.
Essen: Curious Beasts – An Introduction to Small Game
As cuisine becomes more and more localized chefs have increasingly touted the benefits of utilizing local flora, and rightly so. Home cooks are increasing the foraging ranks, and chefs from California to Scandinavia enlist teams of natural scavengers to adorn their seasonal menus with the best of local vegetation. Many local animal food sources, however, are often overlooked, be it for cultural, taste or availability reasons. But there is evidence that the hunting and eating of wild game is slowly taking hold.
In a constant effort to challenge perceptions of what food is, while simultaneously exploring new flavors and sensations, chefs like Brett Graham and Heston Bluementhal are naturally directing our attention to the world of fauna. What better way to challenge perceptions than with animals that are often perceived as inedible, road kill, or just downright disgusting.
In an effort to discover more about eating wild game, I had a chat with Baron Ambrosia, the star of the food show Bronx Flavor, and the host of the First Annual Bronx Pipe Smoking Society’s Small Game Dinner, held in January. The purpose of the dinner was to challenge chefs to get out of their comfort zones by preparing main dishes using unusual game, and to give guests the opportunity to explore the world of protein, outside of what is usually deemed as acceptable. And the results? The menu included such delicacies as opossum with dried pepper sauce, squirrel with black truffles, and a raccoon confit.
When asked what triggered his own interest in hunting and eating small game Baron Baron responded, “Out of the vast selection of fauna that is available (and delicious) we as a society are politely permitted to choose from a very small selection. Much of this selection is unhealthy industrial-grade offal. People are perfectly happy to pick up a hamburger made from a cow that has spent its miserable life in a dank pen being overstuffed with corn and antibiotics, yet they recoil in horror at the thought of consuming an animal that has had a beautiful and productive life in the wild.”
For those of us not lucky enough to be on the Baron’s guest list, our best option is probably heading down to the farmers’ markets to see what game is available, or availing ourselves of a hunting license. However you obtain that wild meat, the Essen guide to small game should serve as an excellent source of inspiration.
Visit Essen for more fantastic insight into the world of food.
By Eileen Bernardi – Illustrations by Lorenzo Fernandez
