The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine: How I Spent a Year in the American Wild to Re-create a Feast from the Classic Recipes of French Master Chef Auguste Escoffier

by Steven Rinella

“If Jack Kerouac had hung out with Julia Child instead of Neal Cassady, this book might have been written fifty years ago.”—The Wall Street JournalWhen outdoorsman, avid hunter, and nature writer Steven Rinella stumbles upon Auguste Escoffier’s 1903 milestone Le Guide Culinaire, he’s inspired to assemble an unusual a forty-five-course meal born entirely of Escoffier’s esoteric wild game recipes. Over the course of one unforgettable year, he steadily procures his ingredients—fishing for stingrays in Florida, hunting mountain goats in Alaska, flying to Michigan to obtain a fifteen-pound snapping turtle—and encountering one colorful character after another. And as he introduces his vegetarian girlfriend to a huntsman’s lifestyle, Rinella must also come to terms with the loss of his lifelong mentor—his father. An absorbing account of one man’s relationship with family, friends, food, and the natural world, The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine is a rollicking tale of the American wild and its spoils.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, Memoir, Cookbooks, Outdoors, Nature

315 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Steven Rinella is the host of the Netflix Original series MeatEater and The MeatEater Podcast. He's also the author of six books dealing with wildlife, hunting, fishing and wild game cooking, including the bestselling MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for Every Hunter and Angler.

Reviews

[Robert Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 CBC round 2- RFC selection

If someone can read this book without being imparted a deep seated desire to eat an infant pigeon then they are a better person than I. Seriously these damn pigeons (squab if we're going to use our language precisely) are like the magnum opus, not the most ambitious dish but one that demanded unwavering perseverance and unmatched nest robbing abilities.

Anyways that being said, The Scavenger's Guide takes the cake, my favorite story by Rinella. The back drop of Escoffiers "Le Guide Culinaire" (or simply "leh geed" for the cool kids) is perfect for telling an impressive array of tales about gathering/killing/harvesting/finding the necessary and often obscure bits and pieces that haute cuisine demands. This search, nah- this Quest, takes us all sorts of exotic places like Michigan. And Thermopolis, which sounds like it would be in Greece given the origins of the name being entirely Greek (Thermo-Hot, Polis-City) but is actually in central Wyoming.

Trigger Warning: People who love baby pigeons.

[Felisa Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An avid hunter and fisherman stumbles across Le Guide Culinaire, the masterwork of the legendary French chef Augueste Escoffier, who cooked for Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Duke of Orleans, Queen Victoria, and the Shah of Persia. In reading through the recipes he notices that scads of the required wild ingredients are no longer available for purchase, so he decides to scavenge their American equivalents and prepare and elaborate feast for his friends and hunting buddies.
The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine is the story of his year-long food gathering adventure. Rinella's writing is vivid, matter-of-fact, and funny. Most of his inventive similes are effective, but occasionally he'll go too far and, when coupled with a few expository lines on what he learned from an experience, the passage will momentarily evoke an unusually creative high school essay. Surprisingly, these awkward moments don't mar the book--instead they are endearing reminders of Rinella's excitement about the subject. I share Rinella's obsession with meat, so I read with interest his detailed descriptions of capturing and dressing animals. I was a little disappointed he didn't gather any other types of wild ingredients, and I would have enjoyed reading more about the actual cooking process. He does devote several chapters to preparing and eating the feast, but most of the book is about procuring meat. As I am a cook and not a hunter, I found the chapters on cooking more personally useful, though I did enjoy reading his hunting tips.(Some part of me still retains my childhood fantasy that I will one day run away and live in a hollow tree and be forced to trap my own food using ingenious methods. I file away ideas for my future survival.) This book is recommended, particularly if you enjoy reading about food or the outdoors.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, fun read. Very well written.

I love ambitious concepts well-executed. Rinella set out to create a 3-day Thanksgiving feast with 40+ dishes from Escoffier's original cookbook, but with ingredients sourced entirely from hunting, fishing, and scavenging. Rinella traveled all over America to collect the ingredients to his meal, providing him with a fantastic range of stories to write about.

More than the adventure, Rinella is thoughtful, empathetic, and humble. I've since watched him host Meat Eater (seasons 5-7 on Netflix right now!), and he's a guy that's easy to like. Sounds cheesy, but he's just a good person. And that comes through in his writing.

