Billy Law is an accomplished Australian food and travel blogger. He’s participated in TV food contests, consulted with leading food companies, and authored two cookbooks. His latest book, Man Food, is a bacon-intense invitation for men to come to the kitchen, ignore boundaries, and craft comfort food with ideas spanning the planet.
Yes, bacon-intense. Take a look at the photo of the book cover. The background is a lattice of bacon strips which Billy uses in is Bacon Kaboom! to wrap up a roll of ground pork itself wrapped around a central core of barbeque sauce, cheese, pickle, and jalapeno. Really, seriously. A picture of that dish out of the oven is at the end of this post. Yes, I’ll post the recipe very soon. Yes, I’m making it. Yes, my wife will eye me wildly. I don’t care. I love bacon.
This a man’s book. What is man food? Well, Billy begins his explanation with exclusion. It ain’t quinoa. In his words:
“For me, MAN FOOD is when you fire up BBQ to grill some sausage or seafood, when you carve into that bi hunk of prime rib and serve it with crispy potatoes, whey you make past for the first time and bake your first loaf of bread, when you embrace a classic hearty stew or a hot bowl pho bo on a rainy day, when you snack on candid popcorn (or bacon) in front the TV, whey you prepare a DIY meat feast for your next dinner party, or whip up the most decadent dessert for your loved ones on a special occasion.”
All those recipe idea are found in the pages of Man Food, amply and beautifully photographed by Billy himself. His world travels have given him tasting ideas from everywhere. So in this book, you’ll find recipes from Australia, Southeast Asia, Italy, France, Sweden, Louisiana, the Carolinas, and more. Bacon does appear in many of the recipes and there can be deep-frying on occasion. These are eye-popping recipes designed for maximum satisfaction.
And the recipes are designed for men who have not been to culinary school. Who, in fact, may not have ventured into the kitchen before.
How do you entice someone like that to begin cooking? Well, consider the very first recipe in the book: Spiced Beer and Maple Candied Bacon. There’s a stunning picture and an ingredient list of brown sugar, maple syrup, beer, cayenne pepper and bacon strips. What man [or what woman] could possibly turn the page and ignore this over-the-top idea. I couldn’t. I made it. I’ll make it again. And again. Doing a wedge salad with blue cheese and bacon? You want this bacon.
Man Food is divided into chapters for Snacks, Manwiches, Most Veg Sides, Meat, and Sugar & Booze. Those manwiches and the meats — seafood, rabbit, beef, lamb, pork and even rabbit — do make up 66% of the book, but the other items should not be ignored. In that “other” 33% of the book there are recipes here for:
Roasted Balsamic Brussels Sprouts, Chestnuts & Bacon
Cauliflower, Bacon & Sage Gratin
Barbecued Chinese Cabbage with Hazelnuts, Blue Cheese & Anchovy Vinaigrette
Deep-Dish Bourbon & Maple Pecan Pie
Miso Crème Brûlée
Chocolate Candy Cake [a mud cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting studded with chocolate ball candies
The meat recipes include some clever riffs on classics. You’ve had buttermilk-brined fried chicken surely, but how about Buttermilk-Brined Roast Chicken? And then there’s:
Tea-Smoked Duck with Green Tea Soba
Fried Chicken and Cornmeal Waffles
Asian Glazed Beef Short Ribs
Timballo di Rigatoni
Lamb Tangine with Prunes & Toasted Almonds
Swedish Meatballs with Mash & Gravy
Maple Chipotle BBQ & Sticky Pork Ribs
These are very flavor-intense recipes, so the ingredient list starts at 10 and can often extend to 20 or more. The results are going to be worth every teaspoon of chili or garlic powder. And there’s some time involved, too. Those Maple Chipotle Ribs are going to take 3+ hours for marinating and cooking. I’m sure Billy would argue that is why God created beer. [You could actually use a little of that beer for the candied bacon strips, you know!].
To get a man in the kitchen, and then keep him returning, the rewards have to be serious. They are in this book for the recipes do not skimp on the components or the time. You can get good fast food with a handful of ingredients. Great, satisfying, accomplished food takes more. Man Food is filled with more and it is a book you’ll return to again and again.
But, do start with the bacon. It’s a game changer. Here’s a photo of the recipe after that, the Bacon Kaboom! I wasn’t kidding.
