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Wild Foods
Eating Apes (California Studies in Food and Culture)
Published in Paperback by University of California Press (2004-09-06)
Author: Dale Peterson
List price: $15.95
New price: $4.74
Used price: $1.89

Average review score:

An important read
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-06
This book is very important to read: mostly because so few people know about the bushmeat trade in Africa and its impact on the great apes. The book goes into why apes are worth saving, the contribution of logging to crisis, how the crisis is kept hidden, and suggestions on how to alleviate the problem. You will be very surprised to learn the lengths, difficulties, and dangers the contributors of the book go through simply to bring this issue into the spotlight. I also found it very shameful how the crisis has been ignored and exacerbated by the media and the conservation groups.


Honestly though, I felt the book was a little long. It's not actually a long book, but its longer than it needs to be. It seemed to get a little repetitive as the author kept hammering the same points over again. Also, though the author does include an aside on vegetarianism and its merits (while discouraging veganism), he is not a vegetarian himself. While this is, of course, not the subject of the book I feel that if he is going to argue to protect the great apes on the grounds of their sentience, than it is wrong to overlook the sentience of cows, chickens, and especially pigs (who have the same mental capacity as a dog). This is just a minor criticism, but it did bother me a little throughout the book.

So yes, you should read this book. Its very thorough, detailed, complete, and compelling. You will learn a lot and, if the authors have succeeded (and I think they have), you will be sufficiently outraged and willing to contribute to the cause.

A family affair
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2004-04-06
Sometime far in our past, humans took up rocks and sticks to hunt food instead of scavenging from other predators. With our meat available today in shrink-wrapped containers it's easy to lose sight of that long-standing tradition. Others in the world still obtain meat in the traditional environment. The difference is that instead of spears, the weapons are high-powered shotguns. Instead of skulking through the forest seeking prey, hunters are now given rides by timber carriers using deep-penetrating access roads. In this book, Dale Peterson reveals the transformations forest hunting has undergone in West African nations. It's not a
pleasing picture, but it's valid and it's important. And it must change.

The bushmeat trade has many implications, but Peterson has chosen three significant ones. One, of course, is that by killing chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas for food, we're consuming our nearest relations. The primate line divided only 12 million years ago, with the descendants of one line becoming today's mountain gorillas. The other line led to chimpanzees and bonobos with a spur turning off about 7 million years ago leading to you and me. The proximity of chimpanzee and human DNA patterns is no longer news, but the reminder needs to be flashed occasionally.

Another implication is health. With so much attention given to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it's worth reflecting on its origins. More importantly, as Peterson reminds us, is to consider how it works. HIV/AIDS appears to be a recent evolutionary virus quirk. It adapts and evolves with amazing speed. The roots of it remain in the African forest and a new strain can emerge at any time. The best means of transmission from ape or monkey to human is through blood - that stuff the hunter is soaked in as he butchers his forest kill.

The third theme is the question of human relations with the rest of our environment. Human population growth is presented in a novel framework. How many humans come into existence every day is contrasted with the great ape population. Peterson calculates that the entire gorilla population is equalled by new humans every twelve hours. Population pressures in the "developed" world lead to demands for African timber products. In turn, the timber firms are cutting great swaths of forest using displaced populations for labour. To feed these workers, hunters are hired or loggers hunt and apes, due to their availability and size, become a major food source. In a feedback cycle of habitat reduction and hunting, the apes are simply being exterminated. Recovery would require sharply reduced logging. Peterson notes that trees are being taken that began growth in Michaelangelo's time, but their replacements will be cut in only forty years.

Peterson is effusive in his description of the significant role played by Swiss photographer Karl Ammann. Ammann's chance encounter with a logging truck driver revealed the role international logging firms play in the ape slaughter and the extended bushmeat trade. The logging firms, particularly CIB, contend they are providing "employment for locals, health services, food and education". Peterson explains the falsity of this contention, with "health services limited to a nurse and schools and teachers paid for by the workers' families.