In its own way, this book is very much a spiritual cousin to River Cottage.

[Zack Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is easily one of my favorite books that I’ve ever read. I’ve never found a book that encompasses so many of my favorite things all in one. The writing is so easy to read and it captivates you more than you would think it could just judging by the name. It is a book I could easily see myself reading over and over in the future. If you love the outdoors, hunting, cooking, or just food in general then this book is for you! Even if you just love unique stories told in a captivating way give it a read. Can’t recommend it enough.

[Grace Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5
Cox Family Book Club (Rob's pick)

[Mark Gaulding · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. This is one of the top three books I've read this year (2008). Rinella is a remarkable writer. The book is full of humor and occasional sadness/melancholy. But it is always compelling. I am not a hunter nor do I really support hunting. After reading this book I will have to rethink my strict liberal perspective about hunting. Although it does graphically discuss killing it was never gratuitous and surprisingly didn't ever upset or repulse me. The book is also remarkable in the historical perspectives that Rinella brings to both haute cuisine, wild game hunting, and the various locales that he visits. Although the story occurs over a one year period and the author's scavenging is restricted to the US, Rinella weaves in his other global travels. I thoroughly enjoyed Julie & Julia by Julie Powell which had a very similar "mission" (Julie Powell sets out in one-year to cook all of the recipes in Julia Childs' Mastering the Art of French Cooking). Rinella commits himself to spending one-year gathering the ingredients he needs to cook 45-50 recipes from Auguste Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire for a three-day event. The interesting thing about Rinella's book is that most of the recipes require main ingredients that you can't buy. The author is a hunter and fisherman who has spent most of his life cooking and eating only food that he has "scavenged" from Mother Nature. But Escoffier's ingredients frequently challenge Rinella's expert gathering skills (as in squab, which is a baby pigeon). I suspect some people will object to this book for political correctness, but I hope they aren't so narrow-minded that they cannot give this book a try. The author is such a talented writer and story-teller and everyone should benefit from this profoundly great book.

[Maria Headley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's so great when you make a new friend and then the friend also turns out to be a terrific writer. This book is seriously funny - the sequence of attempting to breed pigeons completely cracks me up, and it's also educational. I don't eat meat. Haven't for a long time - and so my knowledge of the ways of meat and what various cuts are, etc, is pretty damn limited. This book taught me a bunch of things about eating, cooking, and foraging for fascinating things in the wilds of...everywhere, including cities. Highly recommended. Also read his other writing - he does a lot of magazine stuff, and his voice is wry, informed, and just generally terrific.

[Chelan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book. I think Rinella provides great prospective and insight on hunting, conservation, and food.

[DestroyerbossAOele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really hauting.

[David Szatkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is as much about getting the ingredients for a banquet of haute cuisine as the meal itself. This is a worthy book for food lovers and those who enjoy a good book. Fun, readable and an invitation to read more by this author is something this book offers to all.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Rinella is perplexing. He talks and acts like a good ol' boy except when he casually references obscure American history or esoteric animal biology. He writes books, makes TV shows, and does it by accomplishing feats of endurance and complexity you'd think would be all that could occupy a human being. And the really perplexing part is he does it all really, really well. I don't get it at all. This is a pretty great book for illustrating all of that and I rcommend it to anyone who has a serious interest in what their food is and could be because most of all Mr. Rinella is a spokesman for what we eat, how we can eat better and why we should eat different. But he does it, again perlexingly, against a backdrop of gritty jetsetting to faraway Alaska and through the logistics of fashioning a frog gig.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve read Julie & Julia by Julie Powell, you understand how challenging recreating dishes from old recipe books can be. The Scavenger’s Guide is Julie’s book with wading boots on its feet and a hunting rifle in its hands.

Mr. Rinella is a dedicated and devoted hunter, someone who hunts meat for its food and has endured all sorts of inclement weather as well as the prerequisite adherence to hunting and fishing laws and regulations to nab his prey. He has a healthy respect for the animals he kills and an expert’s eye for detail when it comes to capturing them and preparing them for the table. He also seems to be a devout trencherman, rarely shying away from eating a dish.

In this novel, Mr. Rinella got his hands on Le Guide Culinaire by Georges Auguste Escoffier, one of the most famous cooks who ever lived. Escoffier had a Frenchman’s eye and pallet when it came to cooking and he cooked almost everything that passed through his kitchens. Mr. Rinella rose to the challenge and decided to cook the dishes in this cookbook into an epic, unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime, three-day Thanksgiving banquet for his friends and family.

