ABC Western Queensland Radio interview about SSAA’s Cooks Companion
ABC Western Queensland, 05/03/09 2.53pm
Compere Ingrid Just says the SSAA has released a cookbook. Tim Bannister says the book is aimed at promoting hunting and as a guide for both hunters and those who just enjoy eating good food.
Ingrid Just: Now, mum loves a good cookbook. She has the old staples and I don't mind thumbing through them when I go down to visit. She's quite a collector. You know, she's got the CWA Cookbooks, the ones that are going across a number years; the PWMU Cookbook, she's put me on to that, the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union cookbook; the Nursing Mothers Cookbook; the Margaret Fulton's: the Women's Weekly cookbooks, you know, the old staples. But I don't think she's got this one. In fact, it could be, well, maybe I'll have to hunt it out for her. The Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia cookbook. It's just been released. They're getting in on the cookbook act. Tim Bannister is with the Association. Tim, hello.
Tim Bannister: Good afternoon to you.
Ingrid Just: Well, what inspired you guys to release a cookbook?
Tim Bannister: Well, we publish various magazines throughout the year, commercially and to our 120,000 membership. And quite often we are sent in recipes by that membership and we thought, well, it's time we actually compiled a book. Hopefully, you have one. It's a very high quality cookbook, which covers everything from rabbit, duck, quail, pork, goat, kangaroo, venison, even seafood. So, we put it together, we had it examined by someone with strong food and beverage background, so it's very professional and it will be a guide for both hunters and those who just enjoy eating good food.
Ingrid Just: So, those people who are contributing the recipes, they were hunters themselves and this is how they like to cook the food that they hunted?
Tim Bannister: That's right. Exactly right.
Ingrid Just: I'm looking at one now. It says Shooter's Roast Rabbit for example.
Tim Bannister: Mm-hmm.
Ingrid Just: There you go.
Tim Bannister: I hate rabbit, myself.
Ingrid Just: But what do you like? What have you cooked from it, Tim?
Tim Bannister: Venison is definitely one of the favourites. And kangaroo. And just briefly on kangaroo, that is one of the ironies that only a professional hunter can harvest the kangaroo for human consumption. And it is in synch, I suppose, with what Ross Garnaut has said with the Climate Change Report, that perhaps we should be thinking a bit more about eating kangaroo.
Ingrid Just: Are you telling me that you don't have to have a professional license in order to shoot a kangaroo?
Tim Bannister: No. What I'm saying is to use the meat of a kangaroo, only a professional can actually harvest that food. So, where a licensed shooter can shoot, say, rabbit and deer and pig and goat and harvest that food, for some reason, the kangaroo meat is seen as confined to professional shooters to utilise. So, Australians are only slowly starting to put kangaroo in the diet. It's very lean meat, very low in cholesterol and very good for you.
Ingrid Just: Yeah. We talk a lot about kangaroo on this program. I don't mind a feed of kangaroo. It's got to be done well though. Or perhaps not well. It's better…
Tim Bannister: Yeah, not overcooked.
Ingrid Just: Yeah, better undercooked. Now who's buying these cookbooks? I mean, just the hunters?
Tim Bannister: Anyone who likes eating meat. We've sold 2000 so far. I was talking to one of your colleagues yesterday and we said this is actually the start of our campaign to publicise it. We've sold 2000 before we started publicising it. Kevin Rudd has one in his kitchen, as does, well, I don't know if Senator Bob Brown does, but we sent him one.
Ingrid Just: Hang on, hang on a minute. The Prime Minister has one? Is that because you sent it to him?
Tim Bannister: We did, we did. And we got a letter back thanking us very much, which was very nice. So, we actually sent one to every Federal politician, just for their interest. With a letter explaining why we're doing it. That we're doing it, obviously, to promote hunting or to explain hunting. I think a lot of people who aren't hunters don't really understand what a recreational hunter is about. And it really isn't that different from the recreational fishermen. It's not done to enjoy killing an animal; it's done to utilise an animal. And that is much the reason behind duck hunting, which I know, I think, in the last year or two you've banned.
Ingrid Just: Tim, are there any desserts in this cookbook?
Tim Bannister: Oh, well, there's an Irish Cream. I'm not sure how that got into there.
Ingrid Just: Yeah. Perhaps that's what you enjoy after a session in the evening or afternoon.
Tim Bannister: That's right. There are a few extras. Bush damper and tomato eggs and marinades and we've got Al's Jungle Muffins.
Ingrid Just: So, what's on the menu for dinner for you tonight, Tim?
Tim Bannister: I have no idea actually. My wife's deserting me and going shopping and said ‘You know where the fridge is’.
Ingrid Just: You might need to thumb through your cookbook to put something together.
Tim Bannister: That's right. That's right.
Ingrid Just: Tim, good luck with it. Thank you.
Tim Bannister: All right. And thank you. Cheers.
Ingrid Just: Bye bye. Tim Bannister, Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia, and they've released their very own cookbook.
Home > Media monitoring > 2009 > ABC Western Queensland Radio interview about SSAA’s Cooks Companion