Download or read book The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook written by Steven Rinella and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2018-11-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the host of the television series and podcast MeatEater, the long-awaited definitive guide to cooking wild game, including fish and fowl, featuring more than 100 new recipes “As a MeatEater fan who loves to cook, I can tell you that this book is a must-have.”—Andrew Zimmern When Steven Rinella hears from fans of his MeatEater show and podcast, it’s often requests for more recipes. One of the most respected and beloved hunters in America, Rinella is also an accomplished wild game cook, and he offers recipes here that range from his takes on favorite staples to more surprising and exotic meals. Big Game: Techniques and strategies for butchering and cooking all big game, from whitetail deer to moose, wild hogs, and black bear, and recipes for everything from shanks to tongue. Small Game: How to prepare appetizers and main courses using common small game species such as squirrels and rabbits as well as lesser-known culinary treats like muskrat and beaver. Waterfowl: How to make the most of available waterfowl, ranging from favorites like mallards and wood ducks to more challenging birds, such as wild geese and diving ducks. Upland Birds: A wide variety of butchering methods for all upland birds, plus recipes, including Thanksgiving wild turkey, grilled grouse, and a fresh take on jalapeño poppers made with mourning dove. Freshwater Fish: Best practices for cleaning and cooking virtually all varieties of freshwater fish, including trout, bass, catfish, walleye, suckers, northern pike, eels, carp, and salmon. Saltwater Fish: Handling methods and recipes for common and not-so-common species of saltwater fish encountered by anglers everywhere, from Maine to the Bahamas, and from Southern California to northern British Columbia. Everything else: How to prepare great meals from wild clams, crabs, crayfish, mussels, snapping turtles, bullfrogs, and even sea cucumbers and alligators. Whether you’re cooking outdoors or in the kitchen, at the campfire or on the grill, this cookbook will be an indispensable guide for both novices and expert chefs. “Rinella goes to the next level and offers some real deal culinary know-how to make sure that your friends and family will dig what you put on the table.”—Guy Fieri “[A] must-read cookbook for those seeking a taste of the wild.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Download or read book Meat Eater written by Steven Rinella and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012-09-04 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and host of Netflix’s MeatEater comes “a unique and valuable alternate view of where our food comes from” (Anthony Bourdain). “Revelatory . . . With every chapter, you get a history lesson, a hunting lesson, a nature lesson, and a cooking lesson. . . . Meat Eater offers an overabundance to savor.”—The New York Times Book Review Meat Eater chronicles Steven Rinella’s lifelong relationship with nature and hunting through the lens of ten hunts, beginning when he was an aspiring mountain man at age ten and ending as a thirty-seven-year-old Brooklyn father who hunts in the remotest corners of North America. He tells of having a struggling career as a fur trapper just as fur prices were falling; of a dalliance with catch-and-release steelhead fishing; of canoeing in the Missouri Breaks in search of mule deer just as the Missouri River was freezing up one November; and of hunting the elusive Dall sheep in the glaciated mountains of Alaska. A thrilling storyteller, Rinella grapples with themes such as the role of the hunter in shaping America, the vanishing frontier, the ethics of killing, and the disappearance of the hunter himself as consumers lose their connection with the way their food finds its way to their tables. The result is a loving portrait of a way of life that is part of who we are—as humans and as Americans.
Download or read book The MeatEater Guide to Wilderness Skills and Survival written by Steven Rinella and published by Random House. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An indispensable guide to surviving everything from an extended wilderness exploration to a day-long boat trip, with hard-earned advice from the host of the show MeatEater as seen on Netflix For anyone planning to spend time outside, The MeatEater Guide to Wilderness Skills and Survival is the perfect antidote to the sensationalism of the modern survival genre. Informed by the real-life experiences of renowned outdoorsman Steven Rinella, its pages are packed with tried-and-true tips, techniques, and gear recommendations. Among other skills, readers will learn about old-school navigation and essential satellite tools, how to build a basic first-aid kit and apply tourniquets, and how to effectively purify water using everything from ancient methods to cutting-edge technologies. This essential guide delivers hard-won insights and know-how garnered from Rinella’s own experiences and mistakes and from his trusted crew of expert hunters, anglers, emergency-room doctors, climbers, paddlers, and wilderness guides—with the goal of making any reader feel comfortable and competent while out in the wild.
Download or read book The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook written by Steven Rinella and published by Random House. This book was released on 2018-11-20 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and host of the television series and podcast MeatEater, the definitive guide to cooking wild game, including fish and fowl, featuring more than 100 new recipes “As a MeatEater fan who loves to cook, I can tell you that this book is a must-have.”—Andrew Zimmern When Steven Rinella hears from fans of his MeatEater show and podcast, it’s often requests for more recipes. One of the most respected and beloved hunters in America, Rinella is also an accomplished wild game cook, and he offers recipes here that range from his takes on favorite staples to more surprising and exotic meals. • Big Game: Techniques and strategies for butchering and cooking all big game, from whitetail deer to moose, wild hogs, and black bear, and recipes for everything from shanks to tongue. • Small Game: How to prepare appetizers and main courses using common small game species such as squirrels and rabbits as well as lesser-known culinary treats like muskrat and beaver. • Waterfowl: How to make the most of available waterfowl, ranging from favorites like mallards and wood ducks to more challenging birds, such as wild geese and diving ducks. • Upland Birds: A wide variety of butchering methods for all upland birds, plus recipes, including Thanksgiving wild turkey, grilled grouse, and a fresh take on jalapeño poppers made with mourning dove. • Freshwater Fish: Best practices for cleaning and cooking virtually all varieties of freshwater fish, including trout, bass, catfish, walleye, suckers, northern pike, eels, carp, and salmon. • Saltwater Fish: Handling methods and recipes for common and not-so-common species of saltwater fish encountered by anglers everywhere, from Maine to the Bahamas, and from Southern California to northern British Columbia. • Everything else: How to prepare great meals from wild clams, crabs, crayfish, mussels, snapping turtles, bullfrogs, and even sea cucumbers and alligators. Whether you’re cooking outdoors or in the kitchen, at the campfire or on the grill, The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook is an indispensable guide for both novices and expert chefs.
Download or read book The Complete Guide to Hunting Butchering and Cooking Wild Game written by Steven Rinella and published by Random House. This book was released on 2015-08-18 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive big-game hunting guide, perfect for hunters ranging from first-time novices to seasoned experts, with more than 400 full-color photographs, including work by renowned outdoor photographer John Hafner Steven Rinella was raised in a hunting family and has been pursuing wild game his entire life. In this first-ever complete guide to hunting—from hunting an animal to butchering and cooking it—the host of the popular hunting show MeatEater shares his own expertise with us, and imparts strategies and tactics from many of the most experienced hunters in the United States as well. This invaluable book includes • recommendations on what equipment you will need—and what you can do without—from clothing to cutlery to camping gear to weapons • basic and advanced hunting strategies, including spot-and-stalk hunting, ambush hunting, still hunting, drive hunting, and backpack hunting • how to effectively use decoys and calling for big game • how to find hunting locations, on both public and private land, and how to locate areas that other hunters aren’t using • how and when to scout hunting locations for maximum effectiveness • basic information on procuring hunting tags, including limited-entry “draw” tags • a species-by-species description of fourteen big-game animals, from their mating rituals and preferred habitats to the best hunting techniques—both firearm and archery—for each species • how to plan and pack for backcountry hunts • instructions on how to break down any big-game animal and transport it from your hunting site • how to butcher your own big-game animals and select the proper cuts for sausages, roasts, and steaks, and how to utilize underappreciated cuts such as ribs and shanks • cooking techniques and recipes, for both outdoor and indoor preparation of wild game
Download or read book The Hunter Chef Cookbook written by Michael Hunter and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I recognized that Michael Hunter knows what he is talking about the minute I opened this book. Hunter is the kind of guy--and the kind of work--that you get when you combine passion, creativity, inventiveness, and elbow grease. This book makes me hungry, and Michael Hunter makes me proud to be a hunter and angler." --Steven Rinella, outdoorsman, host of the TV series and podcast MeatEater, and author The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook Well-known hunter and respected wild-game chef, Michael Hunter, grew up in the great outdoors. Inspired by the endless bounty of the land, hunting, fishing, foraging, and cooking is a way of life for Hunter. Celebrating the resources of the wild, The Hunter Chef Cookbook features a collection of over 100 recipes and butchery guides, and stunning food and landscape photography. The book includes recipes for cooking big game, from moose and bison, to white tail deer and wild boar. Common small game features include wild turkey, duck, wild goose, ruffed grouse, as well as rabbit and squirrel. Fresh-water and salt-water fish recipes feature pickerel, wild salmon, rainbow trout, prawns, scallops, and more. A seasoned forager, Hunter offers an array of savoury and sweet recipes, incorporating wild ingredients, everything from mushrooms and leeks to sumac and berries.
