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.