Photography © www.studio-steve.de
Markus Sämmer
from Germany is a chef out of pure passion. Trained in top gastronomy, the outdoor enthusiast likes to cook outside by the fire, on the grill and in nature. The quality and origin of the products play a very important role for him. Together with his family, he tries to lead a life as close to nature as possible and to provide everything they need for themselves by themselves. Hunting and processing their own meat as well as catching their own fish has thus become part of their life.
Why do I hunt?
Because I want to eat meat.
Markus’ motivation for hunting lies in food. Besides actively engaging in nature conservation and having a profound outdoor experience through hunting, this child of the 70s was drawn to hunting, because he wanted to provide his own meat. As a strict opponent of animal transports and intensive livestock farming, he is avoiding any products coming from that industry.
Sustainability in hunting and in life
In Markus’ eyes, it is important to understand and respect the cycle and pace of nature, no matter whether it is wood, game or other natural products from the forest. Sustainable hunting to Markus is all about healthy populations, the right distribution of age groups and a healthy gender ratio. When it comes to bringing the harvested animals from the wild to the table, the German chef advocates using as many parts of the animal as possible.
A trained chef’s tips on game meat preparation
Markus encourages everybody to prepare game meat just like any other kind of meat. The Austrian specialty of “Wiener Schnitzel”, a tasty burger, or a delicious Italian pasta sauce Bolognese can all be prepared with game meat. In the passionate hunter’s opinion, game meat has been used only as part of ragout, goulash or roasts with heavy, dark sauces in German kitchens for too long.
He especially loves to prepare a rub for grilling game meat, by roasting dry spices like coriander, juniper, allspice etc. (without adding oil) and then mortaring them coarsely. He also achieves excellent results with Sous Vide cooking.
Utilizing the harvest in its entirety
Markus always tries to use as many parts of the animal body as possible. This also includes the clean boning of small pieces of meat that go into the minced meat. He encourages hunters to use every piece "from nose to tail", cook tongues and cheeks, prepare offal. Markus learnt how to strip foxes and have the bellows tanned.
Awaiting the opening of the deer season
Markus mainly hunts deer and wild boar in a forest field district in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps. However, he is also very passionate about mountain hunting. In 2019, he harvested his first chamois in the Allgäu Alps. Thanks to the ballistic tower on his scope, he achieved a perfect hit at 230m.
Excellent equipment for responsible hunting
Markus first got in contact with SWAROVSKI OPTIK products, when his hunting mentor lend him "Habicht" binoculars. When roaming through his hunting grounds today, he is accompanied by his EL 10x42 and Z8i 2.3-18 x 56. Markus especially appreciates that even the smallest and finest details are visible with our optics. Spotting those nuances makes the difference when identifying the game. Especially in challenging situations, Markus knows that he can rely 100% on the quality by SWAROVSKI OPTIK.
