The taste of nutritious wild game taught by a hunter

"Gibier" has recently been featured in TV programs and magazines, and is attracting attention. Gibier cuisine has become more familiar in Japan than before, but compared to beef and pork, it tends to have the image of being somewhat difficult to eat.

The best way to enjoy gibier deliciously is to ask a professional who usually eats it! So, I will report the results of actually visiting a hunter in Miyazaki Prefecture.

What is gibier in the first place?

"Gibier" is a French word that refers to the meat of wild animals and animals caught by hunting, such as wild boars, deer, hares, and pheasants. In Europe, where hunting has been popular since ancient times, gibier cuisine is a familiar food culture.

In the past, game meat was a valuable dish that could only be eaten by the upper-class aristocrats, but now, when the ban on hunting is lifted, game meat with hair and feathers still attached is lined up in butcher shops and markets. It is treated as a familiar ingredient.

Gibier cuisine in Japan

Japanese food, such as sushi and soba, generally consists of grains, vegetables, and fish, and there is a strong image that the custom of eating meat came from Europe and the United States, but hunting has been practiced in Japan since ancient times. , wild boars and deer were also eaten.

Game meat was a valuable source of protein, especially in cold mountainous areas. Recently, due to the problem of wildlife damage, there is a movement to use captured animals as local resources for ingredients, and gibier cuisine has come to attract attention. The current situation is that there are still few.

healthy and nutritious

Gibier has a unique smell and meat quality that is unique to the wild, but it can be eaten very deliciously if it is properly processed at the time of capture, such as removing the blood and removing the internal organs, and cooking methods that match the ingredients. It is also high in protein, low in calories, and rich in nutrients such as iron and vitamin B2.

Hunter's Gibier Cuisine

The best way to enjoy gibier is to ask a hunter who usually eats it! So I actually asked.

wild boar meat

When it comes to wild boar meat, botan nabe is famous in Japan, but if you want to enjoy the umami of wild boar meat in a simpler way, salt-grilled.

It's a way to eat that every hunter recommends. It's not bad in a frying pan, but if you grill it with charcoal, excess fat will be removed and it will be much tastier. The key is to grill the meat as a block so that the savory meat juices don't escape.

Place a block of wild boar meat that has been sprinkled with salt before grilling, and when it is evenly browned and browned, remove from heat and slice thinly. Let's put it on the net again and have it freshly baked through the fire. Young wild boar meat is soft and has almost no peculiarities, so it is recommended for game beginners.

deer meat

Deer meat is low in fat and very healthy. It has a lean and refreshing taste. If you catch them and process them immediately, the smell will be less, but the best way to enjoy them without worrying about the smell is to pickle them in sauce.

The seasoning differs depending on the hunter, but the fish is marinated in a special sauce made from grated garlic, soy sauce, sake, and sugar for several hours, then grilled over charcoal before being eaten. If it is overcooked, it will become hard, so if it is cooked just right, it is ready to eat.

When you bite into it, the fragrant flavor of garlic and soy sauce and the umami of venison fills your mouth, leaving you with a lingering aftertaste. The strength of the flavor will vary depending on how long you marinate it and how you cut the meat, but if you marinate it too much, the flavor will become too strong, so if you want to enjoy the flavor of venison, 30 minutes to an hour is enough.

A hunter's meal full of mountain delicacies other than gibier

On this day, I happened to be able to taste wild eel caught in the river. The meat is thicker and firmer than the one you eat at the store, and it has a satisfying texture. There is no smell peculiar to river fish. Life in the mountains where hunters live is full of nature's blessings, such as sweetfish, eels, and edible wild plants, in addition to wild game.

Bringing Gibier Cuisine Closer to You

Recently, the number of French and Italian restaurants where you can enjoy gibier cuisine has been increasing outside of Tokyo, and there are also online shops that sell gibier.

First of all, it's good to enjoy the chef's elaborate gibier dishes at the store, or you can buy it yourself and cook it on a barbecue. The day may soon come when gibier will become a more familiar ingredient in Japan than beef, pork, and chicken.