I know this might not be a book for all people but it is truly a very useful book. When I was younger we had a container next to the stove for bacon grease or fat. We would save other types as well, for certain foods such as pies my grandmother would use either butter or lard, both give you the taste and texture of that old school look and flavor. Here in this book, the author gives you the proper way to render and store the fat you collect. You also get recipes and I will say that adding fat to some of the dishes actually does make a difference. Whether you are making refried beans, tamales, even wanting to make dough for a pie crust, your crust will be flakier and like your grandmothers at least mine is. The author is giving you ways to cook that are still healthy for the fats are the good fats not all of the bad ones. You are also still cooking with olive oil as well. Really for my family, we went back to this way years ago when we noticed that all of the margarine is made from oil. You also get many recipes to try and they are easy to follow instructions. Overall a very good book.

Quite educational even for a long time cook as me. Definitely a book I will purchase for others. Really great recipes. I am a huge fan of duck fat now. I will definitely be incorporating much of what I've learned here into my cooking.
Thank you for giving me a chance to review. Really marvelous book.

I’d like to start by quoting the description given by the publisher because is what got me interested in this book in the first place.



Description by publisher: “Animal fats are being welcomed back into the kitchen! Chefs and home cooks alike are rediscovering how fats create amazing texture — from the flakiest lard pie crust to the crispiest fried chicken — and define the flavor of a dish like authentic clam chowder with salt pork or duck fat French fries.

The Fat Kitchen is the comprehensive guide to rendering and using whole animal fats, including lard, tallow, and poultry fat. Cooks will learn the distinctive qualities and best uses of each fat along with methods for curing and storing them. In addition, 100 scrumptious recipes highlight traditional cultural favorites like matzoh ball soup, pasta carbonara, pork tamales, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, Southern-style collards, confit chicken, New England baked beans, and jelly doughnuts.”
The reason this description got my attention is that I learned most of my cooking skills thanks to my grandma, and she used to cook with animal fat like lard (pork’s fat).
I terribly miss my grandma’s cooking (and her of course), it was delicious, scrumptious, and just like any grandma’s cooking, it tastes like childhood.
The Fat Kitchen, what’s inside
The recipes are well laid out, with step by step instructions, and even some history or tips are given. The book covers the use of beef, chicken, duck and pig fat and why animal fats belong in a well-balanced diet.

I really like that you don’t only learn the importance of animal fat and recipes to go with them, but also how to render them, store them, and of course how to implement them in recipes.
So overall is a great resource, with a very specific topic. Is a step further beyond the regular cooking books that are only a collection of recipes. (Nothing wrong with a collection of recipes, as I own many myself, but is nice to have learning resources to go along with the recipes too.)
And what a collection of recipes! You can find a total of 5 chapters of recipes divided into snacks, street food and starters, main dishes, side dishes, baking and desserts, and basic recipes.
I simply love the photography in this book. Just beautiful but wished it had more photos, as not all dishes have a photographic representation.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in using animal fat for their recipes.
But of course, this is a very personal book nowadays, since so many people have a restrictive diet, like veganism, low-fat diets, and alike. So I am aware that this book is not made for everyone.

I am amazed by how much we miss out on because we do not butcher our own meats. I was really intimidated by this book out first. Usually, the meats come trimmed and I stick to my usually vegetable oils for cooking. This book challenged me but I really enjoyed it. I've learned a lot and look forward to integrating some of these techniques and tips into my regular cooking. I didn't try everything yet but I hope to purchase the book so I can try some more recipes and techniques. This has definitely given me more appreciation on butchered meats and all the fats as well.

Chesman’s long introduction extolling the virtues of animal fat over vegetable seed oils is laudable and educational. But when it comes right down to it, a diet that is low fat and high fiber just feels better. That being said, when it comes to fat, good tasting fats beat the heck out of nasty tasting fats, making lard, butter, and excellent olive oils the obvious choice for cooking. And that is exactly what Chesman advocates in this excellent cookbook, that works its way through the various animal fat products, detailing rendering methods, and cooking methods for each.

This is a valuable addition to the cookbook shelf for the thinking and experimenting home cook.

I love the variety of recipes, and the pictures included in this book are absolutely stunning. If my diet allowed for it, I would have cooked each recipe in the book every day! The cookbook contains a lot of information about animal fats, so not only are you fed, you're informed as well.

This was a very interesting book.

The background was well-researched and even though some of the terms in the chapter entitled "A little chemistry, a little biology" are rather complicated, the author explains everything very thoroughly.

There are great tips and explanations throughout the book in the beige and brown information blocks are very handy and add extra, compact knowledge to the book. I especially enjoyed the references to certain things in various European languages and cultures - what something is called in each language; what they used it for; what animal fats each culture traditionally used.

The recipes are well-laid out with an interesting introduction to each recipe - be it a bit of its history or tips to adjust recipe etc. The methods are well set out step by step and even beginners will be able to make sense of what needs to be done.

