COOKING THE VENISON STEAK.
There are various ways of cooking venison steak, but the recipe givenby Game Warden Walter Neal is still pronounced the best by Mainewoodsmen. It is that followed by Hannibal Hamlin and other famoushunters and diners.
"Get a buck deer that is fat and not over five years of age," saysMr. Neal. "One that weighs one hundred pounds is better than no deer,though the best should weigh nearly two hundred pounds. Before thebody is cold, if possible, slash off some thick slices of steak. Havethem nearly two inches thick and big enough to cover the bottom of anold-style spider if possible.
"Now get a thick and heavy cast-iron spider red-hot above the coals.Be sure and do this, because the hotter the spider is the better. Andwhen the spider is glowing and sparkling with heat, slap in a slice ofsteak. Do not use any butter or any form of fat, but let the raw meatfall direct upon the hot iron, and then let it sizzle and smell andsmoke for about a minute.
"Now flop it over on the other side, and repeat until the camp is sofull of choking smoke and the smell of burning meat that you must carrythe heated spider outdoors to get your breath.
"Tip the burnt and smoking steak on to a big plate, slash it deeply allover the surface with a sharp knife and throw on butter until the meatis afloat. Then salt and pepper to taste, after which nobody needs anydirections as to what to do next.
"Venison cooked in this way and eaten with strong coffee and hot creamof tartar biscuit forms the best meat that it is possible to serve tokings and queens or jacks. And I know exactly what I am talking about."
The market men and hotel cooks of eastern Maine make a sharpdistinction between the flesh of the deer that is raised in Maineand that which is captured by the hunters in the Southern States,calling the home product venison and all other kinds deer meat, or ifthe animals are very small and without fat, they modify the term andscornfully call it deer veal.
The newest Bangor plan of cooking venison is to cut moderately thickslices from the round of a buck and grill the flesh over a white-hotfire of anthracite, letting the greedy flames lick and bathe thecurling meat and crisp its edges until it is hot clear through andcooked on the outside, though still somewhat rare in the interior.
The person who is said to have introduced this manner of cooking fromCanada is Edward Stetson, president of the First National Bank ofBangor, who spends much time every year in his camp back from NorthTwin Dam on the west branch of Penobscot River. So particular is Mr.Stetson concerning how the venison of his shooting must be prepared forhis guests in camp that before the beginning of open season every yearhe sends up the necessary anthracite by rail, his servants carrying itin baskets from the station far back into the wilderness, where it isused solely for broiling venison.
The men of unclassified employment who pass from May to October inraising hay, oats and potatoes to sell to the near-by lumber camps andwho swing axes in the deep woods from October to May declare that thebest venison is from the carcass of a buck shot in November and frozenand hung up under cover until midwinter.