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 cookbooks about preparing fish and

wild game Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, t ...

for the table: ''Hunt Gather Cook'', ''Duck Duck Goose'', ''Buck Buck Moose'', ''Pheasant Quail Cottontail'' and ''Hook Line and Supper.''

Early life

Shaw was born in

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a Town (New Jersey), town in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 31,032, an increase of 716 (+2.4% ...

, 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 university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

in 1992, then earned a Master's in history from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. After an initial few years working as a line cook and sous chef in restaurants in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, 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 The ''News & Messenger'' was a daily newspaper that was published in Manassas, Virginia and was one of a number of competing local papers covering the Washington, D.C. suburbs and exurbs in the region. The paper was owned by Berkshire Hathaway's ...

'' 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 River, Occoquan and Potomac River, Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the ...

, then the '' Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star'' before moving to Minnesota in 2002 to work at the ''

St. Paul Pioneer Press The ''St. Paul Pioneer Press'' is a newspaper based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It serves the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the east metro, including Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington countie ...

''. His final newspaper stint was at the ''

Stockton Record ''The Record'' is a daily newspaper based in Stockton, California, serving San Joaquin and Calaveras Counties. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Record'' was first published by Irving Martin on April 7, 1895. Speidel Newspapers, Inc. b ...

'' in California, where he worked until 2008 as the paper's Sacramento Bureau Chief.

Media career

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 ...

'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, who is of ...

'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 Rodale, Inc. (), was an American publisher of health and wellness magazines, books, and digital properties headquartered in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, with a satellite office in New York City. The company was founded in 1930. In 2017, it was acquired ...

. It is a primer on the wild world and covers hunting, fishing and foraging.

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

praised the book: “In Hunt, Gather, Cook, hawmakes 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. It was bought by Random House in February 2009 and became part of their Crown Publishing Group division. History Wood worked with Barnes & Noble in 196 ...

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., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

. * ''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.

Website

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, Shaw's popular wild foods website, has a focus on foods that can be foraged, fished, or hunted around Shaw's home region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The site won 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 awar ...

for best food blog in 2013, by which time his food writing had developed a "national following." The blog was established in 2007 and had 1500 recipes as of 2024.

Awards and nominations

Shaw won numerous journalism awards in his early career, and was first nominated for a

for his blog 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 The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. It was started in 19 ...

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.

References

External links

Official website

Hank Shaw recipes for Simply Recipes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Hank 1970 births American hunters Living people American cookbook writers American chefs 21st-century American male writers Writers from Union County, New Jersey People from Westfield, New Jersey Journalists from New York (state) Journalists from Wisconsin Stony Brook University alumni Journalists from Virginia