Book Reviews – Page 2 – Sporting Road

Hachette Atlas Of French Wines & Vineyards

Book Description Publication Date: June 2001 A veritable encyclopedia, alphabetically arranged by area and with 418 color illustrations and 74 maps, presents the entire panorama of French wine civilization: the regions, climates, soils, methods of winemaking, the wine economy, and even artistic representations of the drink and its role in tourism. Thanks to the collaboration of the Institut National des Appellations and the National Geographic Institute, there are the most detailed maps every drawn of all the recognized vineyards, with their specialties and their reputation in the wine world. Introduce yourself to the thousand nuances of grapes, wines, and vintages from every one of France's appellations and regions. Take a voyage of pleasure into the heart of wine civilization!

By Sporting Road|June 22nd, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews, Wine|Comments Off

Tenkara

Tenkara has it s roots in the mountains of Japan, in the practical approach of the subsistence fisherman and the pared-down efficiency of the professional. It places a premium on accurate presentation. The original tenkara fisherman used silk lines and bare hooks. Flies become high fashion and by 1703 gold foil was even being used. Ayu hooks are now barbless and eyeless. The author discusses bamboo rods to the Tenkara Ayu and Diawa rods. Dr. Ichihashi or Ichigaki's bamboo rods are discussed and from the Internet posts on sites such as www.tenkarausa.com they look amazing. The book discusses level lines to tapered lines and furled lines to fluorocarbon lines. Spools and cast holders are detailed, as are knots from the traditional girth hitch to attach the furled line to the rod tip or simple overhand knots around the standing part of the line to form a o around the lilian through the loop twice and tighten.

By Sporting Road|June 22nd, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews, Fishing|Comments Off

Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time

Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time is an admirably catchy title. The recipes for Braised Pheasant Legs with Cabbage and Grapes, Chukar Pie, Quail en Papillote, Pheasant Tagine, Duck Confit, Fireplace Venison Tenderloin, Chorizo Sausage, Jugged Hare, Game Bird Stock to Everyday Dry Rub and tips on aging game, should have been all right up my alley. But, somehow I couldn't get that into the book, nor the recipes beyond the initial appearances which are good. Maybe I was just in bad mood, as it has all the right elements, including the author being a classically trained chef and devoted hunter. Maybe it was the lack of pictures of the recipes. Maybe it was the lack of wild, edible foods. But, we can agree that, "Whatever your journey, wherever you find it, may it be a wild one." And the on a Moveable Hunt, harkens to Hemingway and I particularly like the Waiting for Pate in the Floatant chapter. And, who can't appreciate the Jose Ortega y Gasset quotes, such as "One does not hunt in order to kill, on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted." I wanted to love this book from the cover and the title, but maybe it just requires catching me on a better night, so I am avoiding any star-based review, as I like the concept of it and hope to hear from others who really enjoyed it, as I really want to like it.

By Sporting Road|June 22nd, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews, Recipes, Wingshooting|Comments Off

Riding for Ladies and Ladies on Horseback

Two great free online books from the Project Gutenberg. Riding for Ladies - 1891 http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39610/39610-h/39610-h.htm#IV Complete with fetching illustrations of appropriate habits. Ladies on Horseback, 1881 This one includes chapters on hunting: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39501/39501-h/39501-h.htm

By Sporting Road|June 20th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews, Foxhunting|Comments Off

Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way by Francis Mallmann (book review 5/5 *****)

My new favorite cookbook is Seven Fires, which has gorgeous photos and great techniques. The author is a famous US/Argentinian chef named Francis Mallmann and he writes, “I believe that the ability to cook meat over a wood fire is inborn in all of us.” Another favorite is Canal House Cooking, written by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, who own a food studio called Canal House, in Lambertville, New Jersey. This is as unassuming as Seven Fires is overreaching. I loved this book and recommend you add it to your collection. It is filled with great Argentine recipes and photographs. I liked it even more after watching a cooking show, which featured Mallmann in his rustic home/restaurant in Argentina, cooking these recipes for friends, neighbors and a very few paying guests, from the likes of the extremely small town he lives in. This book is the real deal and is endorsed by our Argentine friends who even commented that it is the "only true book on the Argentine asado style of cooking" and it features it is a very simple, yet romantic and tasty way. We love it! Mallmann describes la parrilla, the cast iron barbecue grate, and the la chapa which is a flat piece of cast iron over a fire, but a cast iron skillet will also do in a pinch. Asador is a method for cooking whole animals, pig, lamb or goat, which are butterflied and hooked to an iron cross. Every estancia has a caldero, a big iron pot, for feeding large groups on the ranch, including the gauchos out on the vast pampas. Mallmann subscribes to the only turn it once method of grilling. Don't flip it too much. Not

By Sporting Road|June 20th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Comments Off

