Hey Folks, I'm Larry
I’m a chef, hunter, fisherman, and the recipe developer behind Wild Game Gourmet.
I help hunters, anglers, and home cooks create better food from wild game, fish, and shellfish.
The recipes here are designed to get the most out of the cuts and parts of fish and game. I use real field experience and professional cooking techniques that I have learned over the years.
What You’ll Find on Wild Game Gourmet
Wild Game Gourmet was created in 2017 for people who want to cook wild food with more confidence. Here you’ll find:
- Venison recipes for cuts like backstrap, tenderloin, shoulder, neck, shanks, heart, liver, and ground venison
- Wild boar, wild turkey, duck, small game, fish, and shellfish recipes
- Butchery and cut-identification guides
- Sausage making, smoking, curing, brining, grinding, and freezer tips
- Practical techniques for avoiding dry, tough, or gamey-tasting meat
I care just as much about teaching technique as I do about sharing recipes. The philosophy is simple: understand the cut, choose the right method, and cook something you and your friends will enjoy.
A little About me
I was raised in the foothills of North Carolina, where hunting, fishing, and cooking were part of everyday life.
My grandmother, who was my next-door neighbor, taught me all the Southern classics like collards, homemade pimento cheese, layer cakes, fried chicken, and country fried steak. All the while, my dad had me in the woods or on the water since I was 5 years old.Â
These days, my family and I live in a rural coastal town close to public land and abundant fishing access. All of the wild game in my recipes was harvested and processed by me.
This ranges from venison, wild hog, wild turkey, duck, geese, and small game. As far as the seafood. If I didn’t catch it, I purchased it right across the way, directly from local fisherman in the village.
My Cooking Career
I’ve worked in food professionally for more than 22 years. I started my cooking career as a Culinary Specialist in the U.S. Coast Guard before earning a bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts from The Art Institute of Charleston.
From there, I worked in Charleston kitchens, including The Ocean Room at Kiawah Island, Peninsula Grill, and Circa 1886. I also worked as a personal chef and later owned and operated Big Belly Kitchen and Tap House and the Lechon food truck.
My culinary training in the early years led me to a love of charcuterie. The sausage-making, smoking, curing, and butchery techniques I learned then are now applied to wild game. One of my favorite joys is turning tough cuts into things like venison salami and ground venison jerky.
Featured Work
My recipes, interviews, and wild game cooking work have appeared with Garden & Gun, Ducks Unlimited, Southern Flavor Magazine, Strung Magazine, LEM Products, GiantMouse Knives, and the Duck Season Somewhere Podcast, to name a few.
I’ve created recipes, cooking videos, magazine features, catalog content, and brand recipe work focused on venison, duck, Southern wild game cooking, and field-to-table techniques.
More About Larry & The Blog
Because I work with wild game, I harvest from beginning to end. From the field to the kitchen. All of my recipes are created by me and tested with family and friends.
I get this question all of the time. Working with ground venison is by far the easiest. I recommend starting off with venison burgers or venison chili.
In my opinion, the best cooking challenges are charcuterie recipes. Venison summer sausage and hog head cheese are two of my favorites.Â
No. A lot of readers are hunters and anglers. But the recipes are written for anyone who wants to cook wild game, fish, or shellfish.Â
