For those game to try

Press, 14 December 1985, Page 20

For those game to try

The New Zealand Game Cookbook. By Colin Brown. Hodder and Stoughton, 1985. 188 pp. Index. $34.95.

(Reviewed by

Giyn Strange)

With its blood-red cover, this is not a book for the queasy. True game meat is brought in from the wild, and not from the supermarket; and Colin Brown gives some fairly explicit instructions on how to prepare your carcase and how to judge when it is “ripe.” Pheasant, for example, is thought by some to be best when just starting to decompose. Venison should have a strong smell, but if it is slightly musty the author does not, as might be expected, advise throwing it out: instead he urges us to cook it at once! Although this is a book produced in New Zealand, game cookery is a European tradition, rather than a local one: Game is far less readily available here than in .the northern hemisphere. The excellent photographs, perhaps unfittingly, acknowledge this fact because the wines featured in them are all French. So well done is the book that, despite a section on pukeko recipes which would puzzle overseas enthusiasts, it seems likely that it would sell readily in Britain or France. However, there is no reason why it should not be popular here with those who have access to game meat or fish. With Christmas close, instead of roast turkey, why not try venison? Or roast goose with fruit stuffing? Other possibilities are roast leg of goat with citrus topping, or roast quail with plum

sauce. Of course, on a hot Christmas day a roast does not always appeal. Tasty salads might include swan and kiwifruit, spicy pheasant or pigeon and apple — season’s eatings with a difference. For other times, there are plenty of casseroles, pies, hearty soups and so on to grace a special occasion. They are all tempting, even for those who are as yet not exactly game to try. The book is smartly produced, informative, authoritative, and not without a dry sense of humour that goes well with the strong meat.