What follows is a book that is part memoir, travelog, hunting guide and historical document. Mr. Rinella has a unusual way with words and odd juxtapositions of phrases that capture the imagination. His graphic detailing of what he does with the beasts he catches is not for the squeamish or those dedicated to veganism. As a point of fact, he tried to get his girlfriend (who “struggled” with her vegetarianism) to try a meat dish or two. He wasn’t being a jerk about it; but he would invite her to try something…and he stopped keeping her from going into the kitchen when he was preparing an animal for the platter.

If there is one thing I regret, it’s the lack of pictures. I would have welcomed color photograph inserts of Mr. Rinella preparing some of his dishes. Perhaps he didn’t think of it. Perhaps he felt that, like Mr. Escoffier’s book, the addition of photographs would have made his own book the size of an encyclopedia.

The book is fun and funny, fascinating and never dull. It made me itch to get my hands on Escoffier’s book. It resurrected my desire to try exotic dishes. Having tasted pigeon, cuisses de grenouille (that’s frog’s legs, people), veal and escargot, I often long for other fare that isn’t necessarily on the menu and Mr. Rinella’s book has reawakened that longing. I may never make turtle soup but I will look for it on the menu. Bon appétit!

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven Rinella's "Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine" is not a cookbook, and that's what makes it great. Throughout Rinella's year-long journey to recreate many of the recipes in Escoffier's "le Guide Cuilinaire", Rinella recounts his adventures through the North American wilderness, including backcountry Montana and Alaska as well as the alleyways behind bars in Montana - with Escoffier's wild game feast as an endgame. As much as this memoir is about food and scavenging in America, it is just as much about family, friendship, love and companionship. When troubled with parts of the feast, including strange ingredients to Americans such as carp, English sparrows and eels, he consults with regional experts and details with great finesse and beauty not just their trades like building eel weirs or sparrow traps, but their lives, relations and hardships that have made them the way they are. Regardless of your interest in hunting and fishing and scavenging or meat-eating in general, "The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine" rises above as a truly unique and important work in American non-fiction in a rapidly dying lifestyle.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly entertaining and incredibly informative read on the history of French haute cuisine as explored through the eyes of the what-you-see-is-what-you-get, American outdoorsman Steven Rinella. This is so much more than an adventurer's account of hunting for elusive, haute cuisine ingredients in modern-day USA, in order to make an unforgettable food experience for his friends and family. It is most importantly a heartfelt tribute to the inner exploration of self and one's relationship to his environment; it makes a fierce argument for the conservation of native wildlife and open land, as well as offering plenty of reasons to keep up the preservation and appreciation of culture across the ages. I found myself hearing Rinella's voice in my head as I reading the whole book, after a *lot* of binge-watching his equally unforgettable show MeatEater this past year.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine will take you full circle with plenty of wild stops in between. I’m not sure if I should say that this book is extremely niche or if it’s for everyone. If you like to cook, read this and you’ll pick up a greater appreciation for hunting. If you like to hunt, you’ll find a greater appreciation for cooking.

This quote tells you all that you need to know:

“Because we didn’t have enough plates and glasses, Jen had also purchased paper plates, plastic champagne flutes, plastic wine glasses, and plastic silverware. Escoffier probably rolled over in his grave because of all that paper and plastic, but I thought the temporary nature of the place settings conveyed the specialness of the feast: Instead of using the same old worn-out plates we normally used, we were using plates that would never suffer the future stains of lessor meals.” (pg. 283)

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having this be the third book I've read read by Rinella and having watched his show and followed his social media for years, I'm a little bit torn. On the one hand it's clearly an early work, there's some parts of the story that just don't fit and he has a bit of a hard time communicating some of the deeper themes. That being said I believe this is a great book. It's fun to hear about this kind of cooking and Steve's analysis of the complexities of being a hunter/gatherer is spot on like usual. Do I wish he developed some themes a little bit more? Sure. At the end of the day this book is nothing too complex, but it's an interesting read for anyone at all interested in cooking, hunting, and/or nature.