Peterson argues that the long-established bushmeat tradition is already lost, displaced by commercial logging practices and new, mass hunting methods using guns, sometimes lent by government officials. If we can change a culture, such as was done with slavery, hunting traditions no longer tenable can be modified, as well. He cites the willingness of Americans to spend minimal annual funds to protect wolves, bears and other fauna. Why not establish a fund for ape protection. He calculates that US$1 billion per year could be raised with an individual contribution of but US$50. Not an enormous sum, given that other donations and military expenditures far exceed it. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A Disturbing And Essential Book
Helpful Votes: 16 out of 17 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-19
What animals we eat are selected by what culture we grow up in. Distant societies think nothing of eating dogs. Some closer ones think eating horse is completely acceptable. Then there are frogs, snakes, and insect larvae. It is all a matter of getting enough protein. One man's protein is another man's atrocity. Americans are used to eating meat they find in Styrofoam trays wrapped in plastic, but the indigenous peoples of central Africa have always eaten the animals living around them: elephants, antelopes, porcupines, rodents, and so on. They don't mind a stew of gorilla or a chimp's sirloin, and what of it? It's the way they have always done things. Tribal languages, in fact, often use the same word for wild animal as they do for meat. The world, however, is not the way it always was, and a shocking book, _Eating Apes_ (University of California Press) by Dale Peterson, shows that apes on the menu is not something the world ought to continue to accept.

We ourselves are members of the tribe of great apes; chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans are on the branch with us. But if African tribes don't share our scientific view or our squeamishness, traditional hunters, in predation balance over the centuries, surely are not going to do lasting harm. Traditional hunting, however, is no longer traditional. There has been an invasion from outside the continent by logging companies, making huge profits from our demand for hardwoods. The companies have lots of workers, many of them from the region, and all the workers have to be fed. Hunters, many of whom are also from the region, are hired to bring in the protein. Bows, arrows, and nets have given way to the far more efficient and deadly wire snares and automatic rifles and shotguns. Perhaps if greater firepower were the only threat to our primate cousins, they could still make it. But we are destroying their habitat (again, mostly by logging), and primates will suffer before other species because of their slow rate of reproduction. There are plenty of species headed toward extinction, but few because we are eating them, and none so close to us evolutionarily. In addition, butchering the apes may be the way humans got HIV and Ebola viruses. It may well be that you haven't heard of the problem of eating apes into extinction because the conservation organizations are keeping quiet about such a downer of a message, and because they are, believe it or not, in partnership with the loggers.

What will be needed is the courage to challenge cultural convictions. It is possible for the West to value (or at least claim to value) sensitivity to other cultures, but in the case of eating apes, it will have to impose scientific knowledge of close kinship, risk of disease, and impending loss of primates to get the native cultures to change. It may even be possible within the corporate culture, which mines habitats to get at profits, to insist not just on sustainable development (a nebulous idea the logging companies pay lip service to) but to take on a wider view of environmental improvement. You can figure up the odds of occurrence of these cultural changes, and especially if you look at our past record, you will not be optimistic. Peterson includes an appendix of what you, and what conservation organizations, can do; he obviously is not giving up hope. Perhaps it is a sign of hope that his reasonable and dispassionate account of this disaster will start many people thinking about the previously covert problem of the loss of the apes. Nevertheless, this is a profoundly disturbing and sad book, and will not be forgotten by those who can get through it.

Powerful challenge to wildlife conserv groups, loggers, more
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-01-22
American and international conservation organizations may be doing little more than feel-good guilt assuaging with many of their slick magazine glossy photos, while ignoring a huge elephant right in front of the world's faces and refusing to show readers the problem.

So says Peterson in the challenging and disturbing book Eating Apes.

Peterson writes about the hunting for bushmeat in Central Africa, specifically hunting great apes - gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. He accuses the Wildlife Conservation Society of doing little more than giving PR flak to a German logging concern in the Congo, CIB, a decade ago, just at the time public pressure was starting to ratchet up on the issue, in large part due to photographer Karl Ammann.