The photography is beautiful throughout the whole book. I personally would have liked to see a lot more photographs of the dishes in the recipes, I felt there were too few. I like to see photos of what the final dish is more or less supposed to look like.

The resources section at the end is a great inclusion.

The whole book takes me back to my childhood when my gran would fry eggs in sheep fat; we would save the bacon dripping to eat on toast with salt and pepper. As a farmer's wife with access to our own grass-fed cows and sheep, I will definitely be utilizing some of the knowledge I learnt in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, Storey Publishing, for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.

Pointless nutrition rant

If there is anything that we know it is that the science of food and health is becoming more uncertain. What was gospel yesterday is heresy today but might gain proponents again in three years. Look at what happened with coconut oil in Aug 2018. Yet Storey editors have allowed Andrea Chesman, who has no health credentials whatsoever, to open her book with a long long polemic on fats and diet. She cites no peer reviewed research, trots out the common conspiracy theories, does not accept that science is iterative, knows little about cultural preferences (especially for "rancid" fats) and simply spouts her own personal truths. Allowing Ms Chesman this exposure to future embarrassment is unconscionable behavior on the part of editors, especially as the rant is pointless. No one who avoids animal fat is going to ever open the book.

The cookbook part is stunningly good in a Mrs Beetonly sort of way, with some provisos. The discussion of caul fat is just wrong. Here and again later, Ms Chesman (or her editor) does not seem to know what a "ruminant" is. The text (of the ARC anyway) is a bit choppy in places and could use some rearrangement of paragraphs.

Fat has a bad reputation. Cooks are constantly trying to remove it from their dishes, and usually find that the finished products are tough and tasteless. It is said in many medical and nutritional circles that fat is an important element in a healthy diet. Andrea Chesman’s The Fat Kitchen: How to Render, Cure & Cook with Lard, Tallow & Poultry Fat is everything that anyone needs to know about fat in our diet, and includes mouthwatering recipes as well as trivia and methods to make our own fat to use in our cooking.

According to Chesman, “Food fried in animal fats have a far less oily-tasting surface than food fried in vegetable seed oils, because the saturated fat solidifies as it cools and cannot be absorbed into the food. Plus, some fats, like all poultry fats, are more flavorful than oils. So from a flavor and texture standpoint, animal fats are best.” With all the negative publicity on fats, who knew? In this excellent cookbook she includes smoking temperatures and plenty of information needed to cook with fat in home kitchens.

One of the things I love about the recipes is that Chesman adds information at the beginning of each to give the cook a sense of where the dish came from, why certain ingredients are used in it, and general information to make it more personal and fun to cook. Her recipes are easy-to-follow, and can be made with commercial fats if one doesn’t have the time to obtain and render fats, but her recipes make it easy to do it yourself, too.

Favorite recipes include a beautiful Summer Vegetable Galette, as well as excellent fried chicken and a dish enjoyed all over Hawaii, Mochiko Chicken. The Duck Fat-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranate-Mustard Drizzle are a bit of work, but worth it. After testing several of the mouthwatering recipes, I’m sold on using other fats and learning that they help to make flakier crusts and lighter cookies and cakes. I could cook for months from this book. Every time I look through it, my queue becomes longer and I make it a point to put aside time to cook. Smothered Pork Chops are on the menu this week, as well as Chesman’s delectable Beef and Mushroom Pie. Lithuanian Bacon Rolls are also at the top of the list.

The recipes are easy enough for most cooks at any level, and the photographs make it difficult to decide what to make next. This is a cookbook that cooks have needed for years, and it should be included in every recipe collection.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

The Fat Kitchen
By Andrea Chesman
What a fabulous book of knowledge for the modern cook who is looking to cook more authentically. When it comes to food and diet we need not leave the past in the past. Looking back to how food was processed, prepared and used is all very relevant today if you are looking for a clean, healthier diet. This book defines what was used and what is currently used in our diets and how they differ. You need not put on a lab coat as she lays out factual evidence on different fats in a very readable manner. Chesman outlines the different fats to use, how to source them, render them and use them. This new information is followed by recipes using the fats discussed.
Overall this is a great resource to your kitchen library. I look forward to purchasing this book as a hard copy to have in my kitchen.
This book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion, which I provided.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to preview this book. This is a delicious cookbook for those who are eating high fat, or simply loves a good, yummy dish using fats. As a Southern girl, this speaks straight to my heart and stomach. Sounds delicious!

“The Fat Kitchen: How to Render, Cure & Cook with Lard, Tallow & Poultry Fat” by Andrea Chesman demonstrates why cooks of all kinds are rediscovering fats ... for creating amazing texture in the flakiest lard pie crust to the crispiest fried chicken ... to defining the flavor of a dish like super rich clam chowder with salt pork or duck fat French fries.

