Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

John Besh operates seven restaurants: six in his home state of Louisiana and one in San Antonio called Luke. Chef Besh grew up in a hunting and fishing family; and contrary to what non-hunters and anglers might think, these activities helped him to develop respect for life.

13— You see something running or swimming one moment, and then the next moment it’s in the frying pan. You don’t waste as much of it. You don’t look at it as lightly as you do as meat wrapped in cellophane on the grocery shelf.

More people today want to know where their food comes from; Chef Besh says when you hunt and fish you do.

12— If you’re a carnivore, it’s the purest form—to take it from the field to the plate. It’s something that I do on a personal level quite a bit. I have four sons, and they’re growing up with the tradition as well.

Chef Besh apprenticed in southern Germany, where each fall the restaurant served wild game brought in by local hunters and farmers, and inspected and approved by the health department.

16—I so loved that, and so appreciated that that added just yet another layer of understanding of how to treat game and the importance of this tradition.

So you were field to plate before field to plate was cool.

I don’t know if it’s cool yet [laughter].

The Hunt Texas e-newsletter provides information on hunting and preparing wild game. Sign up for it on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.