He also accuses Wildlife Conservation, the magazine of WCS, along with National Geographic and other such magazines and other media for generally downplaying or even spiking the issue. Ammann, as interviewed in the book, is even blunter, noting how several wildlife conservation magazines said they didn't want his pictures specifically because they were too controversial and, in not so many words, too guilt-provoking while showing that the modern western-nation wildlife preservation industry wasn't wearing any clothes on this issue.

Read Eating Apes. Then rethink your donations to wildlife groups, at least without some strong letters to the editor.

Difficult to digest but a must-read nonetheless
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-05
With its appealing cover-picture of two baby chimps and its appalling title, "Eating Apes" is a must read for everybody interested in conservation in general and the survival of the great apes in particular. Although I've been already aware of the bushmeat crisis through voluntary work at a zoo, this book hit me hard. The scope of denial by many - individuals and conservation groups alike - paired with risky relationships between NGOs and logging companies is driving our closest living relatives - the great apes - to extinction. Dale Peterson's book encompasses every aspect of this difficult and very complex issue and Karl Ammann's pictures and comments provide further evidence of what really is happening. Everbody who makes or is going to make decisions regarding the bushmeat trade, logging, development and conservation in central Africa has to read this book before making those important and far-reaching decisions. My next task will be to check with the various conservation groups I support, to find out what they are planning to do about this subject. Depending on their answers, I may well choose to cancel some memberships. Something I haven't actually thought about before reading this book - so I hope that many others will follow suit and choose action over complacency!

Wild Foods
Stalking the Wild Asparagus
Published in Hardcover by Alan C. Hood & Company (1988-08)
Author: Euell Gibbons
List price: $19.95
Used price: $18.50

Average review score:

Not a field guide
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-30
Euell Gibbons was master forager, or at least among those that are also authors. His book is absolutely fascinating, and he makes the reader aware of a multitude of wild plants and animals that few have ever tasted, or even been aware of for that matter.

There are countless useful recommendations for the preparation of foraged foods, many of which would be unpalatable or even inedible without using the provided suggestions. His stories are great and he relates many tales from his days as a forager.

The problem I have with the book is that it is first and foremost a cookbook. It has drawings and descriptions of most, but not all, of the wild edibles he talks about. This is hardly a good method for identifying plants. On the back cover it even suggests you could live off the plants and animals described in the book. This is possible, but not likely, particularly if you cannot even properly identify the plants! And considering that there are numerous poisonous plants in any given locale, you had best not delve to deeply into the world of foraging without tagging along with an expert or at least having a detailed field guide.

Take the book for what it is - an excellent resource for preparing wild edibles and opening a whole new world for the outdoorsman.

Bret

The Forager at Work
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-10
I was always interested in survival and eating wild foods and I tried several (with indifferent results) during my boy scout days. Thus, it was that "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" was a revelation to me when I first encountered it as a young man. Somebody else in the world was interested in eating wild plants! Quite a few somebodies, it developed, because this book ran through a lot of printings and Euell Gibbons became a folk hero and TV star.

Gibbons identifies and discusses the culinary virtues of about 50 different wild plants and animals. Among the familiar plants he identifies are dandelions, cattails -- the "supermarket of the swamp" -- and daylilies. He tosses in a few animals worthy of pursuit and ingestion by the modern day hunter/gatherer: bluegills, turtles, frogs, and carp. One is immediately impressed that Gibbons knows what he is talking about. He tells you what you need to do with the plant or animal, gives you a recipe or two for its preparation, and adds a bit of personal experience and folklore about the plant. He even gives you menus for wild-food feasts.

There is something of the primeval in the attraction of children to gathering their own food, even if is only raspberries growing beside a road. For a few, such as Gibbons, it becomes a lifelong passion. His strength as a writer is infectious enthusiasm. I usually find nature writers to be preachy and sanctimonious. Gibbons isn't. He seems impervious to the thought that he might be considered as crazy as a loon (not one of the animals he proposes for eating). He can say with a perfectly straight face, "Let's go nutting."

