The Outdoorman’s Cookbook, Arthur H. Carhart. 8vo., 211 pages and numerous illustrations. New York: The Macmillan Co. Price $1.95.

What mainly distinguishes this outdoor cookery book from its predecessors is its frank acceptance of the machine age. It is assumed that supplies will be taken most of the way to camp with the aid of automobiles, and even that when canoes are used they will be driven by outboard motors. As a voice crying for the wilderness, the reviewer can only protest that the real wild country, and the game, retreat rapidly before the advance of the machine. What is gained in the speed of travel, and in the weight of variety of canned goods that can be carried into camp is offset by the approach of civilization, which the outdoorsman is trying, presumably, to escape for the time at least. However, it is to be feared that the preservation of the wilderness from the machine is a losing fight. In the next generation the helicopters which will be used to go hunting and fishing will probably be fitted with refrigerators for frozen foods, and compartments for vintage wines, and the outdoor cookery books will be modified accordingly.

The outdoor interests of the author of this book are chiefly connected with hunting, as is shown by his emphasis on the care of wild meats and in the preparation of game dishes. The directions for cooking are mostly for semi-permanent camps, and not for backpackers or mountaineers. The latter can find better directions for their relatively simple meals elsewhere. However, they are in a decided minority compared with auto-campers and hunters and fishermen and it is to these that Mr. Carhart’s book is likely to make its greatest appeal. Dehydrated foods, though mentioned at intervals in the book, are not given the emphasis they deserve, if going light is necessary or desirable.

The books contains practical suggestions concerning the best ways for making fires and as to which woods to use for fuel. It does not, however, mention the use of fire kindlers, which are now readily available, and will start a fire even with damp wood. The reviewer must protest at the recommendation of the use of Y sticks for the support of the cross bar from which pots are hung. Try and find them if you want them in a hurry, and then try and drive them into hard ground if you do find them! The practical thing is to use straight sticks with branches at about the right heights, or nails can be used, or (a trick I just learned) the bar can be tied on with a piece of stout cord.

The author is everlastingly right in saying that too much food is cooked in frying pans that would taste better and be more wholesome if baked or broiled. This again depends upon the nature of the trip. Even folding reflecting ovens weigh something and take up room, and bean holes are possible only in semi-permanent camps. However, ingenuity can often overcome the lack of equipment.

The selection of recipes resembles the assembling of an anthology of poems. It is not possible to satisfy everybody. Within the limitations outlined above, Mr. Carhart has done a good job and has accompanied his descriptions of the cooking of meals with entertaining comments. Some of the outdoor grub described, particularly that of our Southwest, the reviewer is going to try as soon as possible.

D. A. MacI.