The Manliest Cookbook of All Time

While I was in Louisiana over the holidays, I stumbled across an incredible cook book – er – collection of wild game and game fish cookery. After the Hunt by legendary Louisiana chef John Folse was truly something to behold.

First off, check out that cover. The guy has an alligator casually draped over his shoulder. That’s a six foot long genetic killing machine. Anthony Bourdain is a pansy! Secondly, the book is HUGE. I’d call it a coffee table book, but you might need to get a bigger coffee table first. I had to set it down to flip through the display copy.

The cook book is filled with over 500 wild game and game fish recipes, some of which are for only the hardiest sustenance hunters. Fried muskrat, for example, probably has a limited appeal. But if you want to make your own venison, pork, and yam sausage, John Folse has you covered. The seafood recipes looked especially tasty. I’ve eaten at one of Chef Folse’s restaurants, and it was among the best meals I’ve eaten. The man can cook.

The recipes are almost beside the point. The book is filled with amazing photography of swamps, fishing holes, hunting camps, and other manly Louisiana locales. It should be preserved as an historical snapshot of Louisiana’s sportsman culture. Really. And I don’t even like to hunt or fish.

Chef Folse was signing copies of the book at the local B&N later same the same day I came across it. Luckily, we had a family party that coincided with the signing, or I might have had to pony up the $50 for my own copy. I’d be afraid to actually cook from the book, because I’d almost certainly get stains on my investment.

Unfortunately, the book is self-published by Chef Folse’s publishing company, and it does not appear to be readily available outside of Louisiana. If you want to order a copy, you have to do so from the Chef’s web site (which will cost you an additional $15 for shipping – seriously, it is enormous) or wait for one to show up used on Amazon.