Bullet-hole bunny terrine — a place in our national cuisine?

Story: Russ Grayson

THOUGH I SELDOM EAT MEAT, when last in Tasmania I was offered a slice of venison… freshly cooked local food, grown and shot locally.

Eating it was something of a field-to-food experience as the man offering the stuff was the man who had shot it. He explained that it was killed on a friend’s farm and that he was careful in what he and his fellow hunters pointed their rifles at. I got to thinking that hunters should be conservationists as they would have an inherent interest in conserving the habitats their food roams in, and in preserving the wellbeing of those animals that become their food source. This man seemed to fill that bill.

Similarly, it was while talking to fishermen hauling nets onto the beach at Byron Bay a few years ago, and learning that they may have to cease operations there and move on, that I realised the extent of the divorce between the source of food, those who produce it and those who eat it. Were some of the environmentalists who wanted an end to fishing there also fish eaters, and, if so, what did they care about the sourcing of their food?

This came to the fore, again, when the reef off Shelly Beach, Manly, was placed of-limits to fishers. I’m all for reserving no-catch zones, but would something like an ‘extractive reserve’ in which amateur fishers could take a limited numbe of fish be more of a win-win situation? This might have preserved fishing as a source of wild harvest — local food, surely — and maintained a direct link between food and eater.

From poisoning to eating —  a new view of ferals

I know this might get me into trouble with some readers, but associated with the ideas above is the notion of turning our national, feral animal problem into an edible solution.

This is no new notion and hunters have been doing this for some time. Yet, we see the somewhat pathetic response to reducing the camel population in Australia’s desert centre on clips from US junk television when presenters with no knowledge of the landcare issues involved with ferals (or of camels either, probably, though they might have see one in a zoo or perhaps on their television) condemn Australia for shooting the creatures. Then there’s the idea of bringing back into fashion those 1930s stoles made of fox hides — you might have seen them in old movies… fashionably dressed women with a fox fur wrapped around their shoulders to ward of the evening chill and to look oh-so-cool, Neanderthal style, with the head and forepaws of the animal bobbing as they walk. Maybe better not go there, though chicken keepers might think the idea has merit.

In preparation — a meal that included freshly picked garden weeds and found greens.

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That’s another story. This one is about thinking outside the box when it comes to eradicating feral animals by turning feral into feast, and it comes from a friend in Victoria who may not be (or may secretly aspire to being, perhaps?) one of those forementioned fashionable women who would be seen with fox hide stole.

She lives down there on the desolate and windblown (see correction in Comments) southern coastline around Apollo Bay, and she writes: “My goodness! what an amazing feast! The only thing feral about it was the rabbit, venison, and edible weeds… yum! Well done Landcare”.

What she was so exuberant about was a Landcare initiative to get ferals out of farmers’ fields and onto the table. It may or may not have had something to do with something called the Hunter Gatherer Dinner Club (I am since informed that it didn’t).

She takes up the story…

“This was the menu:

“Entree -
“Peter’s bullet-hole bunny terrine with figs and walnut, served with tomato relish and a nasturtium and watercress salad.

“Main -
“Doug’s hand-fed fallow deer with wild mushrooms wrapped in brioche pastry, served with roasted garden escapees, plus this delicious walnut, pear and garden and wild green salad.

“Dessert -
“Ken and Simon’s weedy apple tarts with blackberry sauce.

“Wow! I must say again, well done SOLN! I’m so happy that after all these years of me blahing on about eating weeds instead of poisoning them and running little permaculture events here and there, that SOLN is now having great big delicious feral feasts here as part of their AGM. I almost feel like saying ‘my job is done’ although there’s still no LETS system here, there’s still no CSAs running here. There’s still inadequate community access to local food and production of.”

Could it be that the feast mentioned offers a rather innovative local solution to a lack of local food?

A respondent, presumably a local feral epicure from the local Landcare group, said:

“Certainly encourage others to put feral feast on in their areas maybe through your local Landcare if they are up for it. Takes a bit of planning – most importantly getting your shooters and your chef. We may try and make this an annual event because everyone loved it”.

How’s that for turning a feral and weedy problem into its own solution?

Oh, by the way..,. has anyone noticed the rapid population increase in those plump little furry domestic dogs on out streets recently?