James Peterson - Meat: A Kitchen Education

On such a complicated project, there are innumerable people who contribute in large and small ways. Alice Piacenza was the person with whom I worked most closely. She tested recipes, was the hands in the shots, and, most importantly, helped me with the photography. Her assistance was invaluable.

Id like to thank Joshua Applestone of Fleischers Meats for generously taking most of a day to show us butchering techniques and for encouraging the appreciation of locally raised animals. Rudi Weids butchery classes at the Institute of Culinary Education were also extremely helpful. Rudi guided us through the process of breaking down a whole lamb and with fine-tuning the meat charts. Thank you, too, to my dear friend Dennis Malachosky for explaining and demonstrating to me the many complexities of butchering and cooking venison. Much appreciation goes to the gentlemen at Los Paisanos Meat Market for their help, guidance, and courtesy.

Id also like to thank those at Ten Speed, including my editors Aaron Wehner and Dawn Yanagihara, who worked day in and day out readying the manuscript for publication. Sharon Silvas copyediting was extremely thorough and contributed enormously to the finished text. Nancy Austins art direction and Katy Browns expertise were essential for the books clean design that disguises its production complexity. Thanks to illustrator Alex Kalushner for his charming animal renderings.

Finally, there are those in my personal life who keep me going, who encourage and cajole, and without whom I could not have brought this project to fruition. Elise and Arnold Goodman have been my agents now for 20 yearsthey have provided advice and have helped me weather the many ups and down of this industry. Sarah Leuze and Joel Hoffman have been steady reminders that I can do what I need to do and have helped me realize so many of my personal goals. Last, Id like to thank Zelik Mintz for standing behind me for so many years, for spurring me on, and for providing endless encouragement.

JAMES PETERSON is an award-winning food writer, cookbook author, photographer, and cooking teacher whose career began as a young restaurant cook in Paris in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, Peterson practiced his traditional French training as a chef-partner for a Greenwich Village restaurant called Le Petit Robert. A cooking teacher for over two decades since, Peterson has taught at Peter Kumps New York Cooking School and at the French Culinary Institute. After translating a series of French pastry books from French to English, Peterson was encouraged to write his own book. He is now the author of thirteen books, including Sauces, his first book, which became an instant classic and received the 1991 James Beard Cookbook of the Year award. His articles and recipes have appeared in national magazines and newspapers. A self-taught food photographer, Peterson also creates the photography for his books. James Peterson cooks, writes, and photographs from Brooklyn, New York.

Cooking

by James Peterson
eISBN 978-1-60774-406-1

Baking

by James Peterson
eISBN 978-1-60774-407-8

Vegetables, Revised

The Most Authoritative Guide to Buying, Preparing, and Cooking, with More Than 300 Recipes

by James Peterson
eISBN 978-1-60774-205-0

Kitchen Simple

Essential Recipes for Everyday Cooking

by James Peterson

eISBN 978-1-60774-049-0

James Petersons Kitchen Education: Salsas, Sauces & Chutneys

Recipes and Techniques from Cooking

by James Peterson
eISBN 978-1-60774-401-6

James Petersons Kitchen Education: Soups & Broths

Recipes and Techniques from Cooking

by James Peterson
eISBN 978-1-60774-400-9

James Petersons Kitchen Education: Chicken & Other Poultry

Recipes and Techniques from Cooking

by James Peterson
eISBN 978-1-60774-399-6

Available from Ten Speed Press wherever ebooks are sold.
www.tenspeed.com

I n 1950, Americans consumed about twenty pounds of chicken per capita. In 2009, that figure had grown to almost 125 pounds per capita. But while the quantity eaten is now six times greater, the status of the chicken has diminished. No longer does it carry the esteem that prompted Henry IV to declare that every French peasant should have a chicken in the pot on Sundays, or pushed the U.S. Republican Party in the 1920s to promise a chicken in every pot and a car in every backyard.

The reason for this downfall is simple: the chickens most of us eat nowadays are a pale reflection of the birds of seventeenth-century France or early-twentieth-century America. Instead, they are battery raised, that is, they spend their livessometimes no longer than fifty daysconfined to small cages in crowded warehouselike structures, where they dine on feed guaranteed to fatten them up fast. Indeed, sometimes these caged birds are fattened so quickly that their legs are too spindly to support their weight.

To avoid these factory birds, many shoppers opt for chickens labeled free range. According to U.S. law, free-range chickens must be allowed access to the outdoors, though neither the range nor the conditions are specified. In other words, producers may decide that the outdoors is as little as a two-foot square of gravel. That means that some free-range chickens are going to be better than others. Other farmers raise heirloom birds the old-fashioned way, allowing them to wander freely, to peck and scratch in the grass at will, and to live much longer lives than their caged or even free-range cousins. Although most of us are quick to proclaim we favor these traditionally reared chickens above all others, we may actually be disappointed with our purchase. An older chicken that has run around a lot is typically tougher than one that hasnt.

Four other labels are routinely encountered when shopping for chicken, all defined by law: natural, no hormones added, no antibiotics added, and organic. If a bird is labeled natural, it means it has been minimally processed and contains no artificial flavorings or colorings or chemical preservativesall good things to know, but only a narrow indication of quality. The use of hormones in the raising of chickens is prohibited by law, so the claim is acknowledging only what the law already stipulates. In contrast, producers can administer antibiotics, but they must stop giving them to the chickens well before the birds are processed, so they are free of antibiotic residue at the time they are slaughtered for sale. However, because many consumers prefer to buy birds that have never been given antibiotics, nearly all farmers raising free-range chickens are also keeping them antibiotic free from birth. Finally, chickens labeled organic have been fed an exclusively organic diet.