Man Food

Recipes from the Iron Trade

Late in 1939 Editor Russell Hunt had a good idea. Why not dress up his foundrymen’s magazine with recipes by the ironworkers themselves? Many like him, were avid campers, hunters, and fishermen, or least backyard grill masters and cooks. As his magazine Pig Iron Rough Notes went all over the country and indeed into several foreign countries, Hunt was sure his readers would respond with enthusiasm. And they did. Over the next twenty years Pig Iron Rough Notes would sport 64 recipes from the South, Texas, the Midwest, Australia, all with the basic theme of outdoor cooking—and equipment made of iron! These unpretentious and hearty dishes are heavy on barbeque ( including three recipes for Brunswick stew, one designed to feed a crew of ten hungry ironworkers) and other grilling, but with unexpected surprises—a recipe for making Chinese-style tea shares space comfortably with a guide to muskrat stew. So pull up a grill, strap some meat to it, and enjoy.