America was built on game. Long before domesticated sheep and cattle grazed tamed acreage, first Native Americans, then European settlers set out daily to bring down wild creatures for the evening meal. Until the end of the nineteenth century, in fact, game was the most abundant meat on the American table. Only with the coming of the twentieth century, with its ever more efficient systems of animal husbandry (and storage and distribution), did domesticated birds and beasts take over the dinner table.
Today, however, there is renewed interest in gameΓÇöencouraged partly by gastronomic exploration and partly by the realization that the meat of most game birds and animals is significantly lower in saturated fat than that of their domestic counterparts. For example, quail, pheasant, and guinea hen all possess 40 percent fewer calories and 60 percent less fat, pound for pound, than chicken. As demand for game increases, however, the definition of game has changed. The term used to mean only birds or animals caught in the wild; today, ΓÇ£gameΓÇ¥ includes birds and animals once caught in the wild that are now raised domestically, such as quail, rabbit, deer, and so on.
Game birds and animals are both ranched and farmed. Ranched game is raised under free-range conditions, developing a more complex flavor, with less excess body fat. Farmed game is typically milder to the taste and somewhat fattier. Game raised by either method is usually more tender than wild game and, although lacking the assertive gamy character of animals from the wild, may be more consistently pleasing in flavor. It is also far more convenientΓÇöboth because of regular availability and because it comes to market already dressed and often already cut into serving pieces.
Hunting remains a popular sport in almost every state in the union. If you choose to hunt, remember that proper handling of game will greatly enhance its flavor; if youΓÇÖre a novice, contact your local cooperative extension service or State and Federal Fish and Wildlife Agencies for information on safe and proper handling of game before you hunt. When cooking wild game, follow the recommendations for its farm-raised counterpart, but remember that wild game is almost always leaner and often must be barded and basted so that it does not dry out (see Marinating and Barding Game).
When cooking wild fowl, if you are at all doubtful that a bird is young or prime, do not hesitate to use a moist-heat method of cooking. At the extreme, very old birds are fit only for the stockpot or soup pot or for making hash, sausages, and sauces. With younger wild birds, often only the breasts are served, and the tougher legs are simmered with the wings, neck, and giblets for stock. This stock is most useful, for in no cooking is less gravy naturally produced than in that of game.
