Clearly authored for those who prefer knowing how the sausage is made, Wise (American Charcuterie
) writes with the gentility of a woman who owned and operated her own French-style charcuterie in Berkeley in the 1970s, and with the precision of an author of 12 previous books. Here she guides us through the making of a vast array of sausages that can either be shaped by hand or stuffed into casings. She also provides a variety of international recipes that incorporate the freshly made creations. Chapters are broken out by main ingredient, be it pork, beef, lamb, poultry, or seafood. There are even three vegetarian entries for the tofu, bulgur, and brown rice crowd. The classics are all accounted for, including a chorizo made with plenty of garlic for use in a black bean chili, and a basic lamb and rice sausage for stuffing grape leaves or bell peppers. Sweet Italian sausage, with fennel and thyme, is at the heart of a Pittsburgh-style sausage sandwich, while more exotic options include a Vietnamese-style beef meatball made with mint, cilantro, and Thai fish sauce. A gefilte fish recipe in a book with this title may strike some as culinarily sacrilegious, but Wise justifies the entry, simmers her ground white-fish dumplings in a broth of fish bones and heads, and explains that gefilte is actually the Yiddish word for “stuffed.” (May)
