Men with the Pot Cookbook

Men with the Pot Cookbook is a tutorial guide with recipes developed and curated by the MenWithThePot, Kris Szymanski and Slawek Kalkraut. Due out 17th May 2022 from Quarto on their Harvard Common Press imprint, it's 208 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a comprehensive and surprisingly varied field guide to cooking outdoors, both for camping and RV styles of al fresco dining. The book has a casual friendly vibe and the writing is easy to understand, lightly humorous in places, and is solidly competent in terms of food safety and aesthetic appeal. My experiences of cooking while camping have mostly amounted to jabbing hot dogs and marshmallows onto pointy sticks when I was a kid and waving them around in an open fire. This is quite a step up from that.

The introduction includes a how-to guide to using the book and some (very short) basic tutorials on flavorings, spices, and some intriguing bushcraft tips on using found resources to build cooking stands and tools. The following chapters contain the recipes grouped thematically: world cuisine (Italian, Eastern European, Asian, fusion (African/Asian/Western European - really creative mashup)), meats, poultry, baking (!), seafood, hand-held meals (burgers, sandwiches, tacos, quesadillas).

Recipes include an introduction and background, bullet lists of ingredients with measurements in both imperial/American and standard/metric (yay!), followed by concise step-by-step instructions. The photography throughout is very high quality, clear, and in color. Tutorial photos are taken without hands or obstructions in the way and are easy to understand. One slightly odd aspect with the photography. Action shots with the authors are all posed so their faces are turned away or hidden. They say in their introduction that their purpose with the videos (they're *HUGE* on TikTok and other social media) was to concentrate on the food and not themselves and I suppose that carries over into the book aesthetic as well.

The recipes are varied and tasty. What lifted this book out of the ordinary to me were the highlighted text bars scattered throughout with short "Forest Hacks" and also the amazingly creative small tutorials for using natural found materials to make varied utensils and tools such as a pasta noodle drying rack and gnocchi board. Really cool stuff.

According to their own press, they're two Polish guys living in Northern Ireland and spending more time cooking outdoors than they spend indoors, but the food and tips here are anything but ordinary. This would make a great selection for public or school library acquisition, scouting/camping groups, or a super welcome gift for RV/camping friends.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Anyone who loves cooking and eating outdoors is going to adore this book! It's been cleverly thought out, and will appeal to beginners and the most experienced bushwacker chef alike. Each page contains a detailed, easy to follow recipe with a list of all the ingredients and quantities you´ll need,, beautiful photographs of the meal being prepared - you can almost smell the appetising aromas wafting upwards out of the ink, and handy hints as regards preparation, using shop bought cookware and utensils or seeking out and using whatever Mother Nature has to offer to make a day out with mates or the family memorable. I will definitely be taking this around in the car when the summer picnic season arrives and trying out some of the awesome tastebud busting combos.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I hate to say it but this book ~exceeded~ my expectations. I didn't give these guys enough credit and I should have! This book was phenomenal! The pictures were soooo droolworthy and the instructions were clear. As someone who is hesitant to forage and eat "wild" food, this did a great job of showing what is plausible and what I can buy ahead of time. There was a great variety of recipes too. Well done and worth it!

Two Polish chaps living in northern Ireland who love both cooking and being outdoors. They've combined these in an exciting, if rather romanticised, way that clearly appeals to a lot of people from their Social Media posts. The basics of 'fire craft' are well described, the fun of producing your own pot holders, pasta drying racks and so on is just that - fun. The recipes are lovely, straightforward, mostly easily found ingredients and cooked from scratch. Measurements Imperial and metric; photos make the whole works appealing. Recipes cover all courses from starters through mains to desserts. They admit to the time it can take to makes these recipes in the forest - 6 hours on occasions so it has to be for love as well as fun and pleasure. Think drizzling rain, midges. I'm sure that the majority of readers will drool , imagine and wish but quietly be pleased to read this from their armchairs or indoor kitchens. I shall certainly follow some of the recipes although the idea of making fresh pasta in the forest is not especially appealing. Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Harvard Common Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love this cookbook!!! The authors make great videos as well that are guaranteed to make you feel hungry. The food in their videos and this cookbook looks so delicious. If you are a fan of grilled meats, this is the ideal cookbook for you.

Love cooking outdoors? Men with the Pot: Delicious Grilled Meats and Forest Feasts takes outdoor cooking to a higher plain. With the popularity of bushcrafting, and the authors who are popular TicTok personalities, Kris Szymanski and Slawek Kalkraut, this is a very timely and fun cookbook.

The recipes included are unexpected and some can be given gourmet status; it makes readers wonder: how can people cook such amazing dishes in the forest? They are absolutely appealing and there is enough variety that almost everyone will find something mouthwatering. Many of the recipes are hearty and filling; no dainty, delicate, frou-frou here. For those into bushcrafting, there are articles mixed in with the recipes that have instructions on creating cooking tools, as well as cooking hints, tips for starting fires in the forest, and using the correct cookware. The recipes, while not necessarily quick and easy, are written in standard form with detailed instructions that anyone can follow.

This cookbook is different from most outdoor and barbecue cookbooks that are available in most bookstores. It is definitely a must for survivalists and bushcrafters. It contains fabulous recipes, however, that will inspire non-outdoor people to adapt some of the recipes to prepare in their yards on the barbecue grill or even in their ovens. This is actually a fun cookbook for everyone and one that will make a good addition to cookbook collections.