"Stalking the Wild Asparagus" has found a permanent place on my bookshelf and due recognition as a nature classic.

Smallchief

A Classic- Like a Thoreau, Will Rogers & Mark Twain Blend
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2005-05-12
Euell Gibbons (1911-1975) had an adventurous life to say the least. His first intro to wild foods was due to his family's poverty when they lived in New Mexico. At 12 years old, Gibbons went out in the surrounding country-side to forage for edibles to help feed his family and a life-long love of wild food got off to a pragmatic start. One of his first discoveries was wild asparagus, hence the book title namesake.

This book is lyrical, yet practical and covers a sizeable array of wild foods- location, preparation, uses, etc. Recipes are given all through the book as well as some medicinal use info. One of Gibbons' favorite plants was the Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). He relates how the Dandelion has been one of humanities longest known and useful wild foods and medicines and laments the assault by lawn care chemical manufacturers in trying to demonize this beautiful, helpful gift from Nature.

Gibbons traveled the world lecturing on the benefits of wild foods and was often seen on popular talk shows along with becoming a pitch-man for Post Grape Nut Cereal commercials where he treated America to hilarious daily line: "...taste like wild hickory nuts!". Gibbon's came across like a modern-day cross between Mark Twain, Will Rogers and Henry David Thoreau.

Those familiar with Thoreau's recently published last manuscript, "Wild Fruits" will see the close resemblance to "Stalking the Wild Asparagus"- both now classics and useful guides to Nature's cornucopia of wild edible gifts.

Euell Gibbons is da man!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-13
Not only is this book full of recipes for wild plant dishes, but it includes wild animals as well. I like his attitude towards the things that many people won't touch - I mean this dude ate a bobcat and had a buddy there eating it with him. Where do you find these kind of people? I don't know anyone who would eat bobcat unless money was involved.

Stalking the Wild Asparagus
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-29
I have known this book for over 20 years. I has been almost a bible for my foraging. I used to borrow it from the library several times a year. Then the county libraby removed it from the shelf to make room for newer books. I was very dissappointed. I had to borrow the book from a library 2 counties away. I was delighted to discover that Amazon carried Stalking the Wild Asparagus. The book is a wonderful reference tool, personable, acurate, and has detailed illustrations.

Wild Foods
Cowboy Cocktails: Boot-Scootin' Beverages and Tasty Vittles from the Wild West
Published in Paperback by Ten Speed Press (2000-05)
Authors: Grady Spears and Brigit Legere Binns
List price: $14.95
New price: $2.95
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $19.50

Average review score:

Cowboy Cocktails
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-21
Want some really good drink recipes? Try this book, especially if you like Tequila. I suppose other liquor could be substituted for tequila in some of the recipes. But hey, this IS a book written by a Texan. And they do drink a lot of tequila in the "Wild West". Buy it with his "Cowboy in the Kitchen".

Fun and Handy!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-09
The book is full of fun short stories, great food and beverage recipes (easy ones and tougher ones), and entertaining song suggestions. For the low price, it's worth it, especially if you're an entertainer and like to experiment with new ideas. Keep it handy and you'll find a new recipe each time you open it!

Cowboy Coctails Rides High!!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-25
I picked up this book to help me out with my menus at a number of "Dude Ranches" I'm the F&B for. This and Grady Spears' other books are going to become required reading for my staff. Theyr'e not only great recipes, they have some great Texas tales and tid bits with a bit of cowboy humor added. Great Stuff!

GRADY SPEARS HAS DONE IT AGAIN!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-06-11
After writing his masterpeice, A Cowboy In The Kitchen, Grady has given us a book of savory cocktails to wash down his cowboy cuisine!

The Reata Rita is the best margarita I have ever had! And I can't wait to try the Sonora Sangria! Grady has even selected listening music for each beverage. You might try the Texas Lemonade if you're a Pat Green fan!

