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Terry Allan
Georgia Pellegrini hunting at Joshua Creek Ranch in the Texas Hill Country.
Georgia Pellegrini has viewed herself as an adventurous meat eater for years. The classically trained chef would never shy away from the strange cuts and unusual parts she’d find at outdoor markets and Asian butchers.
And then one day, while Pellegrini was working at the farm-to-table restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, the head chef gave her an unexpected assignment: slaughter five turkeys for that night’s dinner.
Her first reaction was paralysis, followed by a serious contemplation of life as a vegetarian. Ultimately, though, she and some other cooks held the turkeys down, cut their windpipes, dunked them in boiling water, plucked their feathers, gutted them and prepared every edible part of each bird.
“This switch in me sort of flipped,” Pellegrini, 30, told TODAY.com. “It really clicked for me that this is what has to happen for the turkey to get to my plate. ... It was intense, emotional and a little bit scary. But I realized that if I’m going to be a chef and a meat eater ... I needed to experience it from beginning to end.”
Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the only Harvard-educated foodie out there who’s developed a taste for killing what he eats. Pellegrini — who, incidentally, attended Harvard, Wellesley and the French Culinary Institute in New York — chronicles her personal transformation from being a lover of meat to becoming a passionate hunter in her new book, “Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time.”
Georgia Pellegrini
Georgia Pellegrini's braised rabbit with preserved lemon and olives.
In “Girl Hunter,” which is part memoir and part cookbook, Pellegrini is just as committed to exploring humans’ relationship with their food as she is to making virtually any kind of game meat — from dove to javelina to bison to rabbit to squirrel — taste fabulous.
She writes about the powerful experiences of hiking outdoors for hours before making a kill and paying “the full karmic price” of a meal, then makes readers drool with her descriptions of the dishes she’s prepared and eaten. There are brandy sauces, sherry sauces, whiskey glazes, delicious stuffings and mouthwatering marinades — all of which could pair well with a vast array of meats.
“Game really can taste as high-level as any other protein,” Pellegrini said. “You just have to change up the ingredients a little bit and be careful when you cook it. These animals are athletes, basically, so their meat is really lean. It’s less fatty with no marbling in their flesh.”
De Capo Lifelong Books
But do athletic little squirrels taste good?
“They’re delicious,” Pellegrini enthused. “I think it’s one of my favorite game meats right now. Think about it: You are what you eat, and they eat acorns. People spend a fortune for acorn-fed pigs. Squirrels are buttery and a little bit sweet because when animals eat nuts it makes their flesh sweet and nutty, and it creates an inherent fattiness in the meat.”
Not entirely convinced? You can check out Pellegrini’s recipe for squirrel Brunswick stew with acorns (yes, acorns! a nice touch!) by clicking here. If squirrel isn't up your alley, you can also get her recipes for Moroccan bison stew, turkey meatloaf and partridge with pancetta in orange brandy sauce. Each recipe offers suggestions for alternate proteins if you don’t have quite the right one handy in your freezer.
Pellegrini hopes you’ll give some new meats a try — and also consider what it might be like to hunt for your own meals.
“Even if you don’t think you can pull the trigger yourself, thinking about it can make you a more conscious meat eater,” she said. “It can change the decisions you make about the quality, variety and sources of your food.”
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I am not a meat eater, but I do respect those who hunt, kill, and process their own meat. At least these people understand exactly what they are doing, and they eat what they kill. I am not for sports hunters who kill for the fur or the trophy. Trophy hunters can suck it, but people like Georgia take the life to keep their own circle of life going. I can respect this even if I'm never going to partake of the kill myself.
One of the most popular articles in the Seattle Times last week was about a local woman who traps and cooks squirrels for her family. From that article:
Are squirrels going to make a cuisine comeback? Here's a classic YouTube clip of a mother and son hunting and then the mother cooking up squirrel melts.
this week the squirrels, next week, grandma.
Alumette,
There's something seriously wrong with your thought processes if you can't distinguish taking full responsibility for feeding yourself from killing your grandmother,,,,
Take a little time to walk around the house and find your meds before you do something terrible,,,,,
I don't like your Grandma anyway so go ahead and eat her if you want.
Tyler, are you the MSNBC moderater? If you are one of the same, keep your diary to yourself.
I, for one, enjoyed Tyler's repost. Why such negativity, GunnyCoop?
