Marianski - too much of a good thing?

[vagreys]

I am very grateful to the Marianskis for their prolific tomes on sausage making, smoking, and fermentation. The latest appears to be a book devoted to Spanish sausages and techniques - an area of particular personal interest. I have to admit to a frisson of excitement when I saw the title, but I find myself hesitant, a little afraid of disappointment, I think.

I have also had my eye on their "great recipes" collection of 600+ standardized recipes - sort of a grand fake book of sausages - but have hesitated due to a critique of a Lap Cheong recipe in that collection, calling it out for not using authentic ingredients or technique. Now, I certainly understand about variation, but this is very different than approximation. A recipe for Lap Cheong that doesn't include soy, or rice wine, or 5-spice, or air-drying? I don't know. Is this a valid variation, or a lazy, quick approximation in order to have one of everything in the book? We certainly don't need another Hippesley-Cox collection of international sausages unrecognizable to their native consumers. It's great to have an abundance of fresh collections of recipes, but are we sacrificing too much accuracy in favor of abundance?

And so, my uncertainty over the Spanish collection. An exciting collection of regional variants, or gross approximations in order to crank it out and be "first?" I hesitate to find out, and yet I'm drawn like a moth to the flame.

[NCPaul]

I have "Great Recipes" collection but am not moved to get the Spanish recipe book. There are plenty to try in the later collection that I like the look of including some from Portugal that I find interesting. I have the Jeffrey Weiss book which has both sausage recipes and recipes that use the sausages (along with many other recipes) so I'm not desperate for Spanish sausage recipes.

I did make a snack stick version of the lap cheong recipe (using soy sauce) that you might like. It goes equally well in fried rice or with beer.

[wheels]

I too am not inclined to get it as I have the Jeffrey Weiss book.

Phil

[vagreys]

I, too, have Weiss's book, and agree it is a great resource. I also have a book published by the Spanish government cataloguing over 100 styles of Spanish sausage, alone, most with pics, some with descriptions and some with tantalizingly little information, but no recipes. As good as Weiss's book is, he could only cover so much given his format. I also have a book by Josep Lladanosa i Giro that includes several Catalan regional sausages, but only a handful. I'm always interested in finding recipes for the regional variations in the Spanish and Catalan cuisines.

[vagreys]

I have "Great Recipes" collection...There are plenty to try in the later collection that I like the look of including some from Portugal that I find interesting...I did make a snack stick version of the lap cheong recipe (using soy sauce) that you might like. It goes equally well in fried rice or with beer.

Paul, do you think the Great Recipes collection is worth adding? I prefer to browse a book before buying it, but haven't seen a copy in a local shop.

If it's one of your snack sticks,I know I'd like it. I have yet to encounter a single one of yours that was less than excellent.