This book is a must have for any hard-core drinker!

FUNNY......
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-21
Some fancy names for "western drinks". Living out West I ship this book to friends and family on the East coast just for laughs. They inevitably call me and tell me they just made themselves a "Purple Jesus" or a "Cactus-Rita". It's a funny bar book, if you're not much for hard liquor there are a few food recipes, but it's mostly a drink guide.

Wild Foods
Dandelions Are Free
Published in Spiral-bound by Dandelions Are Free (1997-10)
Author: Joanne J. Henry
List price: $14.95
Used price: $80.00

Average review score:

Delightful book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 1998-11-14
I bought my first copy of this book at a book fair in New York. The lyrical text of the introduction invites you into the delightful world of dandelions and excites your curiosity about the plant. I bought 3 as gifts for cherished friends who adore the book.

Great recipes and a bit of nostalgia!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 1998-04-04
A delightful book! For the first time in years I enjoyed a dandelion salad this spring--inspired by these recipes. I'm looking forward to attempting dandelion wine later, my only problem being which wine recipe to choose. Maybe I'll try a couple! The drawings are enchanting. Besides being useful the book has a nostalgic flavor bringing back memories of my childhood.

Rain, rain go away so I can pick some dandelions today!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 1998-04-02
I grew up in Israel and altho we had dandelions I never paid them any mind. A friend gave me this book and it's changed my mind about this common plant. Who would have thought there was so much to be desired about one of our wildest weeds? As soon as it stops raining I'm going out to gather some fresh leaves and make a salad using a recipe from the book. The poems are great, too. I am amazed at what is in this book.

Beautiful...lyrical--fall under Joanne's spell!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 1998-11-21
Joanne Henry has an enchanting writing style. She will bewitch all who read Dandelions Are Free easily and completely. One will NEVER regard the dandelion in the same way again. Joanne is a gifted writer and researcher, a gentle soul whose own tender feelings about the plant are obvious on every page. Yet her writing also invites the the reader to share in the dandelion's special magic. I feel privileged to have my own work wrapped within hers.

Makes you love that unusual yellow flower
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1998-12-09
This book is a wonderful array of recipes, stories from people's experiences with that awesome little yellow flower that most people would like to obliterate, and whispy illustrations done by an extremely talented artist. Joanne has such a wonderful flow to her writing and you begin to love that dreaded yellow flower that pops up in our yards. I started the book and couldn't put it down. I wish everyone could read it and enjoy the many aspects of this lovely plant.

Wild Foods
The Neighborhood Forager: A Guide for the Wild Food Gourmet
Published in Paperback by Chelsea Green Publishing Company (2000-06)
Author: Robert K. Handerson
List price: $24.95
New price: $7.00
Used price: $7.00

Average review score:

A must have book!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-31
This book is wonderful. I paid full price for it and would gladly do so again in order to give it as a gift to others. I highly recomend it.

nice format with lots of misinformation
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-22
I have owned this book for several years and read it cover to cover, most parts more than once. It is a good read and I like the way it is set up, and the author's enthusiasm is appreciated. There is much good information inside, but unfortunately, there is misinformation to a degree that I think is inexcusable. For example, the drawings of "evening primrose" actually show primrose, which is a totally different plant in an entirely different family. But the text clearly describes eating the root of evening primrose. So it seems like he didn't even know what evening primrose was, had never tried it, but copied his information on how to use it, even the description of its flavor, from another book. The text sure makes it sound like he's had experience from the plant. I think its disingenuous and a disservice to the reader. This is the most glaring example of many errors. Otherwise, it is a good book.

Amazing!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-11
I was amazed at all the information this book gave me. I have learned so many things, to see all the bounty we can have in our own backyard! Practical and easy to read. I recommend this book to all nature and food lovers.

Fresh and Fun
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2000-12-17
I haven't met many people who can point out at least ten different plants in the average yard and can tell you how to cook them. Mr. Henderson does an outstanding job of identifying wild, and not-so-wild, edibles common to almost every neighborhood. His recipes are easy to follow and delicious.

