Lobel's Meat Bible: All You Need to Know about Meat and Poultry from America's Master Butchers by Stanley, Evan, Mark, and David Lobel.If you look this book up on Amazon, you’ll find some mixed reviews. Is it really a “Meat Bible?” Will it tell you “all you need to know about meat and poultry?” Well, that’s going to depend on whether you’re planning to get your meat more or less ready to use from a butcher or if you’re itching to throttle some poor beast on your own.
The Lobel family has been supplying fine meats to their New York customers since 1840. Needless to say, they speak with authority.
This book will be most useful to those who want to learn about the different cuts of meat and how to use them. The authors give numerous tips on selecting meats and include the correct methods of handling and storage. There are chapters for the all the usual animals: Beef, Veal (yuck!), Pork, Lamb, Poultry & Rabbit, Game Birds & Game, Variety Meats (they’re not just entrails anymore!), and Sauces. Each chapter covers the different cuts, where they’re located, and how to buy and prepare each. Really, quite interesting. I’d never heard of a “Hanger Steak” before, but now I’m eager to toss one on the grill.
The book does include recipes, something that upset some of the Amazon reviewers. The “Beef and Spicy Tahini Casserole” turned out well, and the next time my wife and I have a chance we’ll try corning our own beef.
Definitely worth checking out!
