The Meat Hook Meat Book

May 5, 2014
As executive chef and co-owner of the Meat Hook in Brooklyn, Mylan’s butchering skills and business savvy has transformed a former bowling alley supply shop into the must-go spot in Williamsburg for the purchase of grass-fed chops and steaks. Hoping to keep up the momentum, his first book is fast paced and covers a lot of ground. Primarily, it is an instructional guide on the butchering of seven different animals, free-ranging in size and degree of difficulty from duck and chicken to pig, and cow. The photography is both useful and quirky. Each butchered carcass shows off its legs, ribs, and shanks in a two-page color spread with all the cuts labeled and floating against a background of the cosmos: a sheep among stars; pigs in space. There are also a number of recipes for once the cutting is done. Classics include pastrami, chili, and various sausages, but most options are more daring. The cannibal sandwich is an uncooked hamburger with raw ground round, raw egg, and hot sauce. Inside-out chicken pot pie is a whole, boneless chicken stuffed with a gravy-like vegetable filling. Tips and tool talk round out the work, the most brilliant tip showing how to keep grilled steaks from releasing their liquid while resting: immerse them in a container of warm duck fat until ready to eat.