Henry Alexander Shaw (born July 30, 1970) is an American chef, author and outdoorsman who runs the wild foods website Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. He is the author of five books: ''Hunt Gather Cook'', ''Duck Duck Goose'', ''Buck Buck Moose'', ''Pheasant Quail Cottontail'' and ''Hook Line and Supper'', all wild game cookbooks.
Early years
Shaw was born in
Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316, the youngest of four children. He graduated from
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...
on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
in 1992, then earned a master's in history from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
.
After an initial few years working as a line cook and sous chef in restaurants in
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
, Shaw became a newspaper reporter, first for the Madison Times weekly newspaper, then to a series of weeklies on Long Island, including the Islip Bulletin and the Suffolk County News.
Shaw later worked at the Potomac News in
Woodbridge, Virginia
Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C.. Bounded by the Occoquan and Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the 2020 census.
Woodbridge o ...
Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, Shaw's wild foods website, began in 2007 and has become one of the largest sources of wild food recipes on the internet. It has won numerous awards, including the
James Beard Award
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...
, and is home to more than 1100 recipes.
Television
Shaw has appeared on numerous television shows, including
Andrew Zimmern
Andrew Scott Zimmern (born July 4, 1961) is an American chef, restaurateur, television and radio personality, director, producer, businessman, food critic, and author. Zimmern is the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of the Travel Channe ...
’s ''Bizarre Foods''..,
Mike Rowe
Michael Gregory Rowe (born March 18, 1962) is an American television host and narrator. He is known for his work on the Discovery Channel series ''Dirty Jobs'' and the series ''Somebody's Gotta Do It'' originally developed for CNN. He hosted a s ...
’s ''Somebody’s Gotta Do It'',
Steven Rinella
Steven Rinella (born February 13, 1974) is an American outdoorsman, conservationist, writer, and television personality known for translating the hunting and fishing lifestyle to a wide variety of audiences.
Early life
Steven Rinella was born ...
’s ''Meateater'', and Randy Newberg’s ''Fresh Tracks.''
Books
* ''Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast''
Shaw’s first book was released in 2011 by
Rodale Books
The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded into ...
. It is a primer on the wild world and covers hunting, fishing and foraging.
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
praised the book: “In Hunt, Gather, Cook,
haw
Haw or HAW may refer to:
Fruit
* many species of hawthorn (''Crataegus'')
** Haw flakes, Chinese sweets made from the fruit of the Chinese hawthorn, ''Crataegus pinnatifida''
* several species of ''Viburnum'', including:
** '' Viburnum rufidulu ...
makes a powerful argument for joining him in a few of those pursuits, if only to become aware of the great bounty that surrounds us in the natural world, even when we live in urban environments—and perhaps particularly then.”
* ''Duck, Duck, Goose: Recipes and Techniques for Ducks and Geese, both Wild and Domesticated''
Shaw's second book was released by
Ten Speed Press
Ten Speed Press is a publishing house founded in Berkeley, California in 1971 by Phil Wood. Ten Speed Press was bought by Random House in February 2009 and is now part of their Crown Publishing Group division.
History
Wood worked with Barnes & N ...
in October 2013. It covers all things waterfowl and was named as one of the Cookbooks of the Year in 2013 by
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
.
* ''Buck, Buck, Moose: Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Deer, Elk, Moose, Antelope and Other Antlered Things''
Published in September 2016, this is a comprehensive cookbook covering all forms of venison, and is the first book Shaw released via his publishing company, H&H Books.
* ''Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail: Upland Birds and Small Game from Field to Feast''
Released in March 2018, this is Shaw's third book, also published by Shaw's company. It covers all the upland birds, doves, pigeons and all the small mammals commonly hunted in North America.
* ''Hook, Line and Supper: New Techniques and Master Recipes for Everything Caught in Lakes, Rivers and Streams, and at Sea''
Released in May 2021, this is the latest book published by Shaw's company. It covers all the fresh and saltwater fish species, and focuses on using both to improve cooking skills fish and seafood cooks.
Awards and nominations
Shaw won numerous journalism awards in his early career, and was first nominated for a James Beard Award for Hunter Angler Gardener Cook in 2009. He was nominated again in 2010, and won the award in 2013
Shaw also won Best Blog from the International Association of Culinary Professionals in 2010 and 2011
His work was featured in the anthology Best Food Writing in 2012 and 2013.
In addition, Shaw's foraging column in Sactown Magazine won a national award by the society for city and regional magazines in 2014.
Buck Buck Moose won Best Book from the Outdoor Writers Association of America in 2016.