Download or read book The Scavenger s Guide to Haute Cuisine written by Steven Rinella and published by Random House. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A] warped, wonderful memoir” (Men’s Journal) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author and host of Netflix’s MeatEater, about his quest to turn wild game into the meal of a lifetime “If Jack Kerouac had hung out with Julia Child instead of Neal Cassady, this book might have been written fifty years ago.”—The Wall Street Journal When outdoorsman, avid hunter, and nature writer Steven Rinella stumbles upon Auguste Escoffier’s 1903 milestone Le Guide Culinaire, he’s inspired to assemble an unusual feast: a forty-five-course meal born entirely of Escoffier’s esoteric wild game recipes. Over the course of one unforgettable year, he steadily procures his ingredients—fishing for stingrays in Florida, hunting mountain goats in Alaska, flying to Michigan to obtain a fifteen-pound snapping turtle—and encountering one colorful character after another. And as he introduces his vegetarian girlfriend to a huntsman’s lifestyle, Rinella must also come to terms with the loss of his lifelong mentor—his father. An absorbing account of one man’s relationship with family, friends, food, and the natural world, The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine is a rollicking tale of the American wild and its spoils.
Download or read book The Complete Guide to Hunting Butchering and Cooking Wild Game written by Steven Rinella and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive small-game hunting guide, perfect for hunters ranging from first-time novices to seasoned experts, with photography by renowned outdoor photographer John Hafner Steven Rinella was raised in a hunting family and has been pursuing wild game his entire life. In this first-ever complete guide to hunting—from hunting wild game to butchering and cooking it—the host of the popular hunting show MeatEater shares his own expertise with us, and imparts strategies and tactics from many of the most experienced hunters in the United States as well. This invaluable book includes • recommendations on what equipment you will need—and what you can do without—from footwear to cutlery to camping gear to weapons • basic and advanced hunting strategies for all North American small game, including drive techniques, solo and group hunting, ambush hunting, the use of hunting dogs, and techniques for decoying and calling • how to find hunting locations, on both public and private land; how to locate areas that other hunters aren’t using; and how to make competition work in your favor • detailed sections on furred small game, upland birds, and waterfowl, covering the biology and best hunting methods for a total of thirty small game species • comprehensive information about hunting wild turkeys in both the spring and fall seasons • how to master the arts of wingshooting and rifle marksmanship, and detailed information about shot placement, ammunition selection, and field maintenance of firearms and archery equipment • instructions on how to field dress and butcher your own small game animals for a variety of preparations • techniques and recipes for both indoor and outdoor wild game cooking
Download or read book The Provider Cookbook written by Chad Belding and published by BenBella Books. This book was released on 2021-11-09 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2022 NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS FINALIST — COOKBOOKS: GENERAL “An ideal culinary resource replete with kitchen cook recipes for palate pleasing and appetite satisfying recipes…” —Midwest Book Review Innovative wild game, fish, and fowl recipes for modern-day Providers: those who hunt, garden, cook, and live off the land In our modern ways of cooking and eating, we’ve gotten out of touch with Mother Nature. Those who hunt, fish, and enjoy wild game know that we should always respect and cherish our food and where it comes from. For hunter/chef Chad Belding and MMA star Chad Mendes, hunting and ethical farming are crucial ways to reinforce our connection to nature. In The Provider Cookbook, Belding and Mendes share recipes and stories to celebrate this way of life and keep it alive for generations to come. Here you’ll find everything from comfort-food classics to more refined cuisine, including: Wild Game Stroganoff Bear Bourguignon Elk Pizza Meatballs Korean Barbecue Venison Street Tacos Wild Turkey and Dumplings Mossy Pond’s Smother-Fried Quail Duck Egg Rolls Pulled Goose Barbecue Sandwiches Seared Tuna Medallions Cajun Fried Catfish Sandwiches Brian’s Coconut Curry Halibut They also share tips for properly storing food, plus recipes for domestic meats and their favorite vegetable sides and sauces. Accompanied by gorgeous food and landscape photography, the recipes and stories in The Provider Cookbook will take you on a journey from field and farm to table.
