As you would expect from the quirky and strong-minded Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, The River Cottage Meat Book is a quirky and strong-minded book. This arm-straining volume (weighing in at an impressive and well illustrated 543 pages) is quite the most ambitious volume yet by an author who absolutely refuses to be categorised. Is he a cookery writer? An expert on the sociology and history of food? An eccentric TV personality? Actually, of course, he's all three (and more); and all of his various skills find expression in this, his magnum opus.

The first intriguing question that The River Cottage Meat Book inspires is: what is the author's agenda? The book has so many aims it's difficult to know where to begin. First of all, this is a definitive guide to the preparation and cooking of meat, in all its various forms. Fearnley-Whittingstall deals (in assiduous detail) with such topics as roasting, grilling and preserving everything from turkey to trotters, in a variety of recipes that he obviously knows and loves. But there is far more to the book than this--fascinating sections on the many different types of meat (lamb, pork and so on) are crammed with information on the different cuts of meat and what they should be used for.

But as someone who raises and utilises his own livestock at the River Cottage, Fearnley-Whittingstall is clearly passionate about the welfare of animals bred for food, and provides some unpalatable information on widespread misdemeanours in these areas. If nothing else, this book will persuade you that it's a good idea to buy your meat from butchers who are equally passionate about these issues, or even direct from reputable farms. The concept makes sound ideological sense, but also ensures that your meat dishes will have an unrivalled depth of flavour. --Barry Forshaw

2008-09-22 Truly great meat

This is a fantastic book and lives up to all the expectations I'd had when rading the reviews on Amazon. It truly isenlightening to see someone being frank and honest about eating meat - I have to say he really is open about his meat and goes into great detail about what he likes to do with his meat. It's a great reference for all wannabe chefs, and let's face it many of us fancy ourselves as the next big thing.
I love cooking and so does my partner. We often like to entertain a throng of guests with a buffet or smaller guests with a 3 course meal (smaller meaning less numbers, not height restricted). Anyway we are always looking for new recipes to excite our guests and chanced upon this little gem. With no shame, we are not vegetarians so like so we look for unusual things to do with our meat. We have been known to tightly bound our beef and prick it with rosemary and garlic - the juices just flow out and create the tastiest creamy beef sauce - and when sliced and place to the side of the plate, the moist, red beef curtans provide a superb frame in which can be place all manner of other ingredients. I have a particular penchant for lamb and exotic recipes such as Moroccan lamb, slowly cooked with apricots and other such ingredients really bring out the best of my tender meat. We also have a joint liking for venison, although this can be dear. I really must say that the contents of this book cover all these types of meat and more and is a real delight to see suggestions that really do the ingredients justice. Most people may consider chicken to be a little bland, however given the right herbs and spices even a dull piece of chicken can be turned into a real feast. For me there is nothing like a nice lean breast, sprinkled with a little cheese for that real treat at supper. However what we both really like is pork. For me a slow roasted skewer with pomodorini, sweet AND hot peppers, onion and lightly oiled pork gives the ultimate satisfaction - a veritable pork sword length of enjoyment. My partner however prefers something a little sweeter and for her, nothing puts a smile on her face more than when she has pork in cider.