My name is Jamie and I am a Hankoholic. After years of following his blog, and then buying his cookbook, and of course meeting him in person. I can say, that I am addicted to Hank Shaw. His blog
Hunter angler gardener cook is one of the reason's I started writing this blog. Over the years I have been writing this blog, a lot of the recipes I use and ideas I have had, have been inspired by Hank. I could probably change the name of this blog to "Being Hank Shaw" if I really wanted too. Whenever I get an Idea for something new I usually check his site first. You could say that I am inspired by him.
Last fall I got to meet him at a dinner in Minneapolis and really enjoyed getting to know him and listening to his ideas about food. He and I have a lot of similar beliefs about food , although, his are more articulate and better written.
When I first heard that Hank was Coming out with a cookbook I stalked all the major book sellers to find out when they would get a copy and bought one right away. From cover to cover it is full of recipes that I have tried and loved. I even started squirrel hunting again because of his book.
It was in his book that I found what I consider my greatest discovery. I was fortunate enough this year to end up with two wild boar, from a friend of mine and needed to find a way to use it all. It was in Hank's book that I found my new favorite way to prepare meat. A dry cured wild boar loin called Lonzino.
Lonzino is one of the simplest things I have ever made but it takes time. Because it is a dry cured meat it sits in the salt for 14 days and then air dries for another 14 days. In Hank's version it is heavily flavored with cloves and really blows you away with the amount of flavor it holds.
I am lucky enough to have a meat slicer so I can slice it almost thinner that paper, and It almost evaporates on your tongue, leaving a beautiful, garlicy, clovey, porky flavor in your mouth. I only wish I had been original enough to have come up with it on my own.
All of this, of course is my opinion, and I have been waiting to hear back from the wild boar hunters themselves to see if they enjoyed the Lonzino as much as I did. Hopefully they did and hopefully they will continue to keep me supplied with wild boar so I can continue to try more of hank's recipes.
