To Save Endangered Species, Create Demand by Eating Them

Slice them up and slap them on the grill.

"Renewing America's Food Traditions gives us a great food adventure to embark on—really no less than discovering ourselves through foods that we didn't even know were, in some way, ours." Deborah Madison , from the foreword

More than 700 of the iconic animals starved or otherwise died on the mountainsides during an unusually harsh winter, and more than 1,600 were shot by hunters or sent to slaughterhouses in a disease-control effort, according to National Park Service figures.

As a result, the park estimates its bison herd has dropped from 4,700 in November to about 2,300 today, prompting the government to halt the culling program early.

Crow Bison Cattail Stew

1 pound bison meat
6 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 chopped cattail stalk bases (Typha latifolia)
1/2 cup chopped prairie turnips (Psorelea hypogaea)
1 cup flint cornmeal
5 cedar or juniper berries, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
Black or red pepper to taste

In a 2-quart saucepan, place 1-inch cubes of the bison meat and add water until it sits 2 inches above the level of the meat. Add the bay leaf and simmer, uncovered, over medium heat for two hours. Next, add the chopped cattails, prairie turnips, cornmeal and crushed juniper berries. Cook for at least 30 minutes more, stirring regularly, until the cornmeal is viscous. Add salt and red or black pepper to taste and serve in warm bowls.

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Ponche de Vino de la Mision (Mission Wine Punch)

2 cinnamon sticks
2 cloves
2 (dai dai) sour oranges, peeled and pulped
3 tablespoons grated peel (zest) of one of the sour oranges
2 quarts Angelica wine from Mission grapes
6 tablespoons sugar

In a large jug, soak the two cinnamon sticks, the cloves, and the sour orange pulp and zest in the Angelica wine. In the morning, strain the wine, spices and pulp through a colander into a saucepan. Place the saucepan over low heat and gradually stir in the sugar. As soon as this punch reaches the boiling point, remove it from the fire, pour into a heat-resistant pitcher and serve.