THE SPORTING EPICURE: THE TRADITION OF GREAT GAME COOKERY. By Ronald Eden.

1991 1st edition. 8vo (160 x 240mm). Ppx,221. B/w illustrations by Dorothy Moir. Green boards, spine titled in gilt.

"This evocative compendium of recollection and recipe, advice and anecdote is a volume far too fine to shelve within close range of the pot and the pan. The Sporting Epicure is a book for the gun who relishes a pheasant perfectly prepared for the plate as much as a misty moorland morning, and the rod who can appreciate the precise timing of a salmon in the fish-kettle. Its author knows how to savour such feasts as the accolade of the sporting skills of the moor and river run and can spice his own experiences with gleanings from the literature of country and kitchen in bygone days. The prose of Dickens and Hawker interleaves guidance on baking a pie of eel or of woodcock, while the pen of Walter Scott spices Mrs Beeton's wisdom on preparing pigeon garnished with olives. There's even a word on gooseberry fool as the sweet to ideally complement a dish of roast grouse... The Sporting Epicure will evoke all the time-honoured traditions of field and stream for the sportsman and the cook."