Hunting and Cooking Are His Twin Passions : Italian Chef Transforms the Hunter’s Catch Into Superb Game Dishes

Sometimes I am ashamed to shoot these beautiful birds, but I was raised on hunting. My father took me hunting since I was 3 years old and it has become an important part of my life.

--Mario Quattrucci

Words like these probably have been uttered by countless other serious hunters. For Mario Quattrucci, executive chef at Orlando-Orsini, who was born in Rome and worked in restaurants since he was 13, game hunting and cooking have been passionately interlocked. He often spends two or three days a week at game clubs near Chino hunting his limit of pheasant, quail and duck when in season.

“A hunter learns respect for nature. We only hunt what we will eat,” Quattrucci said. “I become angry when I hear of hunters who shoot only for sport, then leave their game on the ground.” (Laws against game-wasting do exist but are hard to police, he explained.)

Quattrucci uses a cherished .410-gauge field Barretta presented to him by the national Italian Olympic shooting team during the Summer Games last August.

Superb Game Cook

Quattrucci’s mother was a superb game cook, transforming the husband and son’s game into fascinating dishes, such as spiedini (snipe wrapped in bacon, threaded on skewers with laurel and crusty bread slices, then grilled), or pagnotta (quail wrapped in bread dough with rosemary and garlic).

Wild game taken while hunting can be prepared at restaurants provided it is not sold, so it has become a custom during pheasant and duck season for Quattrucci to prepare the wild game at Orlando-Orsini and call a few friends “for a nice dinner.”

At one such dinner in which every course contained game, Quattrucci served an appetizer of pheasant and duck pate on bite-size rounds of toast, called Crostini di Cacciagione (Hunter’s Toast), followed by consomme with pheasant and herbs. A radicchio and arugula salad was topped with strips of pheasant, and a hunter’s-style sauce made with pheasant and duck was served over tagliatelle (fine flat noodles). The sauce (ragu) may be used for any game, such as boar, venison, deer or rabbit. A common practice to tenderize and reduce gaminess is to marinate the game in red wine with aromatic vegetables and herbs for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Added at Last Moment

In another dish, breasts of pheasant were sauteed, and cream was added to the pan drippings along with brown sauce. Any wild berries (or even store-variety blueberries) can be added at the last moment to cook one minute for a flavor and color fillip. The last simple dish was an authentic cacciatore (hunter’s-style stew), which, by implication, is easy.

“You must realize that a hunter in the forest will not have many ingredients at hand. He may have some wine or wine that has turned into vinegar, perhaps some garlic in a knapsack, and pick up some wild rosemary along the way. He will prepare his game in the simplest manner possible,” Quattrucci said.

With cacciatore, a dish that originated with hunters, pieces of duck breast and legs are sauteed, then vinegar and wine are added, along with herbs and seasonings. There is a reduction of the vinegar or wine to create a glazed sauce. Quattrucci often substitutes Champagne. “It is always Italian Champagne--dry spumanti.”

Dressed at Game Club

Wild game generally is dressed at the game club but sometimes is cleaned at home by plunging the game into boiling water to soften it enough to pull feathers, as was done to chickens before the advent of supermarket packaging.

We give a menu with recipes used by Quattrucci. However, any game may be used. Commercially sold duck and pheasant are widely available fresh or frozen in many specialty markets.

QUATTRUCCI’S GAME MENU

Hunter’s Toast (Crostini di Cacciagione)

Pheasant Consomme (Consomme di Fagiano)

Pheasant Salad With Radicchio (Insalata di Fagiano alla Trevisana)

Tagliatelle With Duck and Pheasant (Tagliatelle al Ragu D’Anatra e Fagiano)

Breast of Pheasant With Cream Sauce (Petti di Fagiano Cremolati)

Hunter’s Stew (Anatre alla Cacciatora)

HUNTER’S TOAST

(Crostini di Cacciagione)

1 bunch fresh rosemary

1 small bunch fresh sage

3 bay leaves

6 juniper berries

2 to 3 cloves garlic

1 bunch parsley, chopped

Few basil leaves

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 ounce chicken livers

2 whole boneless wild duck breasts, chopped

1 whole boneless breast of wild pheasant, chopped

1 anchovy fillet, chopped

2 tablespoons capers

Oil

1 ounce brandy

3 ounces gin

2 French rolls, cut up

Bread rolls, sliced 1/4-inch thick, toasted

Combine rosemary, sage, bay leaves, juniper berries, garlic, parsley, basil, onion, chicken livers, duck and pheasant breasts, anchovy and capers. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet. Add herb mixture. Saute until duck and pheasant are golden brown. Add brandy and gin. Cook until liquid evaporates.

