Nicely done, Hank. I agree with Jericho below, that your comment of “Make your dish fit the animal, not the animal fit your dish" is spot on. When I cook wild game, I first think, what do I want to eat today (most of the time it is “tomorrow”). Then, I rifle through my library of recipes I’ve gleaned from you and other chefs. When I finally choose one, I go down to the freezer and select my protein. Recently, I wanted to make your duck gumbo. I had the dry ingredients so, what bird would it be? The plucked whole mallard; nope. The speckle-belly from SK? Nope. I had other plans for those birds. I chose packages of redheads and ringbills from a diver hunt. I brined them overnight and cooked them the long and slow method that gumbo takes. My wife (and food critic) pulled some bites out of the gumbo and said they tasted like tender roast beef. The right protein for the right cooking method for the recipe you want. That’s what I have learned from you over the years. Thanks again for what you do and share with all of us.
P.S. I have one more factor in taste of wild game; how was it handled after the harvest. A topic that deserves its own story….”Tales of terror in wild game handling”!
Yep, that cuts right to it. I will simply say that you haven't had the full experience until you attempt to make coastal eider, scoter, and oldsquaw edible. It helped to be a graduate student with few other choices but roadkill (some of which wasn't too bad, really). Thanks for this.
Wise words as usual, and I think "Make your dish fit the animal, not the animal fit your dish" could extend to almost anything we eat, really -- bland, bloated, woody out-of-season strawberries or asparagus will never make the same dish as their seasonally fresh equivalents, which is why I cook based on what looks good at the market, and also presumably why so many of us go into flurries of preserving or canning when the produce is at its peak (or just gorge on so many satsumas that we're OKAY not seeing them again for a year).
Same for truly pasture-raised, free-living domestic meats also. One of the hardest things to explain to people who only know supermarket consistency. Gotta work through the challenges to experience the sublime <3. And the challenges often end up being the sublime.
I can't figure out what we are supposed to be doing with all this "free" time and loss of cognitive challenge technology and commodification is supposted to be saving us. Learning things, tending and mending nature, and caring for our homes is one of the great pleasures. Being in the car in traffic and supermarkets all the time is not a pleasure, or even a convenience if we are honest about it.
Wow that's very interesting Hank! It's an argument for raising meat (I raise rabbits) and controlling what goes into them; however, the outdoor fun, challenge, exercise and especially important a variety of nutrients, is very much missed!
Trish, I’m super curious about raising rabbits for meat. I live in Montana. How did you get started? Could you point me to some resources so I can learn as much as I can? Thanks😊
Nicely done, Hank. I agree with Jericho below, that your comment of “Make your dish fit the animal, not the animal fit your dish" is spot on. When I cook wild game, I first think, what do I want to eat today (most of the time it is “tomorrow”). Then, I rifle through my library of recipes I’ve gleaned from you and other chefs. When I finally choose one, I go down to the freezer and select my protein. Recently, I wanted to make your duck gumbo. I had the dry ingredients so, what bird would it be? The plucked whole mallard; nope. The speckle-belly from SK? Nope. I had other plans for those birds. I chose packages of redheads and ringbills from a diver hunt. I brined them overnight and cooked them the long and slow method that gumbo takes. My wife (and food critic) pulled some bites out of the gumbo and said they tasted like tender roast beef. The right protein for the right cooking method for the recipe you want. That’s what I have learned from you over the years. Thanks again for what you do and share with all of us.
P.S. I have one more factor in taste of wild game; how was it handled after the harvest. A topic that deserves its own story….”Tales of terror in wild game handling”!
Thank you.
Good info, but how did those weird mallards taste?
Wow! I feel I've just received a masterclass in foodstuff. Thank you Hank! 👏
Yep, that cuts right to it. I will simply say that you haven't had the full experience until you attempt to make coastal eider, scoter, and oldsquaw edible. It helped to be a graduate student with few other choices but roadkill (some of which wasn't too bad, really). Thanks for this.
Thanks for this post, which is a good reminder that nature is out of our control--especially if we're eating truly natural food.
Wise words as usual, and I think "Make your dish fit the animal, not the animal fit your dish" could extend to almost anything we eat, really -- bland, bloated, woody out-of-season strawberries or asparagus will never make the same dish as their seasonally fresh equivalents, which is why I cook based on what looks good at the market, and also presumably why so many of us go into flurries of preserving or canning when the produce is at its peak (or just gorge on so many satsumas that we're OKAY not seeing them again for a year).
I do that with asparagus. I gorge mysewlf on it all spring, and then am like... my pee has been stinky enough.
Same for truly pasture-raised, free-living domestic meats also. One of the hardest things to explain to people who only know supermarket consistency. Gotta work through the challenges to experience the sublime <3. And the challenges often end up being the sublime.
I can't figure out what we are supposed to be doing with all this "free" time and loss of cognitive challenge technology and commodification is supposted to be saving us. Learning things, tending and mending nature, and caring for our homes is one of the great pleasures. Being in the car in traffic and supermarkets all the time is not a pleasure, or even a convenience if we are honest about it.
Wow that's very interesting Hank! It's an argument for raising meat (I raise rabbits) and controlling what goes into them; however, the outdoor fun, challenge, exercise and especially important a variety of nutrients, is very much missed!
Trish, I’m super curious about raising rabbits for meat. I live in Montana. How did you get started? Could you point me to some resources so I can learn as much as I can? Thanks😊
ALWAYS an interesting read! Thank you