Making sausages, pates and cured meats at home can be tricky, but US chef Jamie Bissonnette in his debut book, The New Charcuterie Cookbook, shows their flavors are worth the time and effort.

Salumi, chorizos and other cured meats are fixtures at Bissonnette's three popular restaurants in Boston and New York. In May, he won a James Beard award as best US Northeast chef for his casual Italian restaurant Coppa in Boston. He also co-owns Spanish tapas-inspired Toro in Boston and another Toro in New York.

Bissonnette, 37, a former vegetarian, talks about the book, due in bookstores soon, and making cured meats at home.

Why did you write this book?

One of my favorite things is to see what I could do at the restaurant and make them easier to do at home. The key is to just take a recipe and have fun with it.

What is the essential equipment you need?

You want to have a good meat grinder, one with a sharp blade, not just one where you shove meat through a hole. ... With the recipes in the book, you could get by with a lot with what you have at home. (Or) you could have a butcher grind the meat for you.

What are the keys to prepare offal?

Each individual offal is specific. What is the worst part about chicken liver is that it's sometimes too 'irony' because there's so much blood in it, but if you soak it in milk or soda water, you could pull a lot of that out. It's knowing how to take out things that are bad about an ingredient and highlight the aspects that are good.

What are your go-to ingredients?

I'm always looking for acid, whether it's lime juice or lemon juice or champagne vinegar to balance out fat or sugar for more unctuousness. I love fish sauce. I love the salty and fermented flavor. I love fresh herbs.

Some people might be surprised you wrote this book and you used to be vegetarian?

I had been a vegetarian for a long time and a vegan on and off for a long time. I was told I was a good cook but I wasn't going to be a great chef. I wasn't understanding all the food because I wasn't eating all of it. I started eating (meat) and I gained a lot of weight, that's for sure. It wasn't that much shock to my body. The biggest shock was that I had to work out more.

You used be in a band. Is your cooking reflective of your musical sensibility?

It's diverse. I like the influences of food from all around the world. My record collection ranges from ska, reggae, salsa to punk to hard core to jazz. I love soul. I feel my food is the same way.

Reuters

(China Daily 09/10/2014 page22)