The River Cottage Meat Book: The ultimate guide for any meat lover

This book makes me so happy. I still cant decide whether Hugh is going in or out of his shed with his delightful, well marbled full crop of beef (lol, read the book) and what hes going to do with it if hes removing it, or why hes putting it in there if he is going in. It never fails to pass a bit of time musing over what hes doing with his meat today, and whether its maybe a bit personal given the coy but slightly cheeky grin on his face and the wanton toussledness of his hair. He looks ready for action in a dashing pinny and is gripping his meat firmly like he means business, and I couldnt wait to see where the story would lead me. So onwards beyond the cover.....This book is an absolute must for any keen cook and generally anyone who has any vague sort of interest in the different cuts of meat from various animals, and also the ethics behind various types of animal husbandry. The information concealed in this veritable tome will give you the knowledge and confidence to try new cuts of meat and to actually venture into a proper butchers and speak to them about what you want and about where the meat is sourced, and to be able to cook it correctly and do justice to the animal it came from. More and more this knowledge is being lost and a lot of the younger generation now know only the very basics about the cuts of meat. This book will inform and inspire and is my favourite cooking book I own, and I have quite a few! It will give you a most important foundation of knowledge by which to build your confidence and repertoir on.I requested my brother buy it for me for my birthday a few years ago, and now he has his own house and is gaining in confidence in cooking he asked for it for xmas this year, and he has already read lots of it and loves it too, and is already talking about swapping from intensively reared meat to cheaper cuts of more welfare-conscious produce.If you are lacking confident on your cuts of meat and really want to know what the crack is, you MUST buy this book. Every discerning cook should have this on their shelf, proudly displayed next to your Delia Smith Complete Cookery Course!Buy this book, Hugh deserves your patronage for this, his grand opus!

Once you have looked through this book, there will be little left you want to know about meat, it is concise and very knowledgeable, as you would expect from Hugh. I have always liked River Cottage above all other cookery programmes, and this book exhibits many of its good qualities. If you are buying this book for meat recipes, I must say you will be disappointed, not that there are no good recipes in it, far from it, there are, but at least half the book (without actually counting the pages), are about the meat itself, the cuts, the cooking times, the types of meat etc. So if you want a recipes book of just good meat recipes, then this is not the book for you, however if you want to understand more about the beasts, and the best way of cooking them and the reason why you cook them that way, plus some good recipes, then this is definitely it. The bible of meat as some reviewers have already said. Good cooking!

This tome is packed full of balanced advice and recipes that cover all the cuts of meat I can think of and several that I am now educated about. This book is as much about education as cooking. I approach it using bite-sized chunks as there is so much to digest. It is a book that is destined to be an old and dog-eared friend for many years to come.

I've never sat down and read a cookery book from cover to cover before - but then this is not an ordinary cookery book.There are plenty of innovative as well as classic recipes included and they've all turned out well when I've tried them. HFW's easy approach to cooking isn't too challenging and anyone can do it. Plus it leaves no cut of meat uncatered for. Waste not want not.What I particularly loved about MEAT was Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's impassioned arguments for why it's vital that we only eat meat from an animal that's been treated well - even if that means eating less meat (his Veg book will come in handy if that's the case).As a former vegetarian eating meat has never been an easy thing for me to do but Whittingstall's philosphy is so carefully thought out and argued it has changed my opinion and eating habits so much for the better.I don't think it's overstating it to say that this book changed our lives. Mealtimes are happier and healthier now. Cheers Hugh! I raise my glass of Somerset cider to you for that.Everyone should read this book and really think carefully about the meat you buy.Obviously an animal who's eaten fresh grass, breathed fresh air and had room to move about and develop lean muscle is going to taste amazing. If we want to eat them, the least we can do is make sure they are healthy in body and mind first.