Adrienne Hew’s books have been called “the new way to look at food” and “a brilliant masterpiece of literature” by independent reviewers. Using a combination of storytelling, scientific fact and humor, Hew makes the tedious topic of nutrition fun and accessible for anyone who loves to eat without guilt. By publishing your document, the content will be optimally indexed by Google via AI and sorted into the right category for over 500 million ePaper readers on YUMPU. I don’t know what the balance number is right now, but I still see a lot of people that are involved in hunting and fishing and yet I also see a lot of people who aren’t even interested because of, I really think, technology has moved us in the direction of more convenience. We want everything; immediate gratification, more convenience, let’s have it now. If the people are educated enough, though, I do know a lot of people like that, what’s important is they keep shopping the farmers’ market; they put a little planter outside so they have some herbs to add into their food. That little bit will just be parsley, like you talked about, if they had a little thing of parsley and they start adding it into salads, they’re going to go, “Oh my God, I wonder what else I can do?” So that is a snowball effect and so if people get those ideas we just talked about in their head then they get excited because also when you’re excited somebody else is, “Oh my God, this tastes so good, I can’t make it this good,” and it’s as simple as adding a fresh herb or something at the end.

AH: I’m not sure, but one way or another it just never seems like I’m never at the right amount for what I’m looking, I’m either way over or way under. AH: Oh good, that’s a very good point. I was actually just talking to my seven-year-old because I teach a cooking class at her school, and every time I talk to the kids I’m like this is what we’re going to do. I explain it to them but for some reason I can never explain it enough, I say slice something, and I get mash. It’s like you show them, but then when people don’t cook I think there’s a misconception that things are very much more difficult in the kitchen. For one, I notice that people tend to man-handle things more if you don’t give them really specific directions. AH: Yeah, it scared me away from ever trying wild game meats, not that I haven’t had kangaroo. I had the opportunity to eat certain things and they were done really well; different kinds of elk and moose and so on. KG: Again, part of it was the explosive growth in population and the more we work, the less we have time to hunt. I know we were looking at statistics for the Finland wildlife and the number of young girls and boys coming into the hunting experience has some diminished years; however, this past year seems to have gone up a little bit. The more people that take the time that want to hunt and get their food or has been in their culture in generations, I still see that happening. But if it hasn’t been in the culture, it’s through the generations or we’ve grown up in the suburbs and then gone off to college and you’re always in the city, those things are furthest from your mind and then you look at the convenience, and the convenience is the grocery store. AH: Awesome, that’s fantastic. Well Kate, thank you for spending time with us and educating us on this fabulous meat called beaver.AH: I love what you say about people who have these traditions in their families, and holding onto that and moving it forward, or at least keeping it for future generations and still exploring the snake and beaver and other meats that we don’t think of. Most of us don’t even, we look at a squirrel or beaver and the last thing we think about is eating it unless we’re starving but so many people would rather reach for a bag of Doritos than to eat that. It draws on something that one of my followers has told me, because her husband is a psychotherapist and he works with a lot of people who have cult-like affiliations, one of the things he said was that one of the first things they do to bring you over to their side is to separate you from your native foods and the foods that you enjoy with your family. They’ll prescribe a diet that basically makes you become anti-social. It’s a really, I think that’s a really powerful way of interpreting it and it’s very true. If you look at what we would consider some of the more radical diets or radical religious practices, there’s always something that’s off the table that makes you not able to sit down with other people who aren’t a part of that group. AH: Right, in my lexicon I consider the beans and the nuts, well, beans, starch and nuts fat. I do think that they can support proteins but I don’t like to see it when people rely on them as a protein source because I’ve just seen too many disasters. We’ve had a few guests who say we’ve found a way to make it work but it just seems like it’s a bit playing Russian roulette when people try to rely on those exclusively. KG: It’s illegal to sell. However, I will trade a cookbook for a beaver or some meat from somebody because they’re getting something that they want and I get what I want.

KG: This six-year-old, young huge male which was 850 pounds, it had already lost 20% of its weight because it was near the end of rutting season so it would not have survived the winter with its heart like that. I actually felt good because I love when an animal is presented to me that I can take because otherwise it really would have suffered. So that’s another aspect of hunting. AH: I was trying to explain to a friend of mine who is Pennsylvania-Dutch and lives in rural Pennsylvania, she said, “Oh, curry; I’ve never had that, what’s it like? I said, think of curry like barbecue; it’s not just one thing; there’s all kinds of barbecue. And the same thing with curry; curry is more of a thing for a stew, it’s not a set combination of ingredients, so approaching it from that perspective really opens up whole worlds for people who don’t like curry. AH: Just take your mother away from you. That is incredible. I hope that people listening to this will go and investigate, see what’s available in their area; we don’t have to starve. Now I’m just opening a whole other can of worms because there’s so many of these articles going around, especially places like Spain and San Francisco, that are saying we’re not going to have enough meat, eat this plant that we’re putting into a vial somewhere, and a guy in a lab coat is going to turn it into protein for you. AH: It can be, but then I’ve used it in recipes where I use the same amount I’d have used with another salt and it just, nothing, butkis, it just doesn’t taste like anything.AH: Yes, totally.So what are some of variabilities from one season to the next, or one year to the next? Why doesn’t it always taste exactly the same? We know that it’s wild, but are there things like a drought year, how is that going to impact? KG: In the farmers’ market I just cannot stress that enough for people it’s just such an amazing source and if you don’t see something that you want, ask because there are a lot of people that don’t participate in farmers’ markets because they don’t have the time; however, they do have the source. Grab the hard copy as the perfect Christmas, White Elephant, Secret Santa, birthday, Mother's/Father's Day, Valentine's Day and bridal shower gift. KG: Right, all of our greens and other kinds of proteins; the beans, the legumes, are all very healthy and a great compliment to the diet. AH: Oh, but of course. And folks, you don’t want to miss recipes like Mustard Crusted Beaver or Porcini Rubbed Beaver and the Victorious Beaver Loins.

KG: For beaver and squirrel, the fresher the better. There are some meats that it’s important for it to hang, a lot of red meats. However, that said, for beaver, I usually get it, my brother catches it, traps it, puts it right away in the freezer, unless you’re going to eat it right away.Squirrel, same thing; but moose and elk and caribou and deer, there needs to be a little bit of hanging for the blood to settle out. KG: I will support you 100% because I cannot tell people enough that what you have just said is that it is so important to start with basic, fresh ingredients. Sometimes just using one fresh herb as opposed to dried makes all the difference in the world.

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AH: I think what you’re saying is so important, whether you’re getting it from the wild or from your local butcher or supermarket or wherever, know the people who are handling the food. Even the fact that I was able to engage in a conversation with the guy selling me the salmon, saying, this stuff, they fed it dye, this fish was fed dye. But once you establish that relationship you’re more apt to get those honest answers. How do we get to a place where we no longer really appreciate, basically talking beaver, squirrel, caribou, maybe not in Canada, but for here, all these wild game meats are, they’re an anomaly, they’re not part of the regular table, you have to know someone who knows someone to get them. How did that come about? When did we make that shift where we’re only going to eat these farm animals?