Synopses & Reviews
Chef Brian Polcyn and Michael Ruhlman continue their vital work of elevating the art of charcuterie in Meat Pies, a collection of recipes, advice, and step-by-step visuals for home cooks and professionals eager to expand their knowledge of meat-and-vegetable concoctions topped, enclosed, or wrapped in dough. The book is divided into sections defined by crust--the contemporary pot pie, the hand-raised pie (individual pies), rolled-raised pies, double-crusted pies, turnovers, vol-au-vents--and once readers master each dough, they can re-create their work and invent their own. Within each category of pie are rediscovered favorites, such as a chicken pot pie with a biscuit crust, as well as new spins on classics, including seafood pies, a sheet-pan pie, portable handheld pies, and a showstopping vegetable pie with a braided crust.
Informed by Polcyn's decades of award-winning cooking and teaching, and brought to life by Ruhlman's engaging prose, Meat Pies presents a comprehensive and exciting guide to a burgeoning American craft.
Review
"[A] comprehensive yet accessible treatise on all sorts of savory pies….Home cooks seeking new but achievable challenges will have fun reproducing Polcyn and Ruhlman's creations." -Booklist
"An absolute masterclass from two behemoths of the industry whom I’ve always looked up to. Bulletproof, tasty recipes alongside technique and skills. . . . The pie revolution is here, jump aboard" -Chef Calum Franklin
"There are no better authors to pen the comprehensive guide to a once forgotten category of cuisine than Michael Ruhlman and Chef Polcyn." -Grant Achatz
About the Author
Brian Polcyn has owned and operated many of Detroit’s finest restaurants, namely Forest Grill and Five Lakes Grill. From 1997 to 2024, he served on the full-time faculty of the Culinary Arts program at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan, where he taught butchery and charcuterie. He is the co-author of a series of cookbooks on the art of charcuterie, including Charcuterie; Salumi; and Pâté, Confit, Rillette.
Michael Ruhlman is one of the most highly regarded food writers today, having written and coauthored many bestsellers, including The Soul of a Chef, The French Laundry Cookbook, Ratio, The Book of Cocktail Ratios, and a series of cookbooks on the art of charcuterie, including Charcuterie; Salumi; and Pâté, Confit, Rillette. He lives in New York City and Providence, Rhode Island, with his wife, Ann Hood.