Hi -
Welcome to Wild Bites #3 from Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, a brief biweekly newsletter designed to make you smarter about your wild food. We'll also tell you what we're up to right now - a taste of what's to come on our website, podcast, YouTube, or To The Bone.
~ Hank (the chef) and Holly (the photographer)
View in browser: https://honest-food.optin.com/newsletter/awlist3722118/MTQ3ODkyMjM=/wild-bites-3-from-hunter-angler-gardener-cook.htm
Here's what's trending on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook:
Moving up the list: Wild Boar Tenderloin with Cherries (featured photo). For those who can't bear to let hunting seasons end with the last spring turkey, pig hunting is a viable year-round option, and lots of our friends are busily adding pork to their freezers right now. Pork and cherries are a classic pairing that will work
with domestic as well as wild pig, and Hank notes this cherry sauce has an adult spin to it. (Is that why it looks so sexy?)
2. Smart Take: Putting Rot in Perspective
"Anything that's pickled, you're curing it, but it's also an experimentation in controlled rotting. Cheese is an exercise in controlled spoilage. Fruit, when it's on a bush or tree, is ripening. The minute you pull it, and let it do what we think of as ripening on our counter, it's actually just rotting, and it changes
its flavor and texture.
"And around the world, cultures far and wide let certain foods rot, sometimes to the point where they are inedible and eating them would kill you, but eventually the bad bacteria is eaten by the good bacteria and you can eat it again. And these foods are highly prized for the methodology behind the rotting that creates nuances of flavor and texture."
Interestingly enough, this statement is what followed after Hank asked, "What is the most off-putting texture and/or flavor of fish and seafood that you've encountered?" and Andrew responded, "All of the rotted and fermented fish that I've eaten over the world."
HANK
Last week was the lowest tide of the year in these parts, so Hank celebrated by heading to the Marin coast to do some clamming. You know what that means: clam recipes!
Hank's recipe for Japanese Clam Soup (left image) went live on Monday, and Clam Ceviche (on the right) will be coming soon.
We know chowdah is beloved, but if you're looking for more ways to use your clams, we've got 'em:
And before you reach for the cornmeal to purge your clams of sand, be sure to check out Hank's thoroughly researched post on How to Purge Sand from Clams. Spoiler alert: It doesn't involve cornmeal.
HOLLY
Holly has emerged from the long, deep scourge of bronchitis to get outdoors once again, and enjoyed a nice day of shad fishing Wednesday with one of our favorite guides, Jon Harrison of Five Rivers Guide Service.
4. Signed Books Back in Stock
Hank traveled to a warehouse in Michigan this week to spend a day signing hundreds of copies of our latest book, Hook, Line, and Supper, so signed copies are once again available when you buy through our website. We've
still got plenty of signed copies of Buck, Buck, Moose and Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail as well.
Why buy from us when Amazon can deliver faster?
Amazon delivers fast, but it can't deliver a signed book. And there's a more important reason: When you buy directly from us, you're maximizing how much of the purchase price goes not to a mega-corporation, but to a small, independent publisher - one that chose to print its books in the USA, not in China where most books are printed.
5. Food Photography is Absurd
"For a while I tried to do the kind of heavily propped food photography that was in vogue when Hank started Hunter Angler Gardener Cook - lush tablescapes that looked like Crate & Barrel ads. It’s just not my style. Too girly. It always came out looking deeply inauthentic to me.
"I've since learned that all good food photography has settings that are super fake and often absurd. I've embraced it. I do not intend for my photos to look like real place settings; I just want them to be beautiful to me, and ideally riveting to Hank's readers."
-Holly on To The Bone
Case in point: No one eats on rusty flattened barrels or sand-strewn tile. But, really, who cares?
Read more about what goes into the photos on HAGC, and the void that shopping for photo props filled in Holly's life (it's the reason for the photo we used at the top of today's Wild Bites), on To The Bone. The post is free to read, and all readers can comment and post questions.
Comments?
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