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful read with a few laugh out loud moments. Rinella recounts his year of hunting and gathering after he discovers Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire and decides to cook a Thanksgiving feast from its pages. He writes wonderful descriptions of fishing for Pacific Ling Cod off San Juan Island in a canoe fighting waves and tides, visiting an eel weir, and hunting for elk in Montana. He catches the frantic kitchen preparations with two friends as the three day feast for 14 progresses recounting the successes and failures along the way.

This is not for everyone. If the idea of reading a description of field dressing an animal turns your stomach, skip this book.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun story of a a year's worth of hunting, fishing, gathering, and raising all of the ingredients for a 45-course Thanksgiving feast pulled out of a 120-year-old French cookbook. No fried fish or deer chili here. Baby pigeon poached in an antelope bladder? Check. Minced carp with a fancy French name? Check. Vegetarian girlfriend? Also check.

I've never had this much fun reading a nonfiction book. Definitely a favorite this year.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Steve Rinella. I loved the concept of this book and it was highly entertaining. This is the perfect cross between my interests of hunting and esoteric cooking. You can tell, however, that this is one of Steve's early works. His writing style hasn't been fully developed yet and the tangents seem to be out of place. Still worth a read though. His American buffalo book is incredible though. 3.5 stars overall.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book relates Steve Rinella’s quest to procure and cook game (meat, fish, and fowl) to create a feast based on Escoffier’s Guide to Haute Cuisine. Sometimes his efforts succeed, sometimes they fail, but always they’re described vividly and with humor. During Rinella’s journey he meets fascinating people and learns interesting tidbits about ingredients and their preparation along the way, which he graciously shares with the reader. I would love to have been invited to the feast.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband convinced me to read this and I am so glad he did! I am not a hunter yet (but definitely support the idea of hunting to eat) nor am I an avid cook. This did not matter in the least. This book was funny, informative, and just delightful. It was easily one of the top books I have read. Steven has a way of writing where you feel yourself almost in a conversation with him. Will forever recommend this book and love it.

[MarkedWoman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea of using ingredients readily available and/or scavenged is appealing, especially to create a feast for family and friends. Interesting & thought provoking discussions are inevitable along the way, and there were several. The book is interesting but has a weak finish. Perhaps the build of expectations far exceeded the descriptions of the actual feast. The read was fun, but the ending not robust enough.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book offered great perspective on humans' relationship to food, and it started very strong, unfortunately it turned out quite boring. The narrative would cut out for aimless rambles. Other sections read as endless monotonous lists. The relationship with Diana also made me uncomfortable- the theme of trying to change his partner made Rinella very unlikeable. Mediocre writing overall.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steven Rinella, and outdoorsman, hunter, and terrific writer, takes on a yearlong quest to produce a 3 day feast of recipes fro Auguste Escoffier's 1800's cooking Bible, Le Guide Culinaire. Did you ever wonder how to butcher a snapping turtle? How to catch eel in a weir? How to fit a duck in a pig's bladder for poaching? This is the book for you, because believe me, you want to know these things.

[Robert VanBuhler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intelligent author, living life as he chooses. Kind of free ranging description of how he employs the recipes of the famous French Chef August Escoffier with North American game instead of traditional European ingredients. The whole year is capped off with the banquet. Check out his Youtube videos.

[Matt Norville · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read most of mr. Vanilla's works. It reads like this Steve Vanilla's most honest and personal book. It is a great example of how a close death can inspire someone to take something every day and rework it into something inspirational. Hard work, focus, reflection and patience seem to be constant themes throughout.

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book even makes mostly-vegan-Val want to try some new game meat. I appreciate what the author does to educate about hunting, conservation, and trying new things. But I am glad he gave up on trying to "convert" his vegetarian girlfriend - leave her alone, man. The ending kind of fell apart, he doesn't even log what they ate on the third day of the feast. Really fun to read about the recipes.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read most enjoyable book I’ve read thus far about the process of finding recipes, then gathering the ingredients for the recipes, and cooking it all. The passion the author has for nature makes every aspect of the book more enjoyable to read. the added in side context is always meaningful and interesting 5/5

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another insightful book written by Steven Rinella, who effortlessly weaves casual language and humor into an intellectual recollection of his year-long journey to produce a grand, eye-opening 3-day feast among his friends.

[Kenneth Poirier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read many of Steven Rinella's books he brings story telling with a hunter's background with an insightfulness that make his books easy to read. Any cook or aspiring chef, amateur or professional would enjoy this read.