Bones: Jennifer McLagan

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Never skip the Acknowledgements section of any book: it is often a treasure trove. It can tell you about who the writer has worked or studied with, befriended or loved, and it can tell you of any special arrangements that made the book possible. It is especially true in Bones: Recipes, History & Lore (William Morrow, 2005) by Jennifer McLagan. She starts by thanking grandparents, aunts and mother and then includes this interesting reference: Leila Batten and Stanley Janecek at Whitehouse Meats, John Rierkerk at Second Wind Elk, Elizabeth and Peter Bzikot and their sheep, Chang Lin at Pisces Fish, and Mary Lou Dolan at Beretta Organic Farms. My butcher in Paris deserves special mention. Watching Joel Lachable work is a joy and an education. It reveals the art form that is good butchery. I often don't want to cook the meat he has prepared; I am content to just admire its beauty. (pp. ix-x) Google them all! Then set out on a trip to eat their succulent meat and fish, or just admire it. In an era of Mad Cow Disease and carbon monoxide infuse plastic wrap for steak (see the terrific article by Marian Burros in The New York Times yesterday), the glories of butchers and farms seem so out of place. And yet, who can forget the physical power of a great butcher who can dissect an animal into such pleasing parts? What makes bones so special? You can feel your bones in your arms, jaw, or legs. The fact that bones in our own bodies are so easily mentally connected to the bones of a steer or a hen, while muscle itself is given so many other names (beef, chicken, pork, veal and so on) gives bones a special place. We know what they are and yet what is so magical is the flavor they give food when cooked together with muscle. Bringing back that flavor and bone-in cooking is Jennifer's mission: Restoring bones to their deserved place in our kitchen will not be easy. Firs, we must fight against the current fascination with fast and quick, boneless food. Then we need to familiarize ourselves with the whole animal, its essentail structure. When we understand where the bones are, we will be able to cook the meat attached to them. (p. 3) Of course the problem in this age of filet-filled supermarkets is finding that great butcher to provide you with all those bones in the first place. The chapter on Beef and Veal (p. 7) starts with a wonderful black and white photograph by Colin Faulkner and descriptions of the animals and butcher's cuts. There are fine recipes for stock and consommé (pp. 12-5), and then plenty of recipes for ribs and steak. Four Bones in One Pot (pp. 37-8) is one of the more fanciful recipes with beef shank, short ribs, oxtail and marrow bones and plenty of vegetables. There is a simple straightforward recipe for Roasted Marrow Bones (pp. 44-5) served with either Fleur de Sel (for us Francophiles) or a Parsley Salad (for Anglophiles). Jennifer has an essay on bone marrow, useful for reading while devouring marrow on toast, on page 51, with the extra tip for the cautious: "Spinal marrow is found in the bones of chops and ribs, the neck, and tail. The safest bone marrow is that from the leg bones, because it has had no direct contact with the brain." There are chapters on Pork (p. 53) with nifty information about ancient use of bones as musical instruments (p. 89) and Lamb (p. 91) with a curious bit of information about lamb bones used as ice skates in the Bronze Age (p. 104) and bone games like jacks (p. 117). In the Poultry chapter (p. 125) among the recipes for duck and turkey, the story of wishbones is explored in several essays, one primarily on the Anglo-Saxon traditions (p. 137) and another on a Persian Wishbone games (p. 153). Although, it is marvelous to see a recipe for Spicy Steamed Chicken Feet (p. 161) an overlooked delicacy, there is no Persian poultry dish like Fesenjan , the walnut-and-pomegranate-syrup-laced chicken stew, mentioned to accompany the wishbone game. There are also fine chapters on Fish (p. 165) though not mollusks for obvious reasons and Game (p. 199), with no less than four recipes for rabbit including Rabbit in Saffron Sauce with Spring Vegetables, in which the rabbit liver is served as a spread for accompanying bread (pp. 216-7). There is also a great tidbit on Bone China (p. 219) appropriate to read while eating off your favorite (bone china is 50% bone ash). Jennifer managed to find bone desserts for her final chapter, Bonelogue (p. 239) pointing out that gelatin used in many desserts is made from boiling animal feet. If the idea of a savory dessert made of bones or marrow bothers you, try faux Bone Cookies (p. 243), based on a recipe for osi di morto and shaped to look like Milkbones.(Ruff, ruff, yum, yum!) Book details: Publisher Amazon.com Barnes & Noble Previous articles: [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks --> back to superchefblog