Reviving the wild game feast

In a Wednesday, Aug. 21 letter to the editor in this paper, Cecil Kelly III of Coeur d'Alene writes:

"LOST: Civic pride and venues

Gone, gone, gone:

Huckleberry beach lake cruise - gone

NIC wild game feast - gone

Mae McEuen baseball fields - gone

Central Bark Dog Park - on auction block

NIC Summer Theatre - gravely ill

Those of us giving our money, our volunteer time, our attendance, our love, our verbal support watch as things giving our lives pleasure and value turn to dust. What should we do? What could we do? What SHALL we do to preserve the lifestyle and beauty of Coeur d'Alene?"

I offer: all that seems dead or dying might still have breath. The NIC Wild Game Feast might be coming back.

I created the North Idaho College Wild Game Feast while employed as the Food Service Director at the college in the late 1990s as a means to fund scholarships for the NIC Alumni Association. A small committee of amazingly supportive alumni members and a brigade of food service workers put in ridiculous volunteer hours preparing food, selling tickets, finding wild game, publicizing the event and serving and preparing the food. Although the work was hard and the hours long, all involved with the event were proud of the outcome - serving great food to great people and funding scholarships for students to attend college.

I now work as an elementary principal in Coeur d'Alene and wish to bring back the game feast to create a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) focus at our school. I agree as Mr. Kelly believes, the NIC Wild Game Feast is a lost treasure of our community. I also believe that all work must have a purpose and behind the purpose must be passion! I am passionate about food and the education of children and am searching for others who believe the same.

Many of my wife and my friends are culinarians. The conversation around the dinner table often highlights the foods we've prepared and the places we've eaten and often I share stories of the game feast. A few stories come to mind.

The wild game feast was held yearly in January to offer residents of our long, North Idaho winters something to do and the option of giving tickets to friends as Christmas gifts. Working with Derek Palm, my food purveyor and magical finder of USDA approved wild game, we decide to include rattlesnake as an appetizer.

Rattlesnake is generally harvested in Texas in January. We place our order in November; I create the recipe of rosemary infused rattlesnake fritters with garlic and basil aioli and we print the menu. Then it rains; not in North Idaho but in Texas. Rattlesnakes don't like rain and remain dry, nestled in their dens out of reach of the wranglers. There is no rattlesnake meat available this January.

We search the world for frozen rattlesnake without success and decide to order the only option we have - frozen rattlesnake raviolis. The raviolis offer little flavor so I smother the stuffed pasta in a Mornay sauce (bechamel sauce with Gruyere cheese) and most diners love it.

During the second game feast I order alligator and struggle with the recipe. Few will share the proper method for preparing gator so I have to learn by trial and error. First, I attempt to decipher the meat - some is tail and some the tenderloin. The tail meat is a strong muscle therefore, tough and the tenderloin, tender. Deciding to repeat my plan for the rattlesnake I use the same recipe; rosemary infused alligator fritters with garlic and basil aioli.

I create a marinade of rosemary, lemon juice, garlic, salt and olive oil, place the meat in the liquid for 20 minutes, prepare the fitters and fry. The tenderloin pieces are amazing while the tail pieces unchewable. Twenty-two attempts and three days later, I finally get the time, acid, oil and seasoning combination correct and the dish is a success.

The game feast was a community event many looked forward to every winter. My hope is to rejuvenate the game feast this January or next depending on community support and help from volunteers. Watch this column for my progress in this attempt. If you are not familiar with the game feast, I have a few videos of the event on YouTube. Search, "Bill Rutherford, Cooking," or "Cuisine of the West, Dieting with Dignity III."

If you wish to comment or offer suggestions, please email Bill Rutherford at bprutherford@hotmail.com.