Even if you are not planning to run right out to the nearest shrub and harvest its leaves for dinner, I recommend this book. Mr. Henderson's prose is worth reading, whatever the content. His witty, humorous style enlivens a book full of excellent information.

Don't Know What to Do With That Weed? Eat It!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-10
The Neighborhood Forager is a very informative and enjoyable book. It not only tells about the plants in our backyards and by-ways but gives historical information, recipes, warnings and dyer's tips.

Mr. Henderson writes with humor and personal anecdotes which makes the book a good read even if you're not into foraging.

Wild Foods
Wild in the Kitchen: Recipes for Wild Fruits, Weeds, and Seeds
Published in Paperback by M. Evans and Company, Inc. (2001-05)
Author: Ronna Mogelon
List price: $17.95
New price: $9.00
Used price: $4.62

Average review score:

Interesting Ideas
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2003-06-13
This book gave a lot of interesting ways to use plants that I had never thougt to use before. These recipes are great, I especially love the wild mint sauce and the pink clover vinaigrette. I was hoping there would be more recipes for seeds and common weeds and their leaves, but it was a good buy.

Wild about Wild on Park Avenue
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-18
What a wonderful read! Can't wait to leave the Big Apple for the wilds of Westchester to start picking my dinner. The recipes are fun to read and I bet they will be an adventure to gather and delicious to eat.

A delicious read!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-08-08
Not only is the author a talented artist (I adore her cat book), but she sure can cook. Making the most of what nature provides in abundance on her farm in eastern Canada, Ms Mogelon provides a range of simple recipes not to be found in but the most exotic restaurant. I can't wait for her next offerings.

75 unique and delicious recipes
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-04
With Wild In The Kitchen: Recipes For Wild Fruits, Weeds And Seeds, chef and amateur naturalist Ronna Mogelon showcases 75 unique and delicious recipes for commonly found wild berries and plants ranging from dandelions and elderberries to lily blossoms and mushrooms. From Steamed Day Lily Buds; Elderberry Wine; and Wild Blueberry Muffin Cake; to Wild Mushroom and Asparagus Strudel; Tabouli Salad; and Spiced Crabapples, Wild In The Kitchen offers a delightful and surprising compendium of wonderful recipes suited to all dining occasions.

A Wonderful Book
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-06-20
Pink Sumac Lemonade, Chinese-Style Stir-Fried Milkweed, and Sauteed Day Lily Buds are only three of the tantalizing recipes in this delightful, offbeat and, above all, useful book. The ingredients may be wild but the recipe directions are precise, while the prose is luscious. It's hard not to love a book whose author introduces you to a daddy longlegs named Oscar as well as the lovely maroon flower of the wild ginger plant. The illustrations are vivacious. And I know that, come autumn, I'm going to want a cup of Labrador Tea.

Wild Foods
Eat Like a Wild Man: 110 Years of Great Sports Afield Recipes
Published in Hardcover by Willow Creek Press (1997-06)
Author:
List price: $25.00
New price: $16.38
Used price: $4.43
Collectible price: $25.00

Average review score:

Eat Like A Wild Man - The Perfect Cook Book For a Hunter
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-08
This is the perfect gift for my younger brother who likes to hunt. He's started to enjoy cooking for himself as well, what a great gift! And it has chapters for all the seasons!

Wild Man's Thoughts
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-31
This is one of the finest books of this type that I have ever owned.Not only is it extremely entertaining,but also,quite informative.This book will help to tame the wildest of men through conquering the heart by exciting the taste pallete.

Excellent compilation of fish and game recipes
Helpful Votes: 16 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 1999-10-04
If you like fish and wild game dishes, this is the book for you. There are recipes from over 100 years of the publication "Sports Afield". Every recipe that I have tried has been awesome(about 30). There is even a recipe for fruit bat, I'll let someone else try that one.