Place mixture in food processor with chopping blade. Add French bread. Process until smooth paste is formed. Gradually add 2 cups oil. Process until well blended. Chill. Spread on sliced toasted bread or scoop pate with spoon and arrange on platter with bread toast. Garnish with parsley. Makes 20 servings.

PHEASANT CONSOMME

(Consomme di Fagiano)

2 stalks celery, cut up

2 carrots, cut up

1 onion

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

1 bay leaf

2 fresh sage leaves

Juniper berries

2 quarts water

1 small pheasant, cut up, or legs of 2 pheasants

1 egg white, beaten

Salt, pepper

Rosemary sprig

Combine celery, carrots, onion, rosemary, bay leaf, sage and 2 or 3 juniper berries in large saucepan. Add water and pheasant. Bring to boil. Skim off scum. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour or until meat is tender. Cool. Remove fat from surface of broth. Bring to boil again. Add egg white to clarify broth. Strain through fine sieve covered with cheesecloth. Reserve pheasant meat for other use. Season consomme to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with additional juniper berries and rosemary sprig. Makes 6 servings.

PHEASANT SALAD WITH RADICCHIO

(Insalata di Fagiano alla Trevisana)

2 heads radicchio, cut julienne

2 bunches arugula, cut julienne

2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup olive oil

Juice of 2 lemons

Salt, white pepper

3 or 4 cups sliced or shredded cooked pheasant meat

Lemon slices

Place radicchio and arugula in bowl. Sprinkle with olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss lightly. Top salad with pheasant meat. Garnish with lemon slices. Makes 6 servings.

TAGLIATELLE WITH DUCK

AND PHEASANT

(Tagliatelle al Ragu D’Anatra e Fagiano)

2 wild ducks or pheasants, cut up

Dry Italian red wine

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 carrot, sliced

1 small onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 sprig rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried leaves

1 sprig sage or 1 teaspoon crushed dried leaves

Salt, pepper

Seasoned flour

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Dry red wine, optional

1 ounce anise liqueur

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 pound tagliatelle

Grated Parmesan cheese

Place duck or pheasant pieces in large bowl. Add wine, celery, carrot, onion, bay leaf, rosemary, sage and season to taste with salt and pepper. Marinate, covered, 24 hours in refrigerator.

Strain fowl and vegetables, reserving liquid. Shake excess liquid from birds. Dust bird pieces with seasoned flour. Heat oil and butter in skillet until butter melts. Add drained vegetables and fowl. Saute until golden.

Add reserved marinade or equal amount of freshly poured red wine to cover. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer over medium-low heat until creamy in texture and alcohol evaporates. Add anise liqueur. Stir in tomato paste until blended. Simmer until fowl is tender, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly, remove and discard skin and bones and put meat through grinder or process in food processor using chopping blade. Process just until sauce is thick and chunky. Keep warm over very low heat.

Cook tagliatelle in boiling, salted water until just tender. Drain well and add to sauce in pan. Toss over medium heat until tagliatelle is well coated. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings.

BREAST OF PHEASANT

WITH CREAM SAUCE

(Petti di Fagiano Cremolati)

6 whole boneless breasts of wild pheasant

Seasoned flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups whipping cream

2 tablespoons meat glaze

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Salt, pepper

1 cup blueberries or other wild berries or chopped parsley

Place pheasant breasts between two sheets wax paper and pound with side of large knife until fowl is slightly flattened. Dust with seasoned flour. Heat oil and butter in skillet until butter melts. Add breasts and saute until tender and golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. Remove pheasant and keep warm.

Add cream to pan. Blend in meat glaze. Add basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to boil. Boil until sauce is reduced by half and is slightly thickened. Add blueberries and simmer 1 minute. Pour over pheasant breasts. Makes 6 servings.

HUNTER’S STEW

(Anatre alla Cacciatora)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 whole wild duck breasts, cut into pieces

Legs from 2 wild ducks, boned and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

1/2 cup wine vinegar

1 cup dry sparkling Italian wine (Spumante)

Salt, pepper

Heat oil in skillet. Add garlic and saute until browned. Add duck pieces and rosemary. Saute until tender and golden brown. Add vinegar. Bring to boil and cook over high heat until reduced to glaze. Add wine. Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer until sauce is reduced by half. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 6 servings.