(*NEW ARRIVAL*) (Charcuterie) Jeffrey Weiss. Charcutería: The Soul of Spain

Foreword by Jose Andres. Illus. by Nathan Rawlinson & Sergio Mora. Pictorial boards. Chicago: Surrey Books, 2014.

Charcutería features more than 100 traditional Spanish recipes, straightforward illustrations providing easy-to-follow steps for amateur and professional butchers, and gorgeous full-color photography of savory dishes, Iberian countrysides, and centuries-old Spanish cityscapes.

Jeffrey Weiss has written an entertaining, extravagantly detailed guide on Spanish charcuterie, which is deservedly becoming more celebrated on the global stage. While Spain stands cheek-to-jowl with other great cured-meat-producing nations like Italy and France, the unique charcuterie traditions of Spain are perhaps the least understood of this trifecta. Too many Americans have most likely never tasted the sheer eye-rolling deliciousness that is cured Spanish meats: chorizo, the garlic-and-pimentón-spiked ambassador of Spanish cuisine; morcilla, the family of blood sausages flavoring regional cuisine from Barcelona to Badajoz; and jamón, the acorn-scented, modern-day crown jewel of Spain's charcutería legacy.