The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating is a certified "foodie" classic. In it, Fergus Henderson -- whose London restaurant, St. John, is a world-renowned destination for people who love to eat "on the wild side" -- presents the recipes that have marked him out as one of the most innovative, yet traditional, chefs. Here are recipes that hark back to a strong rural tradition of delicious thrift, and that literally represent Henderson's motto,… Product details and pricing info |
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29 Customer Reviews Posted
- A Return to Utilizing the Whole Animal
- For me there is nothing scary about cold lamb's brains on toast or crispy pig's tails. I grew up in a gourmet teaching kitchen where lunch was left overs from classes including such wonders as sweetbreads, kidney pie and fish roe. When Bill Cosby came out with a routine about the Chicken Heart that ate Chicago - we ate chicken hearts and loved them - craved them!
So a book with nose to tail eating is not going to make me squirm - it is going to make me drool! and such a well done book. The recipes are in a simple format under the headings Stocks, Soup, Salads, Starters, Lamb's Brains and Sweetbreads, Meat, Birds and Game, Fish and Shellfish, Vegetables, Dressings sauces and Pickles, Puddings and Savories, and Baking.
I find this book a good cross over for those who wish to learn more about using the whole animal - yet need to do this in baby steps. Recipes include "less threatening" cross overs such as Beans and Bacon, Roast Pork Loin with Turnips, Garlic and Anchovies.
With the exception of breads and some sugar in the dessert section, all the ingredients are healthy choices - animal fat, olive oil and real butter. I found this book through the [...] under their thumbs up book reviews. I have yet to buy a book from that recommendation list that has not become a favorite of mine - this book included.
After making the fish pie, sweetbreads and Boiled Beef and dumplings, I have added a trip to Fergus Henderson's restaurant to my "things to do before I pass" list. It doesn't hurt that the restaurant happens to be overseas :-) - 2008-12-31, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- WAY COOL!
- Lots of interesting recipes for unusual ingredients, such as pig's ear, lamb's tongues, eel, skate, I could go on. Also some good looking ones for things I might actually try to cook! Great fun just to go through, and intro is by Anthony Bourdain. What more could you want?
- 2008-10-10, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Humble Genius
- Fergus Henderson is fascinating for a number of reasons. Primarily, of course, he runs an incredibly popular restaurant cooking the offal and off-cuts most chefs don't have the balls to put on their menus. (Henderson would, I'm sure, put balls on his).
Where this book shines is in bringing to light Henderson's apparent love affair with the food he cooks. He honors his ingredients by wasting nothing, animal or vegetable. If it's edible, he'll make it famous.
Henderson's writing style is charmingly eccentric. You, too, will start ascribing whimsical personality traits to food as you read on. Always just thought of curly parsley as an irrelevant garnish? For Henderson it's a key ingredient in his signature dish, roast bone marrow and parsley salad, and reading what he has to say about it has made me reevaluate parsley. He's that good.
The Whole Beast is more than a cook book; it's a manifesto. It's an easy-reading one at that, and I blew through it in one sitting, enraptured by Henderson's humble genius. - 2008-09-17, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Fun reading
- Fascinating book. Even if you never make any of the dishes covered in the book it is a real hoot to read. I have made a couple and they turned out great.
- 2008-06-17, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Everything but the oink
- A wonderful cookbook to scare the children and vegetarians in your life with. A diverse collection of recipes using various critter parts that you may not have though of as being edible.
I don't have the bravery to try some of the recipes, but there are a few that are on the list to try next time I'm feeling adventurous in the kitchen. - 2008-05-22, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
