In the modern urbanized world, most people have already begun to forget what game is. Successful hunting (as well as fishing) has long ceased to be a guarantee of survival. For most young people who have grown up on Internet education, game is nonsense and lying stories told by a person, who is often quite hostile to them. One should probably recall what this term means.
Meaning of the word βgameβ
At the time of its direct application, the word carried different meanings in different contexts.
- The main significance is small non-domesticated animals and birds that can serve as a hunting object. Somewhat later, large animals also began to be attributed to game.
- In addition, game is the meat of prey animals. Most often - already cooked and for the most part considered a delicacy.
- And finally, game is a deaf, uninhabited and undeveloped place. In this sense, the word was used much less frequently, and in dictionaries it is marked as colloquial.
It is possible to note the main thing that unites all three meanings - this is just savagery, untamedness. The same quail raised in poultry farms is no longer a game. And the reserves regularly inspected by rangers also fall out of this category.
What is the game
According to the rules of modern hunting, production is divided into two types:
- Small game is a bird (both forest and meadow or waterfowl) and a small animal (for most hunters - a hare, for taiga - also fur animals).
- Big game is wild boars, moose, roe deer, etc. It is not accessible to everyone in connection with the rapid reduction of hunting grounds.
If we consider the game from the point of view of cooking, then the ordinary city dwellers have a chance to eat only a hare, a wild duck, grouse and partridges, and then only in a good restaurant.
Features of the preparation of game
The difference in the lifestyle of domesticated animals and wild species has led to cardinal differences in their meat. In domestic animals, it is more fat, and the muscles are much less developed. Game meat, on the other hand, is rather tough, because when fleeing from a predator you donβt particularly get fat, but your muscles pump up quickly. Therefore, any game is usually pickled before cooking.
The most common marinades based on wine or lemon juice. Another culinary action designed to soften game meat is to force it. An alternative to it is wrapping slices in strips of fat or bacon. Whole carcasses (usually a varied wild bird is cooked this way) are most often stuffed with porridge, mushrooms, fruits, sauerkraut, berries. This technique is also aimed at getting rid of excess rigidity.