Download or read book The Girls Are Never Gone written by Sarah Glenn Marsh and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-08-23 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Conjuring meets Sadie in this queer ghost story, when seventeen-year-old podcaster Dare finds herself in a life-or-death struggle against an evil spirit. Dare Chase doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as the host of Attachments, her brand-new paranormal investigation podcast, she knows to keep her doubts to herself if she wants to win over listeners. Her first season’s subject is the Arrington Estate—a sprawling manor rumored to be haunted by the spirit of Atheleen Bell, who drowned in its lake almost thirty years ago. Dare’s more interested in investigating the suspicious circumstances of Atheleen’s death, which she thinks point to a decades-old murder, not something supernatural. But Arrington is full of surprises. As Dare is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the estate, she’ll have to rethink the boundaries of what is possible. Because if something is lurking in the lake . . . it might not be willing to let her go.
Download or read book The L L Bean Game and Fish Cookbook written by Donald Angus Cameron and published by Random House (NY). This book was released on 1983 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains all the information a cook/hunter/angler needs to prepare hearty game and fish meals in camp or at home. There are detailed and illustrated instructions for all procedures needed to prepare and cook game and fish. Over 800 recipes included.
Download or read book Outdoor Kids in an Inside World written by Steven Rinella and published by Random House. This book was released on 2022-05-03 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An imperative call to action” (Nick Offerman) to get children off their screens and into nature, with tips for bonding activities that teach the importance of outside time and build tough, curious, competent kids—from the New York Times bestselling author and host of the TV series and podcast MeatEater “A revelation for families struggling to get kids to GO OUTSIDE, or to just stop using the darn smartphone.”—Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Hunt, Gather, Parent In the era of screens and devices, the average American spends 90 percent of their time indoors, and children are no exception. Not only does this phenomenon have consequences for kids’ physical and mental health, it jeopardizes their ability to understand and engage with anything beyond the built environment. Thankfully, with the right mind-set, families can find beauty, meaning, and connection in a life lived outdoors. Here, outdoors expert Steven Rinella shares the parenting wisdom he has garnered as a father whose family has lived amid the biggest cities and wildest corners of America. Throughout, he offers practical advice for getting kids radically engaged with nature in a muddy, thrilling, hands-on way, with the ultimate goal of helping them see their own place within the natural ecosystem. No matter their location—rural, suburban, or urban—caregivers and kids will bond over activities such as: • Camping to conquer fears, build tolerance for dirt and discomfort, and savor the timeless pleasure of swapping stories around a campfire. • Growing a vegetable garden to develop a capacity to nurture and an appreciation for hard work. • Fishing local lakes and rivers to learn the value of patience while grappling with the possibility of failure. • Hunting for sustainably managed wild game to face the realities of life, death, and what it really takes to obtain our food. Living an outdoor lifestyle fosters in kids an insatiable curiosity about the world around them, confidence and self-sufficiency, and, most important, a lifelong sense of stewardship of the natural world. This book helps families connect with nature—and one another—as a joyful part of everyday life.
