Wild boar stew with chipotle raisins
A perfect combo of wild boar, sweet and spicy raisins, and rich gingerbread
Oh man was this a hit! During a freezing cold shoot deep in the Finnish snow this wild boar stew simmered above a fire in between two tiny shelters. The warm aromas grew stronger by the minute, and when we finally got to eating it was nothing but happy faces over steaming bowls.
This combination of wild boar, sweet and spicy raisins, and rich gingerbread might be the best stew we’ve ever come up with. But you can be the judge of that, so get cooking!
The ingredients:
(serves 4-6)
Chipotle-raisins
- 2 fl oz (60 ml) chipotle tabasco
- 2 fl 0z (60ml) worcester sauce
- 2 fl oz (60ml) sherry vinegar
- 2½ oz (75g) white raisins
- 2½ oz (75g) dark raisins
- 1⅔ oz (50g) butter
Wild boar stew
- 42 oz (1.2 kg) wild boar meat, cut into ⅔ inch pieces
- 3 carrots, peeled and cubed
- 3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 21 oz (600g) baby potatoes, skin on
- 5 fl oz (150ml) red wine vinegar
- 34 fl oz (around 4 cups or 1 L)red wine
- 17 fl oz (around 2 cups or 500ml) water
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 5 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp juniper berries
- 2 tbsp allspice grains
- 14 oz (400g) chestnut mushrooms
- 7 oz (200g) pearl onions, drained
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 12 oz (350g) gingerbread, cut into small cubes
Gear:
- campfire or open BBQ
- Dutch oven
- ladle
How to make:
Prep: 1 day
Cooking: about 4 hours
In a bowl, mix the tabasco with the worcester sauce and sherry vinegar. Add raisins and soak overnight.
Build a campfire or heat an open BBQ and heat the Dutch oven. Melt the butter and allow it to brown, then add the wild boar meat and brown on all sides, stirring all the while. Add the carrots, garlic, and baby potatoes and mix well. Add the other ingredients except for the gingerbread and leave to simmer over fire for 3½ hours, until the wild boar is tender and soft.
Ladle out half the liquid and carefully mix with the gingerbread. You want there to be no clumps and for the gingerbread to dissolve in the liquid. Add the gingerbread mixture to the stew, stir well and leave to cook for about 30 minutes until nicely thickened.
Sander
Should the raisins be drained and added to the stew at some point or are they meant as something you add on your own plate?
Is the gingerbread the Dutch ontbijtkoek? Is there a big difference?
Also, I think the butter from the ingredients list should be under the list for the stew 🙂
Michel
Question – do you add the raisins including the liquid? Or drained?
Jord Althuizen
strained is best,