Wild Game Meals

Ramin Ganeshram January 10, 2007

 

Legendary wild game meals, from Darius to Churchill

Darius of Persia, leader of the world's first true empire, was fond of ostrich and the occasional smoked camel hump. On his way to the North Pole, Admiral Robert Peary noshed on dried bison and boar. Winston Churchill frequently tucked into a guinea fowl, and Teddy Roosevelt was no stranger to a plate of freshly dispatched elk. The great men of history loved their game.

Game dining is making a comeback. Elk, boor, kangaroo and quail are showing up on menu lists, and not just as whimsical appetizers. Dozens of high-end restaurants around the country are catering to open-minded carnivores. If you want to eat like the gentlemen of yore, or simply explore the outer reaches your palette, there are plenty of luxury dining options out there.

See our slideshow of 10 legendary game meals

"Historically game went from being a means of survival to a celebratory exclamation," said Brad Farmerie, the head chef at New York's Public. "I still feel that it is slightly decadent and sumptuous, although the days of gold-encrusted swan are way behind us, thank God." At Farmerie's buzzing restaurant in Soho, you'll find roast goat rack, cured wild boar, and kangaroo served three ways.

"The presence of game dishes on a menu shows a serious level of food, because it's usually the true foodies that order them," said Chef Brian Pekarcik of San Diego's Arterra, where celebs like Jacques Pepin, Phil Mickelson, and Tiger Woods feast on "roasted quail two ways" -- with forest mushroom and cous cous, or in the Sous Vide style with confit tomato and foie gras.

Game dishes on high-end menus connote class and history, as well as a hip global eclecticism. At Cafe Juanita on the Puget Sound, diners can enjoy crisp veal sweetbreads with Pantellarian capers and Ligurian olive oil -- a favorite dish of Ancient Rome's General Lucullus. Julius Caesar, another legendary gourmand, would have teared up at the sight of the pan roasted rabbit at Drago Ristorante in Los Angeles. "Game adds real structure and integrity to a menu," said Chef Celestino Drago, whose eponymous restaurant has a long list of reservations for its annual game meal.

Three of the 20th century's great alpha males -- Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway -- were all big fans of shooting their own dinner. At the sleek Whist restaurant in Santa Monica, California, you'll find a bacon wrapped roasted elk tenderloin that would have made Papa and Teddy proud. And at Philadelphia's Le Bec Fin, head chef Georges Perrier serves guinea hen with confit of lemon that would have surely cockled the heart of the original British Bulldog.

We rousted up 10 legendary game dishes from some of the country's finest restaurants, and as we think you'll agree, these meals hearken back to antiquity while remaining undeniably unique. Happy hunting.

See our slideshow of 10 legendary game meals.

Find Airline Tickets on Yahoo Travel»