Download or read book Complete Wild Game Cookbook written by Bri Van Scotter and published by Rockridge Press. This book was released on 2020-11-24 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the wilderness to your table--190+ delicious game recipes you'll go wild for Hunting is the perfect way to source healthy, high-quality meat. The Complete Wild Game Cookbook will show you how to transform your harvest into flavorful feasts that your whole family will love. From spicy Butter Duck to savory Slow Cooker Wild Boar Ragù, this comprehensive wild game cookbook will give you everything you need to start simmering up something good, whether it be big game or small, waterfowl, upland birds, or game fish. There's even a helpful chapter on marinades, brines, rubs, sauces, and stocks to add mouthwatering flavor to your favorite proteins. The Complete Wild Game Cookbook includes: 190+ Tasty recipes--Discover dozens of delightful dishes you can make, featuring venison, bear, wild boar, rabbit and hare, squirrel, duck, goose, pheasant, quail, grouse, dove, turkey, and game fish, both freshwater and saltwater. Kitchen essentials--Explore the best way to stock your wild game kitchen and learn useful techniques like grilling and smoking as well as how to grind meat for sausage making. Versatile options--Almost every recipe in this extensive wild game cookbook includes recommendations of other game that can be used as a substitute, giving you more choice. Get inspired to eat wild, your way with the Complete Wild Game Cookbook.
Download or read book The Art of Escapism Cooking written by Mandy Lee and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 851 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this inventive and intensely personal cookbook, the blogger behind the award-winning ladyandpups.com reveals how she cooked her way out of an untenable living situation, with more than eighty delicious Asian-inspired dishes with influences from around the world. For Mandy Lee, moving from New York to Beijing for her husband’s work wasn’t an exotic adventure—it was an ordeal. Growing increasingly exasperated with China’s stifling political climate, its infuriating bureaucracy, and its choking pollution, she began “an unapologetically angry food blog,” LadyandPups.com, to keep herself from going mad. Mandy cooked because it channeled her focus, helping her cope with the difficult circumstances of her new life. She filled her kitchen with warming spices and sticky sauces while she shared recipes and observations about life, food, and cooking in her blog posts. Born in Taiwan and raised in Vancouver, she came of age food-wise in New York City and now lives in Hong Kong; her food reflects the many places she’s lived. This entertaining and unusual cookbook is the story of how “escapism cooking”—using the kitchen as a refuge and ultimately creating delicious and satisfying meals—helped her crawl out of her expat limbo. Illustrated with her own gorgeous photography, The Art of Escapism Cooking provides that comforting feeling a good meal provides. Here are dozens of innovative and often Asian-influenced recipes, divided into categories by mood and occasion, such as: For Getting Out of Bed Poached Eggs with Miso-Browned Butter Hollandaise Crackling Pancake with Caramel-Clustered Blueberries and Balsamic Honey For Slurping Buffalo Fried Chicken Ramen Crab Bisque Tsukemen For a Crowd Cumin Lamb Rib Burger Italian Meatballs in Taiwanese Rouzao Sauce For Snacking Wontons with Shrimp and Chili Coconut Oil and Herbed Yogurt Spicy Chickpea Poppers For Sweets Mochi with Peanut Brown Sugar and Ice Cream Recycled Nuts and Caramel Apple Cake Every dish is sublimely delicious and worth the time and attention required. Mandy also demystifies unfamiliar ingredients and where to find them, shares her favorite tools, and provides instructions for essential condiments for the pantry and fridge, such as Ramen Seasoning, Fried Chili Verde Sauce, Caramelized Onion Powder Paste, and her Ultimate Sichuan Chile Oil.
Download or read book The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Wild Game written by James O. Fraioli and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The new go-to cookbook for wild game hunters in North America! Wild game also has the edge when it comes to flavor, and with that delectable flavor comes the benefits of essential fats like omega-6 and omega-3, which are critical components of a healthy diet. Enjoy seventy-five simple and delicious recipes for cooking the wild game through the recipes featured in this book, including: Hare Braised in Red Wine Peruvian Style Rabbit Sliders Black Bear Meatloaf Elk Medallions with Cranberry Sauce Antelope Summer Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette Reindeer Stroganoff Venison Stir Fry Roasted Wild Boar Leg with Mustard Caper Sauce Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Dove Poppers Smoked Grouse Kung Pao Pheasant Southern Fried Quail Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Port Wine Sauce Alligator Gumbo Cajun-Fried Bullfrog Legs Each dish is paired with a suggested wine to further enhance your dining experience among friends and family. There’s also helpful tips on proper field dressing equipment, refrigerator and freezer space, proper packaging and storing, defrosting and food safety, and tools and kitchen essentials. Within the pages of The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Wild Game, twenty-five popular game animals are highlighted and discussed. Amateur and experienced hunters alike will enjoy learning about each animal's origin, range, migration and travel patterns, life span, size and weight, typical habitat, desired foods, why the particular animal is targeted, where it can be hunted, along with hunting tips and why it makes for excellent table fare. Whether you hunt for food, for pleasure, or for environmental management, know that you are engaging in a normal, natural, and innate human instinct that has been with mankind and our predecessors for hundreds of thousands of years and one that will be with us for many more years to come. Enjoy the hunt, and the tastes and flavors of your successes with a little help from this new book!
