Just in time for the summer fishing season, angler, hunter, forager, chef, and award-winning author Hank Shaw released the fifth installment of his cookbooks focused on preparing wild fish and game, Hook, Line, and Supper, in early May.
While Shaw may be best known as a hunter and expert at preparing terrestrial game because of his previous cookbooks Hunt, Gather Cook, Duck, Duck, Goose, Buck Buck Moose, and Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail, he readily admits he’s most passionate about fishing. “Truth is, long before I ever picked up a shotgun or a rifle—for twenty-five years at least—I was catching, cooking, and eating fish, both professionally and at home,” says Shaw. “If I had to choose between fishing and hunting, fishing—and gathering seafoods—would win hands down.”
Shaw’s passion for fishing and seafood is evident by the meticulous detail he devotes to fish and seafood safety, purchasing, harvesting, field care, cleaning, and cooking in Hook, Line, and Supper, and his smile in various fishing photos throughout the book displays the pride that most anglers feel after landing fish.
This pride carries over to the 80+ recipes he offers in Hook, Line, and Supper.
Drawing from his experiences as a deckhand, clammer, fish cleaner, and chef as well as his personal interactions with anglers from various cultures, Shaw provides simple fish and seafood recipes aimed at helping readers “crack the code of fish and seafood cookery.” He covers various cooking techniques, including baking, broiling, poaching, sautéing, steaming, and frying and encourages readers to apply methods conveyed in recipes to other fish and seafood.
Hook, Line, and Supper includes recipes with longer preparation and cook times like Halibut Puttanesca, Spanish Octopus with Paprika, Spaghetti with Crab Sauce, and East African Fish Stew, but many recipes “can be done in thirty minutes on a work night.” Some quick-to-prepare comfort food recipes include Simple Sautéed Shrimp, Broiled Trout, A Simple Fish Sandwich, and Chinese Sweet and Sour Fish.
Shaw incorporates personal insights into most recipes, which makes Hook, Line, and Supper more that just a standard, step-by-step cookbook. Catching a glimpse into Shaw’s world—whether the New Jersey/New York area where he grew up or a TV station in Tampa, FL—provides additional flavor to an outstanding compilation of fish and seafood recipes.