title: Pork
author: Cree LeFavour
publication date: September 9, 2014
publisher: Chronicle Books
My goal here is to take on pork in all its glorious variations. In pursuit of this goal, I’ve created recipes and sides inspired by the pig-eating traditions of the world.
— Cree LeFavour (Pork)
Whenever I hear ‘pork’, my first thought is always “No thanks, I don’t really like pork”, but then I think… “Oh, but I love ribs.. and I enjoy char siu…and oh yeah, I LOVE BACON.” At this point I realize that it’s really pork chops that I don’t particularly enjoy – and maybe I just haven’t had pork chops prepared properly.
Grilled Bone-In Chipotle Rib Chops
Hopefully Cree LeFavour’s book, Pork (full title: Pork: More than 50 Heavenly Meals that Celebrate the Glory of Pig, Delicious Pig), will change my mind and give me some new ideas on preparing this meat.
On a total side note – the ‘puffy’ cover of the book is really nice! I know that sounds weird, but it makes the book different from most of the other books on my shelf.
the first nibble:
At the start of the book, there’s an intro to the different cuts of the pig, plus info on how to shop for pork and how to cook pork to safe levels – all very useful information!
Because the chapters are divided into different cultures, there are introductions to the culture and notes like what to drink with the dishes, the basic style of cooking, etc.
On my first pass through the book, five recipes that jumped out as ‘must try’:
- Salt-and-Pepper Baby Backs, pg. 39
- Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich, pg. 51
- Bacon-Swaddled Meal Loaf, pg. 55
- Baby Pork Pies, pg. 113
- Pork Belly Ramen Noodle Bowl, pg. 179
the nitty-gritty:
number of recipes (as stated by book): “more than 145 recipes”
recipe list? Yes, at the start of each chapter, there’s a list of recipes contained in that chapter
table of contents: As mentioned above, the chapters are divided up by culture.
photography: The photography is neat and clean. Maybe a little too clean. There isn’t a crumb out of place in the photos – even the pulled pork sandwich is completely spotless (no meat spilling over, no dripping sauces). It’s not necessarily a bad thing – all the photos tie together into a nice little package and somehow looks very pastel-like and ‘pretty’.
The photo to recipe ration (given below) is a little misleading for this book since some of the photos showcase more than one recipe (which makes sense since the recipes are grouped into ‘meals’), but I still wish there were more photos. There were times when you went PAGES without seeing an image. The book felt clean, but sometimes a little bland.
photo to recipe ratio*: out of 51 total meals (totalling 148 recipes)**, 24 meals had at least one accompanying ‘finished dish’ photo or step-by-step photo (photo : recipe ratio = 1 : 0.5)
notes:
* this is a manual count, so numbers may be slightly off due to human error (mine)
** only ‘main’ recipes are counted – recipes that appear as part of another dish are not counted
Baby Pork Pies
recipes:
– separate ingredient list? yes
– serving info given? yes (for entire meal)
– prep/cook time given? no
– recipe format: paragraphs
Within the chapters, each recipe is grouped into a set – it starts with a main course of pork and then includes a complementary grain, pasta, salad, or vegetable (hence the ‘meals’ touted in the book title), which makes meal planning easy.
The side dishes are treated (and written) as separate recipes, so it’s very useful and easy to use.
Recipes are introduced with a short blurb and written out in a simple layout. I’m not a fan of the font (an old timey typewriter font), and the font size is a little small, so that might deter some cooks who want something a little easier to read as they’re whipping things together in the kitchen and the book is propped up on the counter.
There is a wide variety of recipes included in the book – some are simple and easy to make, while others are a little more complicated and require ingredients that are a little more expensive.
the last bite:
I love the grouping of the recipes into meals – it makes meal planning very easy, and the variety of side dishes included make this a cookbook that’s more than ‘just pork’.
The extremely wide range of recipes – from simple to complex, from cheap to expensive – makes this a cookbook that will appeal to all budgets, plus the variety of cultural influences keeps things interesting. If Cree had managed to sneak in a pork-related dessert or two (I have no idea how, but it would have been interesting to see), that would have made this book a one-stop shop.
As it is, I definitely have found a bunch of new pork recipes to help me get past the automatic “I don’t like pork [chops]” reaction and “celebrate the glory of pig, delicious pig.”
Click here to purchase Pork from The Book Depository (free worldwide shipping) or Amazon
Belly-Tofu Stir-Fry
Disclosure: I received a copy of Pork from the publisher for review purposes. I did not receive any financial compensation for writing this post and the post was not reviewed by the publisher prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.
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