Reminds me of a story about some vegan whack job who complained "How dare they slaughter defenseless animals, why can't they just buy meat from the store instead!" :<)
veggiegrl08 ><Thank you from an Ozark woodsman. I also respect your choice to not eat meat. I plant a large garden every year but could never grow enough to sustain myself & family for an entire year. Raising chickens & geese for meat & eggs we also hunt squirrel, rabbit, deer, turkey. Please don't be alarmed though, on my property they have a safe haven and are welcome to feed and bed down without ever being fired upon. I grow food plots for every type of native animal. There is no need to hunt on my property because in just a 10 minute walk I can hunt on over 2,000,000ac of Natl forest. In my opinion conservation is the key to a healthy environment for all to share.
Heavy, thank you for your kind reply. And I'm not alarmed. I am not one of those people who is going to tell someone else what to do. I may not agree with hunting, but I'm not going to tell someone else they can't do it. It is MY choice not to eat animals, and it is not MY place to force that belief on others. I can from your name that you are military. I had a friend KIA in Afghanistan, and he was like you. He would hunt the meat that his family ate for the year. This saved his family a ton on food cost. His wife, like you, had a garden, but it was not large enough to sustain the family. It did help with food costs a bit too though. Since his death, his wife has had to change the way her families food budget is figured out. She doesn't have her husband there to kill the meat for the family. It has been quite a change for her. I agree with you about conservation also, and have nothing but respect for those who are conscious about their kills. You look the animal in the eye and do what you gotta do to feed your family. That is the circle of your life. The circle of my life is different. I have never understood why people can't just respect each other's choices.
I only kill for food - or protection of my property or domestic animals (or children if it gets to that). As a matter of fact I make a great effort not to kill something I have no intention of eating. And yes squirrel is good, as is rabbit, groundhog, quail, doves, etc. I have also killed and eaten cattle, chickens, pigs, etc.
My dad was quite the hunter and fisherman. From personal experience, I would rank squirrel over rabbit or pheasant.
Dale:
No way on the rabbit. I like squirrel, but no way! Unless, of course, your dad makes it like this lady does.
She's hot!
Right on dude! She's got a date in my book any day, someone who finaly gets it! WOW! I'm a Montana boy. I love the eye opening persepective... It's not always red and packed under plastic wrap. YOU GO GIRL! Not much worthwhile comes easy. It's very nice to see and hear from someone who is now understanding that. where and possibly what and why we eat what we eat. It's never been bloodless, it never will be... We are carnivores by in most cases convienence... I prefer mine by hand or gun. I appreciate what it took to get it to plate.
Good eye, Blake. I liked the way she was posing with the rifle. PETA will probably try to win her over to vegetarian extermism by paying her a ton of money to pose with You-Know-Who in their calendar!
My favorite food is gurl scout cookies, but only if they are made with real gurl scouts. :-P
Pervert. And any who give a thumbs-up are also perverts.
Have you ever seen The Addams Family? It's a line from the movie. Dial down your "pervert" sputtering.
Couple of nice guns on that babe!
How neanderthal of you.
Disgusting...
Indeed, your limp wristed and well cocooned life is disgusting.
a sickening and insensitive girl who may at some point turn to kill a human being....beware guys.....she is dangerous. Gag me. Squirrels are so cute and smart. They are amazing little acrobats. That girl turns my guts.
They're phucking rodents.
Yes alumette, because the majority of hunters in this country also end up as murderers.
I have news for you nahsayers like Ram, Irene and alumette.
We have evolved to eat meat. That's why we have the teeth we have and binocular vision. Evolutionists are quick to point out that our brain size evolved in part to the exposure to meat as a dietary source. You all can go on and on about how this sickens you but that fact remains, this is who we are.
We're omnivores and meat is a very important source of calories, vitamins and minerals in our diets. We as a species haven't lived the past 50,000 - 200,000 years with dietary supplements and year round fresh produce trucked all over the country to our local market.
What is so bad about being close to the source as a hunter? Not a darn thing in my opinion.
Good for her. I am a hunter also and it's very gratifying to be able to eat what has been harvested from the hunt. Everyone in my family hunts and we have hunted for "trophy" animals before. My daughter has killed a bear and a mountain lion. This type of hunting helps keep their populations in control.
