Afield: A Chef's Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish

There's a reason this book has won (and been nominated for) so many awards.It's well written with entertaining anecdotes of excursions the author has made. The writing and recipes are accompanied by an impressive amount of breathtaking photos of these trips, step-by-step butchering instructions, as well as of the finished product. The variety of recipes (traditional Southern, French, South American, Indian -- and probably even more I'm forgetting) included with each section is sure to convince you to plan that next fishing or hunting trip you've been putting off.The stories are fun to read, informative, and inspiring. He's been hunting and fishing since he was young, and you can tell he's got years of experience both in pursuing animals and cooking them. He covers pretty much all the most popular fish and game you likely go after: dove & snipe, catfish, whiting, flounder, crab, feral hog, deer, turkey, duck, goose, rabbit, squirrel, bass, and crappie. And as I mentioned above, his step-by-step instructions (equipped with color photographs) on breaking down your kill and butchering it into more manageable cuts of meat are among the best I've seen.The recipes are all simple enough for even the least-experienced home cook -- many designed to enjoy around a camp fire post hunt or fish. Plus, there's a variety of recipes that even the pickiest of eaters will enjoy (fried catfish, wild boar carnitas, turkey potpie) as well as ones reserved for the more adventurous/ambitious crowd (dove terrine, smoked goose sausage, sauteed venison liver). Waste not, want not, as the saying goes; armed with this inspirational you'll start spending much more of your free time out doors in pursuit of free protein.This book is perfect for beginning hunters/fishers (the butchering instructions alone are worth the cost of the book) on up to even the most seasoned outdoorsman interested in trying out a different way of cooking their favorite wild foods.

I continue to find Jesse's work inspiring, whether in video or print he has so much to offer.

only became aware of this book, eating at Dai Due's fabulous tent during Saturday mornings spent at the Austin Farmer's market. For weeks, I would wake up, quite hungry, but holding off on anything but coffee in order to fully appreciate Dai Due's offerings later in the morning... every week was different, but always out-of-this-world tasty -- maybe a wild boar, or stewed duck, or venison base, always assembled fresh in a hot bed of tortillas and slathered on top with a homemade veggie mix or slaw or gravy of some sort. Damn good, near perfect. I was not a "regular", but was hooked on going regularly.And then one day I saw this book out on the counter, propped open on an easel, pointing exactly to the page with a recipe for what I had just ordered. What's this!?! Thumbing through it and then talking with one of the people behind the counter, I was told this was a book that the proprietor (Jesse, not there at that exact moment) had written, and if not the outright specials that day, then whatever was being offered was following the spirit of the book. I was also told that somehow, it would be cheaper to buy the book at Amazon, than in person. Since I was low on cash that day anyways, I ordered when I got home. Came in about a week, I immediately dug into it con mucho gusto. It's a great read about how we should all eat and cook; I wish I had the time to hunt my own field game and prepare it like they do. I've tasted the results!Many years ago I read Omnivore's Dilemma and became self-aware about the problems we have with our structural food; Jesse's book could have been titled Omnivore's Answer.

Great recipes we made a few out of this one in the last few months since Christmas. Learned of the author on Meateater. Great food and detail!

I can not say enough good things about this book. I am fortunate to live in Austin, where Jesse has his butcher shop at the farmer's market downtown, where I have been able to sample many of the sausages and charcuterie that he creates. His food is amazing, and now he has written a book which offers a glimpse of all the variety to be found withn nature's bounty. First off, the photographs in the book have a certain savage beauty to them. I say savage beccause not all cookbooks will walk you through the dressing and butchering of the meat you are about to eat. Second, the recipes in the book are very uncomplicated and the ingredient list isn't all that long for many of the recipes. As more people ask what is in their food, this book arrives at the pefect time and allows people to control that very process. Up until now, I have been a non-hunter, but I have been considering it for a while now as a way to provide good, healthy food for my family. Get this book and go out and confront the nature of being a meat eater!

This is beyond just a cookbook - Jesse Griffiths writes about the hunt before each section (the book is divided into types of game) so that you really get a feel for what it is like, not just hunting but being there, the people, the places. If you do want to hunt the game you will be cooking, he provides step by step directions to dress and clean the game along with photographs, but non hunters can easily use this book as well. If you can source from friends that hunt, great. If not, you can get many of the ingredients and a good grocery or farmers market, and/or convert them to non-game animals (and fish).Beautifully written and photographed, simple accesible but deliciious recipes. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and will continue to do so as we cycle through various hunting seasons.

Local chef with local wild game! It doesn’t get any better than this. All in all a great read with top notch recipes. I have already highly recommend this book to many people if they don’t buy it I will be buying this book To hand out at Christmas very soon.

Jesse is the man! Great book from a great person! Keep up the good work!

Good book, but more for hunter's then for chef's.

I bought this for my wife for Christmas and before you roll your eyes or shake your head about another guy who does not know what he is doing, hear me out. I hunt a fair bit and game meat (along with meat we raise) makes up a fair portion of our diet. We also grow our own vegetables and fruits - so we are not completely locavores but we do our part to be sustainable. My wife loves food but is rather detail oriented. Her complaint about game was not having any book that really spoke to how to prepare cuisine at more than a basic level using game. Other cookbooks that I have bought her in the past tended to be more at the "camp stove" level and did not strike a chord with her. The other reviews indicated that this is really at the "chef" level and initially I was skeptical but I definitely earned points getting it! The initial reaction was, "another game cookbook" but once she began to look through it, the tone changed. I also read it (portions) and I was impressed with the content, the presentation and overall with the amount of information there. My wife is going to use it to prepare game dinners for friends and told me it was the best present this year (I took that to mean that she really liked it rather than the rest of the presents were stupid <g>). Based on her response and my reading, I should have likely given it 5 stars but 4 is still pretty good. If you are looking for camp food, this is not the book if you are looking for the next level in preparing game, and you enjoy that type of activity, then this needs to be on your shelf.

Bought it for my brother for Christmas. It arrived extremely quick which is awesome for December. And He enjoyed it a lot. Couldn't put it down after the gift exchange.

Got this as a gift for my dad and he loves it!

I'm a great cook and a decent hunter. This book made me feel I'm better at both. Lots of info, background details, step by step, etc. Love it.