40 Years of Chez Panise – Book Review **** (4/5)

From Chez Panise "France changed my life forever. I knew I wanted to live the way my French friend did. These were people who thought of good food as an indispensable part of live, for whom each day was punctuated by food-related decisions. It went without saying that one had to get to the bakery early, to get a fresh, hot baguette; naturally one spent an hour or so in the afternoon in a café with one's friends; and of course one only brought produce in season because that when it was least expensive and tasted best. Eating together was the most important daily ritual in their lives, a critical and nonnegotiable time when the flavors and smells of roasted chickens and sizzling garlic, the crunch of crusty bread, and the taste of local wine drew out everyone's most passionate ideas and feelings." The same is true at the château where "friends are always coming over for dinner and we are cooking our way collections of recipes from all kinds of people. As with Chez Panisse, we also found that the people who were obsessive about growing the best-tasting produce were also concerned about the health of the soil, the welfare of beneficial insects and other animals, and the clarity of the water running off their fields. They were interested in rediscovering older varieties that were harder to grow, and less prolific, but much tastier, and which brought a sense of continuity with the past to both their fields and our tables. At dinners with good friends, we talked easily and at length about--everything! The kitchen was a platonic ideal of a kitchen: a fireplace in the corner, stacks of post, and marble

By Sporting Road|October 23rd, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews, Cuisine|Comments Off

Standing in a River Waving a Stick (Book Review **** 4/5)

Standing in a River Waving a Stick, New York: Simon & Schuster (1999) by John Gierach My favorite quotes or summaries from this book are: This business of changing fly patterns, looking for the right one, is central to the sport. All of us, secretly or otherwise, believe it’s the fly that makes the difference, although we’ll admit that even the right fly has to be cast accurately and drifted properly to work. Still, when someone is catching more fish than we are --- and when we’re not too embarrassed to ask--we say, “What fly are you using?” as if that one bit of information was all we needed. Okay, but if you ask three different fishermen you’ll probably get three different answers, so you have to suspect that although the knowledge passed on by other fly fishers is a great gift, the true solution is somehow yours and yours alone. Everyone I know who has fly fished for long has theories about fly patterns, all of which sound reasonable enough on a long drive or around a campfire.... The choice of a fly pattern for nymphing can seem too huge to comprehend, and I’ve seen nymph fishers standing like zombies on riverbanks, gazing into open fly boxes, literally frozen by indecision. (I recognize that when I see it because I’ve done it myself.) The thing is, aquatic insects spend most of their lives on the stream bottom, where they are regularly eaten by trout. Mayflies and stone flies have a nymphal stage. These are six-legged, armored bugs that fly fishers think are handsome but I heard one non-anglers describe as looking like wet cockroaches. Caddis flies and midges have bottom-dwelling larval stages that run into pupae

By Sporting Road|October 9th, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews, Fishing, Fly Tying|Comments Off

Hunt, Gather, Cook (Book Review **** 5/5)

Hank Shaw is an award-winning journalist and makes his debut from his blogger's guide to a book on foraging, fishing, hunting, simply entitled Hunt, Gather Cook--and makes the most of the fruits of a day spent gathering food in the field. His blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, has developed an avid following among outdoor people and foodies alike. Hank Shaw's blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, and which is more impressive than the book, can be found at: http://honest-food.net/ His poacher's blog, which is also worthy of mention, despite his bad-form tactics, can be found at: http://huntergathercook.typepad.com/

By Sporting Road|October 8th, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews, Cuisine, Fishing, Recipes, Wingshooting|Comments Off

Made in Italy – Book Review 5/5 (*****)

'"Made in Italy " is my cookbook of the year. If I had to choose one place to live my entire life, Italy would be hard to beat, as the food is unsurpassable and it varies from town to town. The countryside is beautiful and the food stuffs are abundant. This book covers all of those beauties of Italy. So many books are take-offs on television celebrities, featuring dumbed-down restaurant favorites simply catering to the home cook. If you only buy one Italian cookbook, buy this one. Locatelli's recipes are the real deal, many from his restaurant, and the reminiscences from his life. It is large and covers everything from risotto to panettone. While many of the recipes are complex and will require adventures to the market for ingredients, most are simple and easily tackled for the home chef looking to present the finest dishes that Italy has to offer.

By Sporting Road|September 17th, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews, Cuisine|Comments Off

Basics of Bird Dog Training by Bill Tarrant

Bill Tarrant has been a correspondent, bureau chief and editor for Reuters in Asia for the past 22 years. He wrote extensively on bird dogs and was an interesting character who I was grateful to have met a couple of time with Gary Ruppel and Mike. Basics of Bird Dog Training article by Bill Tarrant Part I and Part II.

By Sporting Road|July 16th, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews, Wingshooting|Comments Off