Book excerpt: At last, a field guide to identifying and selecting more than 200 different cuts and kinds of meat, from beef and poultry to game and cured meat! An essential resource for every home cook or chef, Field Guide to Meat offers details on virtually every kind of meat available. This practical guide includes more than 200 full-color photographs of cuts of beef, veal, pork, lamb, game, and poultry as well as more than 100 different kinds of cured meats and sausages. Cross-referenced with the photographs are in-depth descriptions of the cuts, including basic history, location in the animal, characteristics, information on how to choose the cut, and flavor affinities. Step-by-step preparation directions tell you whether the item is best marinated, braised, grilled, roasted, or pan-seared. Trips to the butcher’s aisle will no longer be intimidating, and you’ll never end up with a cut that’s too tough for dinner.