Love the book and would give it 10 stars!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-11
P. J. O'Rourke one of my favorite, conservative authors has said Rebecca Gray is Martha Stewart with a shotgun. That alone made me want to buy the book. Then there is the books layout which is quality all the way. No cheap, slap together book.

Historically the information on aging, traditions for cooking, meticulous instruction and illustrations provided made the book well worth the price.

There are recipes for venison, bear, boar, duck, goose, pheasant, quail, partridge, grouse, woodcock, dove, rabbit, perch, shellfish, squirrel, iguana, frog, crow, trout, pike, bass, turkey, salmon, swordfish, catfish, wild rice, dandelion, watercress and rosehips and wild and domesticated herbs means that there will be more than a little for the authentic hunter, cooker and feaster of wild game.

Along with Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons also available thru Amazon.com, there is no reason someone like myself, living here in the Sierras of California should ever have an excuse for going hungry.

This is a book that will appeal to those interested in the history of food, self sufficiency, wild game, as well as a great gift for the man or woman in your life who has an adventuresome streak.

You can also subscribe to Sports Afield via Amazon.com as well.

Features unusual and highly recommended dishes
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-02-24
In Eat Like A Wild Man: The Ultimate Game And Fish Cookbook, Rebecca Gray draws upon 110 years of "Sports Afield" magazine to compile an outstanding recipe collection for fish, fowl, and wildlife dining. From Venison Steak Paillard, Yearling Bear Roast, and Curried Grouse Breast, to Louisiana Oyster Soup, Malabar Curried Trout Soup, and Black Bass Mushroom Pie, Eat Like A Wild Man features unusual and highly recommended dishes that would grace any table, highlight any celebration, and please any palate.

Wild Foods
Dishes from the Wild Horse Desert: Norteño Cooking of South Texas
Published in Hardcover by Wiley (2006-05-10)
Author: Melissa Guerra
List price: $29.95
New price: $10.00
Used price: $11.58

Average review score:

Great recipes, easy to read, informative and deep
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-18
With so many cookbooks, the layout can really turn me off of a book. The first thing that struck me when I flipped open to a random page how it drew me in. Most recipes include a bit of the author's personal history with the dish and many introduce with the "old way" of making the dish as well as present a new way that is less labor intensive. Often she will follow up with a recipe for those who want to try the traditional method.

A very thorough book that explores local ingredients, explains when they were served, what you might find in your supermarket and then clearly describes how to prepare the dish.

I'm a recent transplant to Texas and have had my eyes opened to Mexican and Tex-Mex food. This book introduces Norteno cuisine that is found in many traditional border homes. I couldn't wait to try my hand at these recipes.

Also, if you're someone who likes to read cookbooks for enjoyment, you'll love this one.

Recipes from the Wild Horse Desert
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-11
Great cookbook for those that are looking for TRUE South Texas-Northern Mexico cuisine. It is beautifully written and a cookbook you will keep in your library forever.

Great Cookbook!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-20
I am a beginning cook that moved from South Texas and love this book! Now I can make all of my favorites in my own kitchen far from home. The background Melissa gives is so interesting and it makes you feel like she is in the kitchen with you almost!

Outstanding, Authentic, and Beautifully done
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-11
Of of the few, rare, authentic looks at some exceptionally wonderful food. The book is beautiful, and enhances the feel for understanding the landscape and people that authentic south Texas ranch cooking comes from. Thank God Melissa is secure enough in tradition that she did not feel the need to throw Mangos in everything to prove she was a creative chef. I have pet goats that were adopted as orphans, and they are very sweet and loving, so I no longer eat Cabrito, but have had it enough in the past to appreciate the recipes.

Wild Foods
Going Wild in the Kitchen: The Fresh & Sassy Tastes of Vegetarian Cooking
Published in Paperback by Square One Publishers (2005-12-01)
Author: Leslie Cerier
List price: $16.95
New price: $10.79
Used price: $9.50

Average review score:

Wild Yet Down to Earth!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-06
In the age of pre-packaged, heat and serve, mealtimes often lack nourishment; that is, food that satisfies both body and spirit. But fortunately there's a remedy: "Going Wild in the Kitchen." This cookbook not only offers 150+ healthy, palate-pleasing vegetarian recipes, but also inspires and guides readers toward greater creativity in the kitchen.