Download or read book The Wild Game Instant Pot Cookbook written by Beverly Hudson and published by Voyageur Press. This book was released on 2020-08-09 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cook the wild game you love to hunt in the easiest and most delicious way possible—with your Instant Pot! The Wild Game Instant Pot gives you over 70 recipes and tips plus 30 photographs of preparing wild game with ease and skill. It's easy to see why everyone loves the Instant Pot. It saves work in the kitchen after a day hunting, without sacrificing results—you still end up with delicious, fall-off-the-bone meat. Because wild game tends to be much leaner than store-bought cuts of meat, slow and low cooking—hallmark of the Instant Pot—is often essential to creating tender and tasty dinners. The rumors are all true—the Instant Pot is a game changer in your kitchen. Prepare the most popular types of big game, small game, upland birds, and waterfowl, such as venison, turkey, pheasant, duck, goose, rabbit, and more, all featured in delicious recipes for breakfast and brunch, appetizers, soups, stews, chilis, side dishes, and other easy-to-cook entrees. Hunters and cooks will return to this cookbook again and again for fantastic dishes for every occasion.
Download or read book American Buffalo written by Steven Rinella and published by Random House. This book was released on 2008-12-02 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the host of the Travel Channel’s “The Wild Within.” A hunt for the American buffalo—an adventurous, fascinating examination of an animal that has haunted the American imagination. In 2005, Steven Rinella won a lottery permit to hunt for a wild buffalo, or American bison, in the Alaskan wilderness. Despite the odds—there’s only a 2 percent chance of drawing the permit, and fewer than 20 percent of those hunters are successful—Rinella managed to kill a buffalo on a snow-covered mountainside and then raft the meat back to civilization while being trailed by grizzly bears and suffering from hypothermia. Throughout these adventures, Rinella found himself contemplating his own place among the 14,000 years’ worth of buffalo hunters in North America, as well as the buffalo’s place in the American experience. At the time of the Revolutionary War, North America was home to approximately 40 million buffalo, the largest herd of big mammals on the planet, but by the mid-1890s only a few hundred remained. Now that the buffalo is on the verge of a dramatic ecological recovery across the West, Americans are faced with the challenge of how, and if, we can dare to share our land with a beast that is the embodiment of the American wilderness. American Buffalo is a narrative tale of Rinella’s hunt. But beyond that, it is the story of the many ways in which the buffalo has shaped our national identity. Rinella takes us across the continent in search of the buffalo’s past, present, and future: to the Bering Land Bridge, where scientists search for buffalo bones amid artifacts of the New World’s earliest human inhabitants; to buffalo jumps where Native Americans once ran buffalo over cliffs by the thousands; to the Detroit Carbon works, a “bone charcoal” plant that made fortunes in the late 1800s by turning millions of tons of buffalo bones into bone meal, black dye, and fine china; and even to an abattoir turned fashion mecca in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, where a depressed buffalo named Black Diamond met his fate after serving as the model for the American nickel. Rinella’s erudition and exuberance, combined with his gift for storytelling, make him the perfect guide for a book that combines outdoor adventure with a quirky blend of facts and observations about history, biology, and the natural world. Both a captivating narrative and a book of environmental and historical significance, American Buffalo tells us as much about ourselves as Americans as it does about the creature who perhaps best of all embodies the American ethos.
