fantastic book - I shall be adding ALL of his other books to my shelves.
Beware - this book could change you for life - By: hypercat, 13 Dec 2007 I've had this book for a year & it's changed my meat shopping & cooking patterns for good. Out of over 150 cookbooks currently on my shelves, it comes out time & time again (and it's beginning to look like its been marinated). A combination of lifestyle philosophy, meaty reference book, polemic & evangelical call to ethical shopping & cooking, it is so much more than a cookbook. Hugh has a great easy & lucid writing style & the recipes really work (his tortilla mix has become my standard). Hugh's persuasive arguments for thinking about what we eat, how meat is produced & on animal welfare issues provide a powerful force for pricking the conscience. A major weaponin pushing back the fast food & processed food culture & the inhumane & poor production values that currently dominate. Read this together with Joanna Blytheman's Bad Food Britain & you may just start to seriously re-evaluate how you shop & eat. It may have increased the amount I spend on good quality ethically produced meat but its also made me respect good produce & eat better. Oh & its handsomely illustrated & well laid out as well - just a little difficult to readin bed & carry because of its size.