I am a veg but I don't care if you eat meat -- as long as you don't commit the popular hypocrisy of pretending that tuna swims around in cans and steak is harvested off a Schmoo, which is not hurt by the process (and doesn't exist). I just want you to stop arguing at me. It's not WITH me, because I never say a word except to a server, such as, "Is that made with meat stock? Oh. No, thanks. I'll have the...." It is boundlessly rude to talk about food, especially restricted diets, at the table. You may ONLY compliment the chef. If you are good with your decisions, you do not need to try to force me to agree with them by arguing at me to the point of making me sick to my stomach with your rudeness so that I cannot eat at all.
Take responsibly for what you eat, accept the karmic consequences of your actions, as this woman does, and you're OK by me.
People like this woman face their decisions and come to terms with them, which is JUST FINE, and exactly what I do. And people like that NEVER harass others. They don't need to justify their decisions to others, any more than I do, and we can enjoy a pleasant, though different, meal.
I hope you don't know anyone like that either. I don't, in my world we hunt for food and to keep our herds healthy as we have lost many of the predators that would naturally do this. You also mentioned karma, being 1/4 Cherokee my grandparents stressed the importance of using all of the animal. It is the animal spirit that will hunt you in the afterlife if you stray from the meaning of the hunt. You must also pay tribute to the animal in thanks.
Having had a pet squirrel, I could not bring myself to do this, just as I could not kill and eat a cat or a dog.
it is pure cruelty and ignorance. She is accumulating some negative karma in a real hurry.
A squirrel this week and next week she'll be after the family pets.
Come on. We are not living in the dark ages. This is unnecessary cruelty.
As opposed to factory farming, Marg?
Good for you. I don't eat anything with fur, and hardly any poultry or fish. I could never eat anything that could be considered a pet, as are many squirrels. This "girl hunter" is doing something barbaric and unnecessary. Her book will sell to a lot of dumb males because she is young, female, blonde and "hot."
Family pets? She doesn't even look Asian.
Jordana, have you forgotten that poultry or fish are kept as pets too? Far more often then squirrels for that matter. Why is it that they'd suffer less when bred as food and killed?
If you're going to refuse to eat meat on the grounds that it's "barbaric", don't exclude just some animals. It makes you look silly.
For that matter, Jordana, why object to eating meat at all, but not plants? They're just as alive, and it turns out they can feel and communicate those feelings with each other as well (fascinating how the roots of trees interact in a forest!).
The reality is that live expands until it consumes all available resources, and then it turns on other life. Life on Earth 'consumed all available resources' on Earth billions of years ago, and any new resources made available are quickly gobbled up by something or another. All life on Earth is today dependent on the death of other living things to survive, and this includes you. Accept it or stop living, those are your only choices.
By the way, I really hope you pick the former, the latter isn't a good idea.
I completely understand where this woman is coming from. I derive much satisfaction in stalking and killing my own meat. I enjoy the preparation of the meat, gory though some will find that. In doing this I have the satisfaction of knowing that I am engaged in the activity that turned mankind from scavengers to predators, from grunting and gesticulating to poetry and opera. I have no second thoughts on hunting being cruel as I learned a long time ago that virtually no creature in the natural world dies of old age. Almost every living thing in the wild will be caught and killed and eaten by some other creature. I also feel much better about where my meat comes from than if I had bought it in a supermarket where God alone knows its provenance. I believe that if more people comprehended the connection between their eating meat and the procuring and processing of that meat that they would have a better understanding and appreciation of the natural world, the natural world as it really exists.
Thinking back, some of my most favorite meals were the small game feasts my mother cooked up. Squirrel, partridge, rabbit, and sometimes pheasant, all cooked together in the same giant frying pans. Carmelized crispies on the outside, tender juiciness inside.... yummy! Just as many people turned up at these feasts as at Thanksgiving. The thought of a meal like this just disgusts my city-bred husband, Cousin Eddie comments usually follow, he just doesn't know what he is missing!
How far back are you remembering, the Middle Ages? Sounds barbaric to me, eating God's creatures, and not out of necessity. Did you live out in the swamps and not have a Safeway?
Plants are God's creatures too. Are you willing to starve?
So, FinCrazy, my grandmother's begonia is also an animal?
Jordana, If she never kept it trimmed I'm sure your grandfather thought it was!
Reminds me of another vegan joke, "It's not that I love animals, it's just that I HATE produce!!!"
