Friday, April 2, 2010

Cooking Wild: Hunt Fish Forage Feast

Hunting and food. The connection between those two things is pretty obvious to those of us who hunt, but all too often the culinary aspect of what we do has been marginalized in the media.

But there are glimmers of hope. Field & Stream recently did a huge spread on cooking wild game, featuring the work of prominent chefs and home cooks alike. Mainstream media stories about hunting - like this one on National Public Radio - are mentioning food before they get to the predictable anti-hunting gripes from HSUS.

And now we have an entire new magazine dedicated to the food we eat: Cooking Wild: Hunt Fish Forage Feast. Read more...
I have high hopes for this magazine, in part because I'm watching news from all over the country about urban nouveau hunters who are taking to the field because they care about the food they eat. They are good for the future of hunting, and this magazine is a resource that will sustain them.

The other reason I have high hopes is that I know two of the key players in this endeavor.

Associate Editor Sarah Swenty is a good friend and duck-hunting buddy of mine who has appeared in this blog before (she's the one who helped me field-test the new Cabela's Cazadora Women's Waders - you can see her in the photo in the upper lefthand corner of this blog). She's also the coordinator for the 2010 federal Duck Stamp Contest.

And Managing Editor Andy Donald is a longtime hunter who works in the restaurant business here in Northern California. I haven't hunted with him yet, but I've interviewed him twice for hunting articles I've written for the Sacramento Bee. As you can see here, he gives good quote:

"To put it simply, the magazine is going to answer the question, 'You killed it, now what?' Cooking Wild is here to help!”

Checking out this new magazine is easy, because you can sign up for a free copy of the inaugural issue (which will include a recipe by Boyfriend and a photo or two by me). Just click here and follow the links. The first issue is expected to go out around the end of this month.

I hope you'll join me in welcoming this new voice into our community - the timing couldn't be better.

© Holly A. Heyser 2010


11 comments:

Josh said...

Nice! You know I'm all over it. I can even provide some light fare recipes (take one snipe, one-half ounce of mussels, and one mental image of the flock of geese you saw about 10,000 feet up...)

Tovar@AMindfulCarnivore said...

Great! Thanks for the heads-up, Holly.

Love your recipe, Josh!

Holly Heyser said...

Josh, I'll let Sarah know you're ready to contribute some unique material :-).

hooter said...

I've cleaned and cooked venison,quail,doves,mud hens,boar,raccoon,frog legs, rattlesnake,squirrel, rabbit ducks,pheasants,bear and elk, but there is not now or ever shall be a recipe for skunk !!! And i doubt if anyone could ever get that hungry to eat one,,,

Holly Heyser said...

Hooter, that sounds like a challenge for Boyfriend! Heh heh heh...

But we like our little backyard skunks - they're cute. So we're in no rush to test your theory.

Greg Damitz said...

Maybe they'll have an article on making a 3 year old or older turkey taste good. I get tired of making jerkey out of everyone I take.

Greg

http://rosevillevegetable.blogspot.com/

Holly Heyser said...

Well, Hank tells me the turkey recipe he'll have in there would work great on an older turkey, so definitely sign up for that first issue.

Or be like me and shoot jakes so you don't have that problem :-)

Ryan Sabalow said...

Good stuff.

To think, Ted Nugent has been pioneering the foodie hunting movement for years now.

Too bad the Nuge is jibber-jabbering, poop-down-the-chimney, bark-at-the-stars crazy.

Holly Heyser said...

I don't know that I'd call Nuge a foodie, being that all he talks about is backstraps.

But you're right, and one of the things I love about him is the fact that he often talks about the fact that game is meat he's going to eat (whereas his polar opposite, Tred Barta, espouses high-minded primitive hunting without so much as a whisper about eating what he kills, ever).

SimplyOutdoors said...

I love this idea. So often the food aspect of what we call hunting gets lost in the shuffle of points systems and B&C bucks. What a great idea.

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for writing about the new magazine Holly! I definitely didn't grow up a foodie but have been inspired to make more out of my meals by folks like you and Hank. That's definitely what we hope this magazine will do for our readers as well.

Hooter, we don't have any plans for a skunk article just yet, but we will have a regular section called "You Eat That?" It will feature some of the stranger food options available to the adventurous.