MARQUETTE – Young professionals of Marquette got a literal taste of “gourmet gone wild” last week, as well as a rousing lesson in the environmental, economic and health benefits of local cuisine.

Hosted by the 40 Below Marquette County Young Professionals, the event featured a variety of wild game dishes paired with local beer and wine, as well as various presentations based on the values of “Gourmet Gone Wild,” a Lansing-based organization dedicated to educating people through interactive events about environmental stewardship, sustainability and conservation.

Fred Bueltmann, vice president of brand & lifestyle at New Holland Brewing Co. in Holland, Mich. and author of “Beervangelist’s Guide to the Galaxy,” spoke at the event about local food and drink in the broader context of a burgeoning cultural movement.

“The thing that we get asked is how (many local breweries are) too many?” Bueltmann said. “Are you guys fighting yet? Is the bubble gonna burst; is the fad over? And I want to say the fad is over, but it’s not craft. The 80-year fad of industrialized food and drink is over. This is a renaissance. This is a return to craft-made food and drink (as it was) made thousands of years ago.”

Over 60 people attended and had the opportunity to try such unique dishes as bear stuffed mushrooms, roasted venison heart with wild mustard cream sauce and curried squirrel in root vegetable soup.

Dave Nyberg, the 40 Below board member who planned the event said this was GGW’s first event in the Upper Peninsula.

“We’re really excited to partner with (GGW),” Nyberg said. “I’m a hunter and an angler and … I appreciate the contribution that hunters and anglers make to conservation in Michigan, under the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Celebrating the cuisine is really just another way to bring people together, enjoy local beer and wine and enjoy about as locally harvested and caught cuisine as you can get.”

40 Below Vice President Victoria Leonhardt said she liked the dishes.

“The texture of the squirrel is very similar to chicken,” Leonhardt said. “A chicken curry soup is what (the curried squirrel) tasted like to me. I really enjoyed it.”

Wild game and fish provide a lean source of protein, with between one-third and one-half fewer calories than conventional proteins. Hunting and fishing also represent an important aspect of sustainable food production and afford people a greater understanding of the “relationship between our food and our planet’s delicate ecosystems,” according to a GGW brochure.

GGW Executive Chef Dan Nelson, in addition to giving a live demonstration of a classic walleye filet, emphasized this relationship, discussing how people’s stories and narratives surrounding their wild-caught food impacts their appreciation of it.

“If you’re inclined to follow this healthy, local, free-range food movement, which is really so pervasive in our society right now, think about hunting and fishing as a way to procure your protein,” Nelson said. “This fish lived free and wild, until it didn’t. And then we all ate it, and enjoyed it, and savored it, and honored the fact that we took nature into our own hands, and took that animal as part of our food paradigm. The least we can do is use it nose to tail, and really try to get the most out of our protein as we can.”

Other speakers included Nick Van Court, owner and brewmaster at Ore Dock Brewing Co.; Stacey Haughey, U.P. regional coordinator for the Michigan DNR; and Candy Fletcher, recreational director of the Marquette County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Fletcher played a promotional video for Marquette County called “Marquette Michigan: Superior Beer from Superior Water,” produced by Aaron Peterson. The high quality four-minute film can be viewed, along with similar videos, at www.youtube.com/user/TravelMarquetteMichi.

Bueltmann wrapped up the event. He said as part of “being inspired by story,” he likes to use the novel, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” published in 1900 and written by L. Frank Baum at his summer home in Holland, Mich., as inspiration for upholding the ideals of craftsmanship.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.