Rinella shares his fascinating quest to live off the land and recreate the recipes from Escoffier's "Le Guide Culinaire," the 1903 magnum opus that still stands as one of the greatest haute cuisine cookbooks ever written. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

No, this is not a book about dumpster diving. Instead, it's the account of how Rinella, an Outside correspondent, set off on a quixotic year-long adventure in the wild with the end goal of preparing a three-day, 45-course banquet chosen from master chef Escoffier's classic 1903 Le Guide Culinaire, now considered (by most people) an exotic historical document rather than a working cookbook. Rinella intended to shoot, fish, slaughter, raise (as in pigeon husbandry), gather and otherwise procure the ingredients for these dishes himself, with help from his fishing and hunting buddies (also with the aid of freezers, which Escoffier would no doubt have envied). Rinella's girlfriend is a vegetarian, and he's aware that this project may seem distressing to some, but he offers a spirited defense of choosing to "make his own food." Rinella's year took him all over the U.S. and Canada with plenty of unusual outdoor adventures: frog gigging, eeling, "glassing" for elk, making headcheese and sparrow-trapping. Preparing the feast, with its huge list of ingredients, took more than a week, with hard-breathing last-minute tension. Some dishes worked, some didn't (e.g., Crayfish Mousse, and Elk and Antelope Kidney Pudding). This unusual memoir could serve as a tasty gift for sporting types. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

What happened when nature writer Rinella planned a three-night, 45-course gourmet meal based on wild game recipes found in Auguste Escoffier's definitive Le Guide Culinaire (1903)? Readers go along for the ride in this expanded version of an article originally written for Outside magazine. For a year, Rinella roamed America with his hunting buddies and vegetarian girlfriend in search of eel, elk, frog legs, wild boar, squab, and numerous other ingredients required by Escoffier's recipes. Considering most people's packaged-food tastes, these dishes may sound alien at best. But to the author, who takes pride and pleasure in gathering food off the land, the king of European haute cuisine's recipes couldn't be better suited. Readers of outdoor humorist Patrick McManus will find Rinella's airy style very similar and often as funny. Vegetarians should steer clear, however, since the book is devoted to hunting, fishing, and raising animals for the ultimate incredible feast. Recommended for public libraries and where interest is high in hunting and fishing. Maureen J. Delaney-Lehman, Lake Superior State Univ. Lib., Sault Ste. Marie, MI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Prologue	1
1 Free Range	7
2 Very Fleshy and Full of Life	18
3 What Would Escoffier Do?	34
4 Columba Livia	50
5 Flying Pie	61
6 Setting This World on Fire	76
7 In the San Juans	86
8 Hansel and Gretel	106
9 The Sacred Trinity	117
10 Putting Up	128
11 The Deaths of H&G	150
12 The Boars of Bear Valley	157
13 Nymphs at Dawn	174
14 The Hairbag by the River	190
15 A Scavenger's Freezer	206
16 The Stinkhole Mountains	215
17 Mixed Bag	242
18 The Enigma of Vatel	261
19 Brigade de Cuisine	280
20 The Tastes of Escoffier	293
21 Ancient Carp	309

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.