Book event

Wild Meat: Ross O’Meara in conversation with Vince Trim

Who else remembers Ross O’Meara’s famous fresh Bruny Island pork sausages and jarred mustard at the old Sunday Farm Gate Market? We do. Which is why we’re so excited to welcome him back to Hobart to talk about his new book, Wild Meat.

It is an illustrated guide to game meat for the mindful hunter and cook by this respected chef, one-time Tasmania and game hunter. This cookbook is a rich and useful resource for hunters who care as much about what happens in the kitchen as they do in the field, and cooks who want to know more about where their food has come from and who aspire to reduce their consumption of farmed meat in favour of free-range, cruelty-free, organic, hormone-free, grass-fed alternatives.

Illustrated step-by-step harvesting techniques and more than 80 delicious recipes covering a broad range of species, from hare to pig to deer, pheasant and even camel and kangaroo. Wild Meat will take you back to the meaning of making something from scratch, with sumptuous recipes including Rabbit Terrine, Goat Rendang, Camel & Green Olive Tagine and Crispy Five-spice Goose. The book also includes the ultimate harvester’s larder, a dry-ageing guide and how-to instructions for sausage making and charcuterie.

Ross O’Meara has been a chef for thirty-three years, and has lived in the US, UK, France and all over Australia, including Tassie. He holds a game-harvesting licence. Some might call him a hunter, but he prefers game-harvester: he says a hunter shoots for a trophy, a harvester shoots for a meal. After several years pig farming on Bruny Island, he relocated to north-east Victoria with his wife and three children to have access to hunting all year round. He is sought out by chefs across the country as a leading source of local knowledge in the field of game meat harvesting. Ross is also known as one of three hosts of the SBS television series Gourmet Farmer, with Matthew Evans and Nick Haddow. Ross also co-authored two cookbooks with Evans and Haddow: The Gourmet Farmer Deli Book and The Gourmet Farmer Goes Fishing.

Ross will be in conversation with Mona’s Executive Chef, Vince Trim. Vince’s work is integral to Mona’s ever-evolving food philosophy, from the way it is sourced and conceptualised to the way it is served. His menus emphasise food-as-art, such as during an immersive nine-course degustation feast featuring invasive species as part of Kirsha Kaechele’s Eat the Problem installation. He has successfully championed the legalisation of wild-harvested feral venison for commercial use in Tasmanian restaurants.

Join Ross and Vince at the Afterword Cafe. You can purchase tickets below.