THE PROLOGUE

It is my habit to take detailed notes especially in this area. I have taken notes of my experiments in charcuterie for a very long time. I note that the first entry in the first notebook was made in January 2013. This became the foundation for the first book, hence the title. I have continued with my habit of recording notes since that time. You will recall that one of my concerns in this area from the very beginning was the paucity of information regarding the methodology and other aspects of this craft. It was because of those concerns that I decided to turn the first notebook into the first book,” A Charcuterie Diary” was the result. That book has had some modest success. There have been many notebooks since. The other thing which I had found was most unsatisfactory in the available texts was the instructions as to how to butcher the meat. I have not written of this before in the previous books. The reason was that I was more concerned about recording my observations in the area, and the recipes, which I had discovered. However, the process of making charcuterie meant that I had to teach myself how to butcher the various cuts of meat. The recipes would only describe in narrative form how to go about these tasks but not the butchery which was required. I have taught myself how to approach the task of butchery over many years. The purpose of this book is to fill another gap in the market, that is to say, describe in a pictorial narrative how to achieve the cuts of meat required in order to carry out this back water, of butchery and culinary expertise. There is no other book available, to my knowledge, which explains in a pictorial and narrative sense, how to achieve the specialized cuts of meat required for charcuterie. There is no other book which also explains the equipment needed to explore this culinary backwater. It is for that reason that I had once again embarked on the arduous task of recording my observations.

This book represents more than 11 years of self-education, an abundance of fear and loathing, and of conducting charcuterie classes in various places in Australia.

However, I have long had an aversion to cookbooks which are essentially “meat on a plate “ iterations but with a sparse narrative.

The challenge with this book was to provide “how to “instructions, which must always be prosaic, with some artistic flair both in a narrative and photographic sense.

This book is the result.

I hope that this may be of interest to you.

I am for the very last time, a river to my people. Ignore previous statements to that effect.

Suck it up cupcake.

Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure. On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be? (George Orwell, Animal Farm)