Go take a look at where the food comes from at Safeway. Slaughterhouses, vegetarian animals fed ground parts of other animals in their feed. Vegetables grown with chemical fertilizers.
Squirrel is not one of my favorites. I will eat venison anyday.
you call it venison because you are afraid to call it a doe or deer..these magnificent, intelligent and sensitive animals are so beautiful to watch....they are magical and people like you kill them. It is very bad for your karma. Have you ever looked in their eyes ? in your next life, you may be a hunted boar....with a bow and arrow as the hunter will keep on missing vital organs.
Yeah, deer are beautiful to watch but when they start eating your garden which is supposed to feed your own family and supplement your income, and they destroy your orchard because they are eating not only the apples but stripping the bark off your trees, then they become a pest, and once they become a pest, they also become dinner.
I have deer burger in my refrigerator . It's better , In my opinion, than store bought hamburger. I have also hunted small game season. I prefer some wild game over others.
1.Wild Boar
2.Venison
3.Turkey
4.Frog legs
5.Quail
6.Rabbit
7.Last Squirrel. There's are reason some people cal them tree rats. Very little meat, and can be rather tough.
Most game can be tough, and even slightly over-cooking it ruins it. That's because of the lack of fat & marbling in the meat.
Oh deer.
Holy cow!
Deer in many parts of the country have become serious pests. Since natural predators have been eliminated in the suburbs and even rural areas, deer multiply and thrive. Hunting helps keep nature in balance. Of course if you'd rather introduce cougars in your neighborhood, be my guest.
Scar-414733 Have you tried steaming the meat? Then make a stock for Chicken-N-Dumpings add steamed squirrel. Still a touch chewy but oh so good.
p111, what's wrong with "Cougars"? When their done you don't have to stay the night and they are open to most anything!
alumette has clearly never shot a deer with a bow and arrow...one good shot and they go down for good. she is also an ignorant troll who has nothing better to do than complain about an existence which she is only four days of starvation away from...if she were smart she'd kill herself before then but that would just be inhumane.
I pray that I'm gassed or shot if I'm reincarnated as a turkey. If someone slashes my throat before then, I'll finish the job myself.
15 deleted, kwl deathwishing...everyone:
There was more after that, but how can you redeem a post after that opening salvo?
You're suspended for a week for violating #1 and #5 of the Code of Honor.
Where do you live?
Doesn't squirrel have a lot of cholesterol? :)
Wild game is the cleanest and leanest meat that is available on the earth ,, we hunted and butchered our own game for many years .
If more people were eating wild game the incidence of heart disiese would decrease a great deal .
There is nothing like the great exersize you get out in the field hunting , and the beauty of nature itself is fantastic for stress reduction.
Our ancestors had it right before there were mass meat producing farms with caged animals fed steriods and antibiotics.
Damn this bird is hot, and she hunts, and cleans and cooks what she kills. Damn I want a bird like this. Ohhh yeahhhh. This makes this bird even hotter. Oops I mean Georgia Pellegrini.
Interesting she is attracting people like you and turning off really nice guys.
Alumette... get a grip you've posted a negative comment about anyone who's had something positive to say about this. go back to your vegan chat room and give it a rest. You want to tell a cougar, wolf or bear not to eat bambi because he's a majestic creature with big eyes? They are a game animal and if they don't get killed and eaten regularly they over populate and dies of disease and starvation. I have degrees in biology and zoology, I'm not just some whack job spouting made up info.
I grew up eating game meat that my father, uncles, and family friends brought home from their hunting and fishing trips. They were some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. And yes, those of us who grew up with men like that often like to hunt and fish, and want a man who likes to do the same.
Hunters who eat their food take care not to be cruel in killing the animal because quite frankly they have more respect for it than someone who's never set foot out of a supermarket to get their food. It takes a lot of effort to find the animal, pack it out of where ever you killed it, clean it and butcher it before it gets to the table. Game meat is naturally organic because they aren't raised in feed lots where they can be chock full of antibiotics and other chemicals.
I sometimes feel guilty eating beef, but I will never feel guilty for eating venision, rabbit, squirel, quail, trout or wild salmon.
Funny, because the only vegetarian guy I know is a real jerk...and isn't much too look at. He's all bone.
i still don't agree with hunting, for whatever reason. animals have a purpose on this earth, just as we do. leave them be. unless you are piss poor and have to kill to eat, stop killing for fun. people are entitled to their opinions and mine may not agree with yours. but i have a right to say what i want, and it does bother me that people kill when they don't have to.