There is much to like about Going Wild in the Kitchen, not least of which are the many glossaries, charts, and tables that provide all the information one will need in order to prepare the delicious and exciting vegetarian recipes contained in the book - and perhaps a few of your own culinary creations! One particularly handy table details cooking instructions for over eighteen different varieties of grains, including a few "ancient grains," several of which I've never heard of before. And then, of course, there are the recipes! Quinoa with Cauliflower and Feta, and Italian Lentil Stew with Creamy Grano are just two favorites. What's grano, you ask? No worries, it's all in the book!

"Going Wild in the Kitchen" is beautifully illustrated, however one will not find it includes any glossy photographs, yet surprisingly they are not missed. The author, who is an expert cooking instructor as well as a gourmet organic caterer, awakens the imagination by sharing her knowledge, experience, and passion in this superbly substantive vegetarian cookbook. Indeed, "Going Wild in the Kitchen" is bound to present more than a few welcome surprises for even the experienced chef.

In short, I love this cookbook!

Really tasty!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-30
My kids demanded I make the peanut butter teff cookies two days in a row. Blueberry cornbread was also delicious. No refined sugar, eggs or milk and many grain alternatives. Quite impressed.

Wow!
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-16
This book gives great ideas about how to improvise in the kitchen as well as incredible recipes if you are a bit more shy about experimenting. For anyone learning how to cook healthy, nutritious foods that taste great this is the book.

Don't be shy if you aren't vegetarian it still has fabulous ideas for creating healthy meals and expanding your kitchen tool kit.

Great for food allergy sufferers as it has lots of grain variations available too.

Go wild!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-31
This book truly helps the creative cook go wild and have fun in the kitchen. I've tried several recipes and each one came out perfectly, and was a big hit. but the beauty of these recipes is that you don't have to stick to a recipe exactly for it to turn out great. In fact, the author, Leslie Cerier, includes lots of variations and encourages the cook to experiment and play.

I like the fact that the desserts are vegan and that she uses lots of berries, herbs, and unusual whole grains in a number of dishes. The layout is easy on the eye and graphics are fun. This will be a kitchen favorite of anyone who loves healthy, delicious foods, whether vegetarian or not. Buy it, you won't be sorry!

Wild Foods
Native Harvests: American Indian Wild Foods & Recipes, Revised & Expanded Edition, 1998, (20th birthday edition)
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Amer Indian Archaeological (1998-11)
Author: E. Barrie Kavasch
List price: $13.95
Used price: $25.00

Average review score:

WONDERFUL--EXCEPTIONAL!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-11
One of the BEST books I've ever known. Thoroughly researched and beautifully compiled, it's a work that springs from a deep connection with the Earth. Excellent for enthusiasts of the wild foods and medicines of the northeast--but applicable to other regions, as well. The recipes (for both plants and animals) use primarily native American ingredients.
Copies may still be available from the publisher's museum bookstore. Check out www.birdstone.org.

Outstanding new edition! Fuller than ever!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-22
This new edition of a well-loved classic continues to please the many teachers who use this book as a classroom text & field guide. We are pleased to have played a major role in bringing it about! Our museum, exhibits, trails, and villages reflect much of this work here at The Institute For American Indian Studies in Washington, CT.

Best WildFoods Trail Guide with illustrations!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-22
This expanded, 20th Birthday Edition of Native Harvests, with color photographs + 3 more chapters + expanded glossary & bibliography is even more valuable than the previous edition, which the New York Times called "the most brilliantly researched book on the subject." This edition will also become a treasured teaching text and tool for greater appreciation of Native People and their contributions to our contemporary lifeways..

Review Correction
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-12-14
The Institute for American Indian Studies did not review this book. The review was written by the author.


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