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

I was already familiar with the "Men with the Pot" from their TikTok channel which offers both ASMR sounds of cooking and the forest and beautiful food prep, so I was excited to see their work put in recipe format, and this cookbook lives up to my expectations. The recipes are well-written, and the photography is beautiful. I also appreciate that the recipes are written such that you could go all in on the outdoor prep and cooking, or "cheat" and do part of a recipe or do some prep indoors. I think this would work equally well for the casual backyard firepit setting and the serious camper. There's a chapter with tips on how to set up and cook outdoors and more tips sprinkled throughout the book. The recipes cover a broad range, including a variety of cuisines, and some are simple while others are more involved. I'm particularly intrigued by the recipes for baking bread over a fire. Looking forward to trying lots of these recipes!

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow!! Do not go into this expecting a simple camping cookbook because this is anything but! This is just an amazing cookbook that you can make every single recipe outside. I was so impressed with cookbook that even though I’m not outdoorsy, I’m going to be using this book repeatedly!!!

Wow! Just wow! What a great little book. Taking gourmet cooking out of the five-star restaurants and putting in your own campsite. Fantastic recipes. Well written. Easily understood and "do-able". Excellent photography.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, in exchange for a fair review, however.....I will be purchasing a hard copy to use on my next fly fishing getaway with my friends. They are going to be amazed!
If you have any interest in camping, or cooking over an open fire, this book will up your game tremendously!

The MenWithThePot Tiktok channel has been my favourite for some time, so I was excited when I saw the chance to review their official cookbook on Netgalley. The book is full of great recipes, of course, but also filled with Forest Hacks and Bushcraft sections offering advice for moving your kitchen to the forest. Even though I am unlikely to ever make my own tripod potholder for swinging my cast iron pot over the flame, I enjoy feeling like I could, if I really wanted to. There's another tip every few pages, with enough detail that I found myself considering purchasing a whittling knife for my next BBQ, even though I've never whittled anything in my life. If I had the right knife, apparently I could quickly whittle everything from a skewer to a rolling pin to chopsticks. I suspect it isn't as easy as they make it look.

Obviously, the recipes can all be made at home; there's even note that you can use a food processor instead of a mortar and pestle if you like. The Men With The Pot are upfront about the fact that a meal that might take an hour in the kitchen can take six hours out in the forest.

I find watching their videos tranquil and soothing but really, what I want is to be in the forest and have the men make food for me. The truth is, I don't want to do the cooking as much as I want to do the eating.

In the interest of a fair review, I packed up my backpack and hiked to a campsite to try my hand at cooking in the forest. I don't know how to record cool cool sounds and I don't have the huge knife and I am not carrying a cast-iron pot in my backpack. So I chose a recipe that I could make despite my handicaps: sticky pork belly with whiskey.

To be honest, modifying the recipe was a lot easier than making the Tiktok video! But the pork turned out amazing and I have to agree, it was a great way to spend an afternoon in the forest with plenty of time to just sit and be.

The description of Forest Baking says these are the trickiest recipes to make, although I suspect that they are also the "most likely recipes that readers will cook in their kitchens". Pasta and sausage rolls and pretzels all come with a collection of tips and tricks for cooking in the forests, which helps the kitchen cook to think about how to use his or her kitchen just a little bit differently.

Another bonus is that the cookbook doesn't presume you are cooking for a small army. The Forest Pretzels makes three pretzels and the flatbread dough is aimed at four flatbreads, just right for two people lost in the forest. And all of the measurements are offered in both imperial and metric, which I would love to see in more recipe books.

Every recipe I tried from the cookbook was delicious; I admit I modified quite a bit from the text but that's part of the joy of their presentation. You are encouraged to make the recipes work for you and for your circumstances. My circumstances just happen to almost always be in the kitchen.

For the true forest experience, I need two strong Polish guys to come hiking with me. I would have tested a lot more recipes in the wilderness if they carried my cast-iron pot for me.

I was absolutely thrilled to be able to review the Men with the Pot Cookbook because this was one of the first accounts that I followed when I joined TikTok. Their account is filled with eye-catching cooking of scrumptious-looking food while in nature. If you haven't seen them, I highly recommend that you check them out on TikTok at Men with the Pot. And just an aside, if you happen to have some extra cash laying around that you don't know what to do with, you could buy me their knife set. I am totally coveting them!

The Men with the Pot Cookbook is filled with six chapters of recipes using a variety of meats such as beef, poultry, and duck, cheeses, and vegetables. They even cover baking. Each recipe is accompanied by exquisite photographs and very through explanations.

The joy of this cookbook is that while it was written from the authors' points of view of cooking in the forest, these recipes can be duplicated in the comfort of your own kitchen. However, if you really want to cook in nature, there are instructions for making the pot and pan stands, instructions for starting a fire in the wild, and some basic cooking-with-fire lessons.

While the joy of watching the Men with the Pot is watching them cook outdoors over a fire with handmade tools, to be able to make some of their delicious-looking recipes would be a real treat. I really enjoyed getting to know the men behind the camera and to understand how they started their social media accounts and ultimately were able to write this cookbook.

I highly recommend the Men with the Pot Cookbook not only for their amazing recipes, their extensive instructions, but, also, for their mouth-watering photographs. It makes for a great gift for backyard grillers as well as campers.