Bear

Laytonville, California, December 24, 2009—

"A PERFECTLY EDIBLE ANIMAL but rarely used in the kitchen," says Larousse Gastronomique, which goes on to some particularly silly paragraphs on bear's paw, going so far as to quote Mencius. We did not have paw tonight: we had roast haunch. I had never eaten bear before, and was looking forward to something quite different. I suppose I was thinking about how different elk and antelope are from beef and lamb. Bear, at least this bear, turns out to taste very much like good dense grass-raised beef, perhaps a little sweeter but not as sweet as horse. There was no fat at all; the texture was fine-grained and not at all stringy; the finish was clean.
Paolo said it was not a large animal, say three hundred pounds. Bear are increasing hereabouts; one walked through the town of Petaluma a few months back. Paolo told us of a neighbor of his who was grilling salmon on his patio a couple of summers ago; he forgot something and went into the house for it, and returned to see a bear standing by his grill eating his salmon.

With the bear, mashed potatoes; snow peas; Brussels sprouts and chestnuts; sautéed peppers, onions, and zucchini; dinner rolls. A full plate.

Rosé, T&T (Dry Creek), 2008; Carignane, Louis Preston (Dry Creek), 2006