Sizzling amid rustling leaves

Adventures in forest gastronomy with quotes from Zsigmond Széchenyi

This book is an adventure; a gastro-adventure in the forest, with the treasure at the end consisting of its 55 mouth-watering recipes. The adventure begins with frying pans and pots, and with the sizzle from simmering, frying, baking and stirring the dishes we are now serving up to the reader – with a side dish of hand-selected quotes from the works of 20th-century hunter Zsigmond Széchenyi. This book, however, is not for those who simply hunt for the sake of it. Following in the footsteps of Széchenyi, we have gathered all the ingredients that Hungarian forests boast: game, wild fowl, water fowl, mushrooms, herbs, and lake and river fish, along with delicacies provided by meadows and even kitchen gardens. And as we said, we have simmered, fried or baked each and every one appropriately. Hungary is a superpower regarding its game, yet even the average Hungarian has a lot to learn about consuming such wild animals; for example, their meat is low in fact but high in nutrients thanks to their free roaming and eating habits. Game is decidedly nourishing, has a high protein efficiency ratio (PER) and, of course, is also delicious. Game meat is full of flavours providing characteristic aromas, and we have written our recipes accordingly, emphasising them in some cases and, if necessary, downplaying them a little. Game, mushrooms, fruit and herbs from a natural environment provide healthy nourishment while leaving a significantly smaller ecological footprint in their wake than most other foods, because consuming them only consists of hunting, gathering and preparation. Game meat is guaranteed free of any antibiotics, industrial food additives and hormonal derivatives. The meat of wild animals is also lower in calories. Like lean fish, it contains only half or, in some cases, only a quarter of the calories found in most typically consumed meat. We hope that our little forest adventure will arouse your interest in eating game and striding through the woods. We have even included recipes for some of our favourite desserts as a reward after the hike. We’d like to finish this foreword with a quote from Szécheny’s book, As it started.., because it is so fitting that it still comes to the minds of hunters, hikers and nature enthusiasts: “Hunting, of course, is chasing game and listening to rustling leaves, but definitely more of the rustling leaves.” This is how our gastro- adventure became sizzling amid rustling leaves, but as the nature of cooking dictates: definitely more sizzling.