cover image Salt Smoke Time: Homesteading and Heritage Techniques for the Modern Kitchen

Salt Smoke Time: Homesteading and Heritage Techniques for the Modern Kitchen

Will Horowitz. Morrow, $35 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06242-710-6

Horowitz, executive chef and owner of New York City’s Ducks Eatery and Harry & Ida’s Meat Supply Co., advocates for a return to nature as a way of securing and preserving food in this enlightening work. Part cookbook, part lifestyle treatise, Horowitz starts with an explanation of preservation techniques that include dry curing and brining, cold and hot smoking, dehydrating, fermenting, and more. He dedicates ample attention to foraging and offers such dishes as capered elderberries, pickled chanterelles, and dandelion honey. A chapter on animal husbandry and dairy prompts unique and appealing recipes for duck liver butter, tarragon cream, and smoked ricotta. Horowitz also explores drying and smoking seafood, including bluefish, mackerel, eel, and trout roe. A chapter on meat, butchery, and charcuterie includes historical recipes for fried locusts, snapping turtles, and moose nose along with modern recipes for maple-smoked bacon, venison gravlax, and duck prosciutto. Offering an eclectic and fascinating approach to procuring and preserving food, this book will appeal to those seeking to be more self-reliant as well as those who are interested in dabbling in time-honored traditions. (Mar.)