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with Wild Moose Blekinge, Sweden“Hunters play a role in protecting nature and the environment… I would never hunt for fur or some antiquated idea of masculine vanity.”
Lalla Törnblad Game HunterAbout Lalla
Born into a hunting family in the southern region of Blekinge, Lalla was introduced to hunting as a child, but the main reason he continues to hunt is because that the meat is "clean", and with that he refers to the life of the animal.
In Sweden there is a lot of ceremony around moose hunting. A hunting calendar dictates the hunting season, shaped around lifecycle patterns and populations of each species. The moose hunt happens during the autumn months and each licensed hunter or hunting team receives permission for a certain number of moose they are allowed to take per year. The moose hunt is commonly carried out with dogs and in teams. Moose is able to detect hunters at 100m away, therefore the wind direction is crucial for the animal not to detect the hunter. As respect to the hunting tradition, moose is not to be shot after one hour before sundown.
There's a lot of ceremony around moose hunting. The start of the moose season is quite festive in rural areas and the children of some hunters are encouraged to skip school in order to join their parents on the traditional hunt. People take the hunt quite seriously at the beginning of the season, but over the months it becomes more leisurely. After a hunt, the hunters meet to cook and tell stories together.
There have been social political movements trying to outlaw hunting, claiming that it is immoral. However, Lalla believes that it is immoral to purchase and eat store-bought meat of an animal that spent its life in chains and had a significant strain on the environment by being raised in artificial confines. Game meat is leaner and healthier than domesticated livestock, free of injected hormones, antibiotics and steroids. It is a local and sustainable protein source if responsibly hunted.
The recipe
Classic Swedish flavours to accompany moose are dried juniper berries, thyme, lingonberry, blackcurrant, red wine, star anise, honey, carrots and forest mushrooms.
Ingredients - serves 4-6
Marinade
- 2 cups red wine
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp juniper berries, crushed
- 1 bay leaf, crushed
Stew
- 700g moose rump or shoulder (can be substituted with beef or venison)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 tsp juniper berries
- 4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 3 medium carrots, thickly sliced on diagonal
- 2 small parsley root, sliced on diagonal
- 7 shallots, peeled and halved
- 250g chanterelles (or any wild mushrooms)
- 3 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Procedure
- 1) In a bowl mix all of the marinade ingredients, then add the moose and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
- 2) Remove the meat from the marinade, pat dry, and cut into bite-sized cubes. Discard the marinade.
- 3) Heat the olive oil, in a large cast iron pot, over medium high heat. Working in batches, as to not crowd the pot, brown the meat.
- 4) Once the meat is browned, place it all back into the pot. Add the wine, beef stock, juniper berries and chopped tomatoes. Bring to the boil and then reduce flame to low. Gently simmer covered for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender and falling apart.
- 5) When the meat is almost ready, mix the flour with just enough cold water to make a paste and add it to the pot for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
- 6) While the stew is cooking, heat half of the butter in a frying pan and saute the carrots, parsnip and shallots over medium-high heat until browned and tender. Add to the stew during the final 10 minutes of cooking.
- 7) Just before serving, cook the chanterelles in the frypan in remaining butter, until they begin to soften. Add them to the pot, along with the fresh thyme.
- 8) Adjust salt and pepper and serve with mashed potatoes.
Nutrition value
Wild meat such as wild moose has not being exposed to medications or antibiotics. It is very high in protein and iron, an essential nutrient needed to prevent anemia.
Dr. Marta Guasch-Ferré Dietician and PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology