The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine

I absolutely loved this book. I am a fan of all of Steve Rinella's work, but this, in particular, I found captivating. I love hunting, fishing, cooking, and the curiosity and adventure of eating unconventional foods and wildlife that are not culturally "normal". Steve does a great job of presenting all of these things and pulls them together to tell a great story of a beautiful feast and the work and care that it required to materialize. As this indulges in wild food gathering and food preparation alike, it leans more toward the preparation of the meal and would be a great read for the adventurous chef. I found this book inspiring and mouth watering. I love the respect and reverence Steve shows for nature and wildlife down to the care of the ingredients, the preparation of the meals that they become, the consumption of the meal, and all the joy that comes with going through the process and sharing the experience with friends. The Scavenger's Guide immediately jumped up to my top 5 books list and I will be reading it again very soon.

I saw a review of this book in National Geographic Adventure Magazine. It really grabbed my interest, so I ordered the book. Wow! What a great read. It is a mixture of tales about hunting, fishing, adventure, history, cooking, and friendship. How could you ask for more. Let me hasten to say that if you are a non hunter, non fisherman, or even a vegetarian don't turn your back on this book---if you do, you will miss one heck of a story. In fact, if I were to point out what I felt was the most amazing aspect of this story---it would be friendship! The fact that Rinella had such a group of friends and family to cook a four day Thanksgiving feast for, says volumes about him and his family. My test of a book is simple---would I read it again --- Not only, would I, but I will---if I ever get it back from those I have loaned it to, insisting that they read it:-) Not only that but I will scan the list in ever "National Geographic Adventure" to see if Steve Rinella's by line is on a story! I can't wait for his next book! In the mean time, would you please pass me that turtle soup and a few more mud bugs!!

I’ve read all his books now. This one last. In many ways it is my favorite. It’s hard to write a memoir kind of book and stay interesting. But Steve’s real life is full of characters and adventures that you just cannot see coming. After years of watching MeatEater on Netflix, this book is a joy because it gives you all sorts of origin stories for all sorts of characters you’ve come to love. As for Steve himself, his engagement and joy in every part of the natural world (and some understated and wry commentary on the human world) makes for the exact the right kind of narrator. - Rob Ashcom

This book is for folks we love authentic food experiences, enjoy adventurous eating, and are comfortable with the knowledge that something died so you could eat it.

This is, at heart, a book about cooking...but with a very interesting twist. The author is an avid hunter and outdoorsman, and decides to recreate the recipes from a long ago chef using the animals that he can find in North America. In his pursuit he connects us to the wilderness and shows us how deeply disconnected we are from our food. In the end Rinella has given us a tour of the country, acquainted us with the wildlife from which he culls, and gives us a mental and emotional connection to the way in which generations have provided for their families. He does recreate these recipes for a final, large meal, however, the meal becomes anti-climactic, as the pursuit of the meal's ingredients becomes the story. Rinella is now featured in "The Wild Within", a travel/adventure show in which he shows the viewer, rather graphically at times, what it takes to fill your freezer and not set foot in a grocery store. It has inspired me to begin taking a second look at hunting as a way to establish a much closer connection to the land,and to more fully understand precisely where food originates.

Rinella's digression-heavy conversational writing method and deep appreciation for food make him an instant winner for anyone who has enjoyed Anthony Bourdain's work. If you are coming to this book from his television show, Meateater, be prepared for a more relaxed persona. The polished demeanor he uses for the show is not present here, as he discusses personal losses, experiences with poverty, as well as some "less savory" behavior in his youth. All said, I found this a highly enjoyable and brisk read that I would recommend to anyone unafraid of knowing how the proverbial (and literal) sausage is made.

I like Steve's way of tying in story with education. I learned a lot about some of the critters that share our continent, along with different ways to turn them into dishes. I also enjoyed hearing the tale of his year chasing down an odd but very focused goal.

As a chef and hunter/gatherer, I was able to visualize every detail of Rinella,s anecdotes. He takes you on adventures to collect his bounty for his three feasts. In culinary school, our last class was french cooking. Escoffier’s book is not a easy read, recipes have you flipping back and forth trying to decifer the path he wants you to take. I really enjoyed this book and have recommended it to several of my friends. I will definitely read it again.

Rinellas captivating writing style had me hooked again and I was unable to put down this book. The only downside is that I wont be able to read it for the first time again.

I went into this book thinking it was a glorified cookbook for wild meat. I genuinely wanted to learn a little more about wild game meat and what is out there to eat so I went in happily. Within the first few pages, I realized that I was not going to get some tips on cooking dove breasts, but by then I didn't care. Its an incredible story about how Steve followed a plan to hunt, catch, find, steal and nurture a menu that would leave some of the strongest stomachs out there feeling a little queezy. The chapters are engaging, so interesting, and sometimes unbelieveable. What he achieves in both the story-telling and the end-product of his adventures left me wanting more. This book led me to read his other books (including his complete guides, cover to cover), listen to his MeatEater podcasts (Janis needs more airtime!!), and look at my hunting trips in a completely different light.

I have a collection of Steven Rinella books and they are hunting guides and cookbooks, I have enjoyed his instructional writing in all of them. When I heard him mention The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, I decided to order it. What a great book! I read it straight through in one sitting and it builds like a novel with a fast paced finale of hectic food preparation. I recently started hunting with the philosophy of procuring my own meat and this book opens up a vast new perspective on what can be gathered to create an incredible culinary experience. I would recommend this book to anyone who is passionate about cooking great food, it showcases the dedication required to create not only excellent food, but an experience that the chef and dinner guests will remember for a lifetime.

We love Steven Rinella in this house. Really enjoyed this book. Steve is a great story teller. He makes me want to go outside and embrace nature and eat some venison.

My husband is an avid hunter of waterfowl, upland birds, as well as deer and turkey. He loves watching Meat eater so I bought this book for his birthday. He loves it and read the whole thing in two days, he just could not put it down.