“The Fat Kitchen” is the most comprehensive guide around for using whole animal fats, including lard, tallow, and poultry fat in cooking. It offers 100 scrumptious recipes such as matzoh ball soup, pasta carbonara, pork tamales, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, Southern-style collards, confit chicken, New England baked beans, and jelly doughnuts. Cooks will learn the distinctive qualities and best uses of each fat along with methods for curing and storing them. Gosh, each recipe sounds so heavenly I don’t know where to start! But rest assured, I will. But trouble is, will I ever stop? Yummo! 5/5

Pub Date 13 Nov 2018

Thanks to Storey Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#TheFatKitchen #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley and Storey Publishing, LLC for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am an absolute fan of bringing animal fats back into the mainstay diet of American people. The author explored just about every type of cooking fat available as well as how to render, store, and use them in various recipes. The recipes are easy to follow and look yummy. However, I think they may scare the standard home cook a bit. For those willing to branch out of the culinary comfort zone, this is a fun way to do it and a great resource. It's time to bring back those flavors and recipes of history and get back to making better food.

#TheFatKitchen #NetGalley

Even if you do not make any of the recipes, this book is a useful addition to anyone interested in food. The first section of the book debunks the myths surrounding the health issues of animal fats and describes the role of “good fats” in the diet: explaining how the switch from animal fats to industrial vegetable seed-based fats and oils was due to the flawed link between animal fats and heart disease. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on understanding animal fats – and the chemistry and biology behind fats.

Further chapters include choosing fat, and how to render and store fats. It is worth noting that the book covers lard, tallow and poultry fat and does not include butter (because there is a wealth of information available on cooking and baking with butter.) I found the quick glance at everyday uses for animal fats useful and enjoyed the pointers for adapting recipes when baking with animal fats for pastries and cookies, cakes breads etc

The extensive recipe section is an interesting collection of recipes from all over the world using a range of animal fats. Included are recipes for snacks, main courses, side dishes, baked goods and desserts as well as the basics. This last section included recipes for pastries using animal fats, and an excellent, detailed description for using a whole duck to prepare and cook breasts, confit and broth.

Scattered through the book are useful little asides and tips– such a why pasture-raised pork tastes better, the science of crisp, the secret to excellent fried chicken, the role of fats in baked goods.

WOW! I had no idea there was this much information on different types of fat and how to make them into what we use in the kitchen. The information contained in this book is priceless. The stories of how certain products came to be are AMAZING! I am in awe over the delicious recipes contained between these covers. I only wish there were more pictures.

First, I'd like to thank Netgalley, Storey Publishing, and Andrea Chesman for allowing me to have this ARC of The Fat Kitchen.

I LOVE cookbooks, especially ones that have great pictures. The Fat Kitchen was a great read with a lot of information and yummy looking pictures (some of the food pictures had my mouth watering)! I love the that there is history behind the book as well as facts of good fats vs bad fats. The Fat Kitchen teaches what is literally in the title; how to render and cure your own fat. The processes of rendering and curing your own fat are time consuming, but the Fat Kitchen talks about buying already rendered fat.

Once you read past how to render and cure, it's time for the recipes! The recipes all look so good, I can't wait to try them! Empanadas, chicken pie, apple streusel coffee cake and so many more!!

Informative and palatable for the masses. Relatively straightforward recipes, accompanied by mouthwatering pictures.

The recipes make sense, the information seems good, and the instructions are easy to follow. However, this doesn't seem like something the average person could implement. The author talks a few times about how lard or animal fats bought ready-made are of poor quality and it's best to make it at home. While it doesn't seem particularly difficult, it would be very challenging in terms of both space and time. Plus, the amount of finished product seems pretty small compared to the original material and time investment. Most useful for people with lots of time on their hands.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book explores the background and facts on fat. The author tell us that it is animal fat is better for you than artificial plant fats.
There are tips to help you render fat from different animals (if you’re feeling up for the challenge), there are recipes for pastry, fried and roasted food. It covers the use of beef, chicken, duck pig and even bear fat 😳.
I found it an interesting read. Not sure if I’m up for the challenge of rendering my own fat, but I learned a lot.

I found this book intriguing, being a child of the 50s from European heritage, most of my early childhood consisted of cooking and eating with olive oil, lard and butter. It wasn't till much later, 1990, that I read about the bad/good fats and tried to follow the media hype regarding these fats - but the food never tasted good and I guiltily went back to butter and lard for special occasions - made no difference to my cholesterol level but the food tasted great.
This book explores the background and facts on fat, it is a very interesting and enlightening book. It's no nonsense and simple approach explains that it is really much better for you when all that stuff that is sold as substitute butter and fat.
I like this book, there are recipes about making pastry, fried and roasted food. It covers the use of beef, chicken, duck and pig fat. Don't know how the young generation, who may never have seen or tasted food with lard or butter, would view this book - but I certainly love it.
Taste with out the guilt.