Editorial Reviews
Raichlen's 24th tome falls firmly into the quirky camp of his Beer Can Chicken, with its mixed-grill of recipes, barbecue tips, food history and restaurant profiles. While the chapters are essentially broken down by main ingredient ("Going Whole Hog," "Sizzling Shellfish"), each entry is branded with the city from which it is borrowed: "The Pittsburgh airport was the last place I expected to find superlative roast beef" begins a typical entry. At times, the attention to geography (and photos of bbq joints) is used to fine effect, especially in the appetizer chapter, where chicken-wing variations from Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville and Buffalo are laid out for easy comparison. But at other times the locale is superfluous. New York City is no more the place for Tarragon Chicken Paillards than landlocked Dayton is for Fennel-Grilled Shrimp. Classic BBQ joints, such as Wilber's in Goldsboro, N.C., are profiled along the way, and succinct, interesting history lessons on various styles of barbecue (Memphis, Kansas City, etc.) are served up. Cooking tips are provided in the margins of nearly every other page, with more space given to larger projects, such as how to barbecue a whole hog. The 650 photos are of various chefs, eateries, markets and fresh produce, rather than what is coming off the grill.
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Customer Reviews
Just write BBQ USA! Raichlen traveled the WORLD in search of BBQ recipes (over 500!) in The Barbecue Bible. I graduated from burgers, steaks and grilled chicken breasts to Tandoori Chicken, Thai, and how to grill a whole fish ifrom the 556 pages!
So, again, how do you top the definitive work on open fire cooking? BBQ USA! 774 PAGES of over 425 recipes from all over the US, INCLUDING THE comprehensive history of BBQ in the US thanks to KC Masterpiece originator, Dr. Rich Davis. There are pages and pages of biographical info on BBQ icons and institutions in the United States and even one recipe from Canada! And more pictures.
I personally feel that even as a novice, you actually could pick up this huge volume and begin almost anywhere, any recipe and be successful. The book covers the basics in the beginning chapter. Choosing and using grills and accessories and even includes basic and more advanced techniques to grilling. You'll probably see someone disagree with that statement. I defy the naysayers to name a better bbq book WRITER. Raichlen may not be in front of PBS, or Food network cameras as much as Hirsch, Flay, et al. Steven Raichlen just writes the most comprehensive books on BBQ anywhere!
I must also mention a trend I've noticed in some other cookbook writers (some very well known) that are releasing cookbooks that rearrange recipes from their previous books and call them new and sell them based on their well known names. I looked through the indexes of BBQ Bible and compared it to BBQ USA. There are no or none that I could find repeats that appear in both books.
One other thing we as Americans can be proud of is our BBQ!
God Bless our Troops
I enjoyed this book, not only for the great food recipes but the great stories and history presented. If I were stuck on a deserted island with just my Weber and Raichlen's books on BBQ, I wouldn't want to be rescued.
A very entertaining book
I saw some of the reviewers complain about the format and how stories were mingled with the recipes. I found this to be a refreshing way to "read" a cookbook. Read more
I saw some of the reviewers complain about the format and how stories were mingled with the recipes. I found this to be a refreshing way to "read" a cookbook. Read more
If you want a book on unique bar b que recipes this is the book to get. Very thorough, great explanations, easy to get through.
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