Wild for Gastrotechnology
Don't limit yourself to a stew or roast on a campfire, with The Complete Wild Game Cookbook by Jean-Paul Grappe offer you every guidance you need to create “designer” meals of more animals than I can even imagine eating.
Book Review: The Complete Wild Game Cookbook
Author: Jean-Paul Grappe
Admittedly, I am not the best choice for a reviewer of this cookbook. I’m a California city-girl who can’t remember the last time I saw any “wild” game except at the zoo.
I do recall as a child my Alabama raised Granddad proudly presenting my mom with venison, rattlesnake, duck, pheasant, quail and likely other wild game he proudly had captured. His expectation? My mom serve it for dinner, which she did, and we ate it.
But never did she serve a “Filet of Virginia Deer on Gingerbread Loaf with Confit of Onions, Fava Beans and Chanterelles” or “Mallard Duck Breasts in Brioche with Apricots”.
Times have definitely changed. Many home cooks are self-taught gourmet chefs. If that’s you, and you have a source for wild game, or an avid hunter in your midst, then you’ll want this cookbook. It has a nice section on “Marinade, Stock, Roux and Sauce recipes” (which us less adventurous cooks might try with chicken or beef?) and guidance on “Pairing Wines with Game”.
Overall this is a classy cookbook, nicely presented and packed with gourmet recipes and preparation tips for Wild Game. Our author writes, “Wild animals live in complete freedom and eat whatever suits their needs. This in turn impacts their meat flavors that transform a meal into a gastronomic delight.” … “Gastrotechnology is the science of food preparation. Food should be rendered digestible and presented as a culinary art in a way that will maximize the diner’s spiritual pleasure and stimulate the secretion of digestive juices.” (p. 13-14) If we consider these thoughts descriptive of Jean-Paul Grappe’s personal goal for this cookbook, then he has more than excelled.
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My gratitude to Robert Rose, Inc. for the opportunity to review this cookbook.
See other great cookbooks by this publisher here http://www.robertrose.ca/books.
