The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux [A Cookbook]

Clear, methodical and filled with canning recipes focusing on seasonal cuisine, this is a well written book that even a canning novice like me can feel like I can handle them. Sure, it can be daunting because the process can be complex, but the recipes are thorough and straightforward. And what can I say about these recipes? Things you never imagined you could pickle are listed. Fruits you never even considered as a jam. Dishes to incorporate all of the above. The beautiful photographs and clean layout also are inspiring. Finally - the caramel apple jam (page 163) is fantastic with a nice brie. Put the time in, don't be scared and get preserving! Dare I say I might even be looking forward to eating local during the cold Chicago winters.

I bought this canning book for my mother and she won't stop raving about it. She grows a fairly large number of vegetables in her back yard and canning is the only way she can preserve most of the harvest during the summer and early fall. She already had a book of basic canning recipes, but she was looking for recipes that were a little more creative. For some reason, this book seemed to call to her.With recipes like rhubarb-beer jam and red wine-pickled beets, you get the sense that this book is not your average canning cookbook. The author goes into great detail about how to make pickles, preserves, and aigre-doux (bittersweet preserves) during all four seasons. The variety of ingredients he uses is quite amazing. Brandied figs, kumquat marmalade, pickled watermelon rind, pickled asparagus.. you get the picture.Overall, she couldn't believe she paid less than 30 dollars for a book of this quality. This book even inspired her to buy a pressure canner. Based on the few recipes I've tried so far (strawberry pinot noir jam and milk jam), I can easily say this book delivers.

The dishes in this book are so creative, it's really energized me to get back to the jars. Beer jam? eggplant preserves? I'm in!The pictures are beautiful and the writing is top-notch, too. It's a good read and one of those books you'll definitely want to own.Some of the recipes are time-consuming but preserving was never about saving time, but about saving food. If you're looking for 5-minute jam them buy some smuckers. If you're looking for recipes you can't buy, this is your book.

Great book, lot's of interesting ideas and the kind of quality I have come to expect from 10-Speed Press. I have not yet made anything from the books plethora of recipes and formulae, but there are several I have marked.1. Format: The pictures are nicely done as is the art. The tables are a bit misplaced and awkward with respect to the content, and they don't seem to flow with the layout as well as they could. The graphics could use some captions. There were times when I saw a picture and was wondering what it was, the recipe before the graphic or the recipe after the graphic. A little guesswork and I was able to identify each one, but readers hate guessing.Even though the layout was a bit weird, I REALLY loved the font and font spacing. VERY readable, and this is something sourly lacking in many books, so high praise for the fonts.2. Content: The content is new and refreshing and treats the concept of 'preserves' with respect. These are not your grandmas pickles so if you are hoping for a more traditional approach to 'pickling' and 'preserves' you will be disappointed. This is a new spin with tons of interesting flavor combinations pulling together many new ideas.3. Reference: The table of contents were well done, no complaints, index seemed to be kinda jammed in there. The acknowledgements seemed a bit rushed and non-inspiring. The lack of a bibliography and a resources sections were the most disappointing parts of the book by far. So, for resources I understand the author is emphasizing local, local, local, and I'm cool with that, but not having to find my own resources for pink salt (curing salt) would be nice as would a compendium of other resources I could turn to. It's hard for me to give credibility to an author who does not have a bibliography from which he/she draws from to form their own epistemology and it seems a bit arrogant to assume we are not shaped by others. HOWEVER, to be my own devils advocate, a lot of this stuff is SO unique perhaps the chef is really, that great. I presume he is.Thanks for a great book, and I can't wait to get 5-pounds of asparagus for some pickles! Kudos!

I've been making preserves & pickles since I was 21, have won blue ribbons, & thought I knew a few things, but this book taught me a tremendous amount. It has techniques & ideas I'd never even considered before. The book is beautifully photographed, too -- in fact, at first I thought it was a coffee-table book, not a real working cookbook. In addition, the second half consists of excellent suggestions, with recipes, for how to use all those things you've just put in jars (if you end up each fall with a pantry of filled jars & then must scramble for ways to use up the contents before the shelves collapse -- you know who you are -- this is invaluable). Seriously -- once you're past the Ball Blue Book, this is the book you want.

This is the kind of book that makes you want to head to the market as soon as possible so you can get cooking. I'm new to preserving, and the process is explained here in such an accessible way that the intro left me feeling inspired rather than intimidated. And the recipes...ohhh...sweet pickled cherry tomatoes, peach saffron jam, grape aigre-doux...and these are just the base recipes. It's really nice, too, that there are so many seasonal recipes that actually show you how to make *creative* use of preserved foods. It's not just your great-aunt's sauerkraut, and it's not just accompaniments for a charcuterie plate, which is refreshing. Example: wheat-berry salad w/peas & preserved lemon vinaigrette, which is awesome. Next on my agenda: Grilled skirt steak w/fennel panzanella salad. For those who get geeked about the start of outdoor farmers' market season, I highly recommend Preservation Kitchen--check it out and geek out that much more.

I love this book & use it often ... Excellent ...to be recommendedThank you

Already tried a couple of recipes and they worked out perfect. Also I had a question about the type of apples Chef Paul preferred in the Caramel Apple jam so emailed chef at the restaurant and he got back to me right away. The answer was honey crisp but he said any would do, a tart apple would be nice. I like how he makes the preserves and then has recipes on using how he uses the preserves, so gets you thinking about what else would it go with.

A welcome addition to my kitchen. I will be making his pickles, relishes, jams, conserves, aigre-doux and mostarda recipes for years to come. And I love the second half of the book, where he shares recipes for the preserves. A home run!

The book is good and the recipes are interesting (and somes very originals) but there is no information about real fermenting product then if you are searching for a book to do pickle by fermentation, it's not the one. Overal I recommend it for a first starting book if you have nothing else. Mary Anne Dragan book well preserved is not bad too.

Great read and great reference book!