What Bill Bryson did for trees and walking shoes and Mark Kurlansky did for cod, Peter Kaminsky now does for pork in Pig Perfect.
Do you crave a juicy pork chop? An old-time country ham? Or maybe some Southern-style barbecue? Then you'll want to join Peter Kaminsky on his pilgrimage in search of the perfect pig.
Part travelogue, part cookbook, part naturalist's encounter, and part love letter, Kaminsky's book takes us from Kentucky, Burgundy, and Madrid to the Yucatán and back to Brooklyn to tell the tale of the pig. From the wondrous techniques of tailgate chefs to Mayan home cooking, competitive barbecuing, and the ancient rite of the pig killing that has bound communities together over the centuries, Pig Perfect brings together an oddball pork-loving band of chefs, farmers, and food lovers and offers a tasty history of the oft underappreciated pig.
Still hungry for more? Try these delicious recipes interspersed throughout the book:
--Porchetta, Burgundy Style

--Suckling Pig Braised in White Wine and Herbs

--Emile and Rachel's Roast Loin of Pork with Greens and Cantaloupe

"In this sprawling love letter to hogdom, 'hamthropologist' and food and fly fishing writer Kaminsky takes readers to France and Spain as well as to such American cities as Memphis, Louisville and Des Moines to visit a broad variety of pork-related venues. He waxes ecstatic about long-aged country ham and laments today's leaner, less flavorful meat. He seeks out a pig slaughter, considers why pork is taboo to Jews and Muslims, and excoriates the brutality and environmental damage wreaked by hog factories. Kaminsky (The Moon Pulled Up an Acre of Bass) celebrates family farmers who give their pigs freedom in the field, offer them natural foods and produce a far better pork. The author's enthusiasm is infectious, but since he races all over the map, the chatty accounts of his various adventures and the people he meets along the way are often fleeting as well. The narrative is, however, generously embellished with dozens of facts about pigs (such as the staggering statistic that about 350,000 U.S. hogs are slaughtered every week). Nine recipes, ranging from Country Ham Braised in Cider and Molasses to Emile and Rachel's Roast Loin of Pork with Greens and Cantaloupe, are scattered throughout to honor the oinker itself. Agent, Lisa Queen at IMG. (May 11)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"I love ham and I love this book." (Annie Dillard)

Part travelogue, part cookbook, part naturalist's encounter, and part love letter, this book takes readers from Kentucky, Burgundy, and Madrid to the Yucatan and back to Brooklyn to tell the tale of the pig.

Peter Kaminsky, a lifelong "hamthropologist," is the author of numerous books, including The Moon Pulled Up an Acre of Bass. Formerly New York Magazine's "Underground Gourmet," he has written award-winning articles that have also appeared in the New York Times, Food & Wine, Outdoor Life, and Field & Stream. Currently he is a columnist for the New York Times. He divides his time between New York City and Long Island.