Photo by Holly A. Heyser
My name is Hank Shaw. I write. I fish. I dig earth, forage, raise plants, live for food and kill wild animals. I drink bourbon, Barolo or Budweiser with equal relish and wish I owned a farm, or at least a large swath of land I could play on. I spend my days thinking about new ways to cook and eat anything that walks, flies, swims, crawls, skitters, jumps – or grows. I am the omnivore who has solved his dilemma. This is my story.
Honest food is what I’m seeking. Nothing packaged, nothing in a box, nothing wrapped in plastic. I eat meat, and I’m not keen on factory farms, so I either hunt it myself or buy it from real people who raise animals humanely. Other than pork fat for charcuterie and the occasional hog jowl, I have not bought meat or fish for our home more than a handful of times since 2005. I am a constant forager, angler, hunter, gardener and fan of farmer’s markets, and eating locally and making good food from scratch is what I do. Seasonality rules my diet: In winter, I would rather eat a well-cooked turnip than asparagus from Chile.
I am especially interested in those meats and veggies that people don’t eat much any more, like pigeons or shad or cardoons. I have nothing against good grass-fed beef or a head of lettuce, it’s just that others are doing just fine writing about those foods. I’m trying to walk a less-traveled path.
Who the hell am I? I am a former line cook, I’ve caught fish and dug clams for a living and, after 19 years as a political reporter for newspapers ranging from New York to Virginia to Wisconsin, Minnesota and California, I now pay the bills writing about food, fishing, foraging and hunting. On occasion, I also cater events around Northern California and have been an instructor in the Journalism Department at Sacramento State University.
As a food writer, my work has been published in Food & Wine, Organic Gardening, The Art of Eating, Field and Stream, Gastronomica, Meatpaper, Edible Sacramento, the Stockton (CA) Record, Pheasants Forever magazine, Delta Waterfowl Magazine and several other publications. I was written up in the March 2009 issue of Field & Stream magazine for my wild game cookery, which was an honor.
I am the author of Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast, released in May 2011 by Rodale Books. My hope is that the book will help open the world of foraging, hunting and fishing to those interested in food, but who may have never hunted mushrooms or picked up a gun or cast a rod and reel before.
It is also my hope that hunters who want to expand their skills to foraging, or anglers who want to hunt, or foragers who want to fish, will find value in this book.
My second book, Duck, Duck, Goose: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Waterfowl, Both Farmed and Wild, will be released by Ten Speed Press in October 2013.
AWARDS
Hunter Angler Gardener Cook won Best Food Blog by the James Beard Foundation in 2013, and was nominated in 2009 and 2010.
I was honored to win a Bert Greene Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals for Best Food Blog in both 2010 and 2011. In addition, a story I contributed to for Field & Stream was nominated for an American Society of Magazine Editors award in 2010. And an essay I wrote on this site, “On Killing,” was included in the book Best Food Writing 2012 by Da Capo Press.
CONTACT
To reach me, email scrbblr AT hotmail DOT com
For rights, television inquiries and other inquiries related to Hunt, Gather, Cook contact Jason Yarn at the Paradigm Agency at jyarn AT paradigmagency DOT com or via phone at 212.897.6400.
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ABOUT THE PICTURES
While I do take some of the pictures on this site, the vast majority (and all of the really good ones!) of the images you see here are taken by my partner, Holly A. Heyser.
Holly is a hunting writer, food photographer and professional journalist in residence at her alma mater, California State University Sacramento. You can find her photography at HeyserPhoto.com.
Contact Holly at hheyser AT norcalcazadora DOT com.
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[...] to read the rest of the recipe (and to print it). We gals at The WON very much like the idea of a guy like the HGAC in the kitchen who knows the value of not only bringing home the bacon, but also who can cook it, [...]
[...] Some of my favorite posts from Hank Shaw’s Hunter Angler Gardener Cook: [...]
[...] for the Bay Area, it is an integral part of my blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, and since the book is an outgrowth of the blog, it follows that anyone living in the region will [...]
[...] for the Bay Area, it is an integral part of my blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, and since the book is an outgrowth of the blog, it follows that anyone living in the region will [...]
[...] Gardener Angler Cook, one of my favorite sources for information about hunting and foraging. Hank Shaw creates beautiful, upscale recipes for wild foods, and has a book coming out that you can be sure [...]
[...] sent me a recipe for a delicious-looking venison pie. The blog, Honest Food, is written by Hank Shaw, a self-styled “Hunter Angler Gardener Cook” who seems to [...]
[...] found this elderflower liqueur recipe on Hank Shaw’s Hunter Angler Gardner Cook blog. Hank’s site is a wealth of information about what foods you can find in nature coupled with [...]
[...] Hank Shaw is a New Jersey native who worked as a political reporter for various newspapers for 18 years until becoming a full-time food writer, outdoorsman and cook in 2010. A forager and angler since he could walk, Hank began hunting in 2002 and has never looked back. He hunts or fishes for all the meat he eats at home, and foraged foods form a daily part of his diet. [...]
[...] news has started getting out to die-hard Hank Shaw fans, and it’s true! Sea Rocket Bistro will be hosting a book signing and special menu to [...]
[...] do respect Hank Shaw‘s foraging skills, his synchronization with the nature that surrounds him, there in Northern [...]
[...] Foraging for greens with Hank Shaw [...]
[...] Last week, Rick went out duck hunting. This was an exciting trip out, as he was invited to go with Hank Shaw, whose blog posts about the glories of wild duck have been haunting us (read: causing us to drool [...]
[...] Last week, Rick went out duck hunting. This was an exciting trip out, as he was invited to go with Hank Shaw, whose blog posts about the glories of wild duck have been haunting us (read: causing us to drool [...]
[...] Angler, Gardener, Cook is a blog by Hank Shaw. The above image is the cover of his related book published last year, Hunt, Gather, Cook. This [...]
[...] this ungodly hour. Picked up Christine and we headed to Bodega Bay to meet forager extraodinare Hank Shaw and nine other people to learn the art of [...]
[...] (You can read her story here about the bear that I got to eat.) As a thank you for helping her and Hank Shaw with a project. This meat made me nervous. I knew that along with Wild pig and Mountain Lion, Bears [...]
[...] for the Bay Area, it is an integral part of my blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, and since the book is an outgrowth of the blog, it follows that anyone living in the region will [...]
[...] Some of my favorite posts from Hank Shaw’s Hunter Angler Gardener Cook: [...]
[...] was a good, quick read from Hank Shaw, author of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, as well as two books. If you haven’t read stuff this guy writes, I recommend it! I’d [...]