So, you pay someone else to do your killing for you to enjoy that burger?
Judi, this is not killing for fun, read the article, she eats what she kills, so no loss . While I'm socially-liberal I do hunt, and believe that EVERYONE should clean what they kill at least once. If you can not stomach cleaning your kill, then maybe you shouldn't eat meat.
Judi - the difference is that our opinions are based on facts, while your is based purely on emotion and irrationality.
Now go do some research on sustainable wildlife populations based on available land and food supplies. Then perhaps read up on the urban deer problem. And then, for fun, look into what's happened in states or counties where emotional, irrational people worked to successfully ban hunting.
me too. It sickens me and pisses me off.
@alu - Calm down. Where is your bleeding heart for all the small animals that get chopped up in wheat field making vegan food for you to eat? I'm strongly against hunting for "Trophy". But killing an animal to eat it, I don't see anything wrong with.
I enjoy a good hunt in the meat aisle at QFC.
What a crock "'Girl Hunter' shoots, eats squirrels -- and makes it gourmet". I don't believe one word of this story, most people kill the poor animals just for fun and throw them in a ditch after they kill them. What a shame, shame on you. You don't need to kill small animals for food, go to McDonalds and get a hamburger.
Oh Steven B, don't believe I've ever had a spuirrel burger, lay off the LSD.
Yet you pay someone to kill your cows, chickens and pigs for you.
Right?
Squirrels are rodents. Same as rats and mice.
Source for this assertion?
BooHoo, I've hunted my whole life and have never wasted a single edible animal and don't know anyone that has. I don't care for deer meat hence, I've never been deer hunting, as I was taught by my elders not to kill what you don't intend to eat. The funniest thing that I can see about your post is that, if there ever is a worldwide disaster that disrupts the commercial food chain, it will be pansy a$$e$ like you that will either starve to death or depend on someone like me to feed them. Good luck on me feeding you my friend.
Where do you suppose that burger meat came from? Yep, a cow someone else killed.
I hunt, as does my now-grown son. When he was about 10 years old, he shot a sparrow with an air rifle. As a lesson, I helped him clean the bird and we cooked and ate it...about 1 small bite for each of us. The lesson was to never, ever kill something you don't plan to eat. As far as I know, he never forgot it and I don't think he would throw his "kill" in a ditch.
And, by the way, my grandmother could make wonderful fried squirrel with the best tasting gravy you've ever had...much better than anything at McDonald's.
Boo Hoo,,,,
Your "knowledge" of hunting is obviously non existent, I've hunted all my life and have never known anyone who would go through the time, expense, and effort involved just to throw the hard won product in a ditch. Think it out,, do you know anyone who would go out and work hours for money and then thow the money in a ditch on the way home?
Having McDonalds do your killing for you gives you absolutely NO moral superiority, You're just another sanctimonious contract killer.
Squirrel burger? I will call him Patty.
BooHoo...Whenever I've seen a dead animal in the ditch, it was put there by an automobile. If we had more hunters, there would be fewer dead animals in the ditch.
My kind of broad!
Now there's a woman after my own heart. I'll take a well prepared squrriel or rabbit over a steak any day. And my neighbors think the cats got them :)
Katniss Everdeen approves.
Hey girl, I have a couple of squirrels here which you are welcome to. They're trying to live in my house. You could use them as an appetizer.
squirrel is great. i know city folk may not understand; but thats ok. what's the diff, we eat chicken, turkey,hamburger, ducks, pheasant, quail, ham, bacon,deer,dove, steak, etc.
go to hell..lady..you and your fellow meat eaters.
don't worry she is and they are. No escape there...they are clueless.
Yeah, I too admire the vegetarians love & respect for all living things,,,(Snark)
I'd rather go to Wendy's.
So Ram, you don't eat?
Ram-557777
go to hell..lady..you and your fellow meat eaters.
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A little crude there bud, calm down, I'm sure the plants that give up their lives or offspring to give you sustenance won't mind.
Do you give thanks when you eat them? Or are they as trivial and insignificant as your comments?
Wait, what?
Meat eaters are damned?!
Boy, you'd better start quoting scripture!
i love telling people how as a kid in oklahoma i would shoot squirrels with my crossman 760, dad would clean and mom would cook them...yum....free range, antibiotic-free lean meat