Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them [Hardcover]

Peter Kaminsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 2005

What Bill Bryson did for trees and walking shoes and Mark Kurlansky did for cod, Peter Kaminsky now does for pork in Pig Perfect 'I love ham and I love this book.' -Annie Dillard o you crave a juicy pork chop? An old-time country ham? Or maybe some Southern-style barbecue? Then you'll want to join Peter Kaminsky on his pilgrimage in search of the perfect pig. Part travelogue, part cookbook, part naturalist's encounter, and part love letter, Kaminsky's book takes us from Kentucky, Burgundy, and Madrid to the Yucatn and back to Brooklyn to tell the tale of the pig. From the wondrous techniques of tailgate chefs to Mayan home cooking, competitive barbecuing, and the ancient rite of the pig killing that has bound communities together over the centuries, Pig Perfect brings together an oddball pork-loving band of chefs, farmers, and food lovers and offers a tasty history of the oft underappreciated pig.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this sprawling love letter to hogdom, "hamthropologist" and food and fly fishing writer Kaminsky takes readers to France and Spain as well as to such American cities as Memphis, Louisville and Des Moines to visit a broad variety of pork-related venues. He waxes ecstatic about long-aged country ham and laments today's leaner, less flavorful meat. He seeks out a pig slaughter, considers why pork is taboo to Jews and Muslims, and excoriates the brutality and environmental damage wreaked by hog factories. Kaminsky (The Moon Pulled Up an Acre of Bass) celebrates family farmers who give their pigs freedom in the field, offer them natural foods and produce a far better pork. The author's enthusiasm is infectious, but since he races all over the map, the chatty accounts of his various adventures and the people he meets along the way are often fleeting as well. The narrative is, however, generously embellished with dozens of facts about pigs (such as the staggering statistic that about 350,000 U.S. hogs are slaughtered every week). Nine recipes, ranging from Country Ham Braised in Cider and Molasses to Emile and Rachel's Roast Loin of Pork with Greens and Cantaloupe, are scattered throughout to honor the oinker itself. Agent, Lisa Queen at IMG. (May 11)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The New Yorker

In this memoirish account of pork production and consumption, the self-described "hamthropologist" Peter Kaminsky searches for the perfect swine. Cherishing memories of his grandma's boiled ham, Kaminsky travels extensively, from the foothills of the Pyrenees to rural Missouri. He examines pigs from historical, religious, and ecological viewpoints, veering into impassioned, if rudimentary, discussions of their role in everything from sustainable agriculture to evolution. The characters he encounters along the way, among them a dark-haired Kentucky beauty who holds the secret to pork mold and a champion pig-cutter from Spain, are the book's heroes. Kaminsky writes with the authority of an obsessive and a humor that occasionally strays into winsomeness; in his acknowledgments, he thanks "all the pigs who gave their last full measure in the service of gastronomy."
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (May 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401300367
• ISBN-13: 978-1401300364
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #302,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Devine Swine, October 11, 2005

By 

Collins Huff - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them (Hardcover)

Pete Kaminsky's Pig Perfect was just the treatise I was looking for as a yardstick for our farms own free-range pork production. The descriptions of the ham curing in Spain are of such great detail they inspire the reader to try their own hand at such an "art." The only thing that would be better would be to duplicate his travels and experience the taste first hand. I want to thank The author for sharing his insight with such passion and flair.
Collins Huff
Gryffon's Aerie
Heritage Livestock & Artisan Meats
Green Springs, Virginia

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great, fun read with an important message, September 12, 2005

By 

Cibodonna (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them (Hardcover)

This book is must-read for foodies, especially those with a Slow Food bent, interested in culinary traditions, and curious to know how good, full flavored, naturally-raised pork -- the kind our grandparents remember --slipped away from us. His journey is riveting, and he tells it with humor, great reporting and sparkling prose -- what I really liked about this book is how much I learned and hog industry vs the culture of pigs, without feeling preached to.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars i wish everyone would read this book, June 24, 2005

By 

gcon (colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them (Hardcover)

i reccommend this book to you whether you eat pork or not. the pork production in the US affects everyone. you should read this book so you understand how "pig farms" which are actually pig factories, affects the environment as well as the quality and flavor of pork.

but the book is not an environmental manifesto, it is an excellent look at the world of pig farming and pork. the recipes mixed into the meat of the book add a nice touch as well.

i know, now, that a pig, raised properly, produces pork with fat that can be as healthful as olive oil, and with a far better flavor. the reason your porkchops come out dry may be the meat itself, not your cooking.

the book is well written, informative and entertaining. it makes me want to raise my own pigs, apparently it is not that difficult. it also makes me want to take a tasting trip around the south, as well as go to spain to taste the amazing iberico ham there.

the reason i gave it only four stars is the author occasionally gets a bit off track, and the book gets a bit dry or saggy at times, but the dry spots do not last long at all. the description of the flavor of a good ham is worth owning the book, as well as a pretty comprehensive suggested reading list at the end. i hope you buy this book, and i hope, after you read it, you reccommend it to others.