Birding center teaches outdoor cooking

Summer in the Rio Grande Valley means metal pits, mesquite and large, hunking slabs of meat.

But Steve Rodriguez hopes to teach area residents that there's more to outdoor cooking than wood chips and lighter fluid.

The 28-year-old hunter and naturalist has been roasting game and preparing campsite feasts most of his life.

This summer, he's breaking out the barbecue pits and dutch ovens for a new crowd, sharing his knowledge of campsite cooking through an occasional series of classes at Edinburg World Birding Center.

"My family has always been into hunting, and when you hunt, you eat what you kill," he said. "You shoot a lot of doves; you eat a lot of doves."

So far, Rodriguez's classes have been a success, said Javier de Leon, an interpretive naturalist at the center who has helped coordinate the campsite cooking instruction.

"We wanted to offer something different from (traditional) barbecue," de Leon said. "If we offered that type of outdoor cooking class here, no one would come. Everyone here already thinks they're an expert."

In June, Rodriguez's students learned how to make pan de campo, cooked in a dutch oven and prepared entirely outside despite the early summer heat.

"You kind of rush the preparation," Rodriguez said. "Leave it out too long in the heat and the dough gets really sticky."

This weekend, they were set to move onto tougher quarry - cabrito and slow-roasted rabbit. Since game meats can take hours to cook, Rodriguez began the night before, preparing the meat and burying it in a pit of hot coals.

Next month, he hopes to finish off the series with a lesson in campfire cobblers and breads.

So far, more than 130 people have swept through Rodriguez's outdoor kitchen.

Birding center leaders hope each person has taken a chance to also enjoy the site's natural wonders.

"From September to May, we have a lot of Winter Texans come in that know all about us," de Leon said. "We wanted to do something to bring in the locals that have never been here before - to give them something new."

For Rodriguez, the purpose of the classes is a lot simpler than that.

"A lot of these foods have more of a sentimental value for people than a taste thing," he said.

"It's the food their grandmothers and grandfathers ate."

Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.

OUTDOOR COOKING CLASS

>> To sign up for the Edinburg World Birding Center's third outdoor cooking class, "Cobblers, Cookies & Muffins," on Aug. 16, call (956) 381-9922.

>> Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for youth. Children under 10 not allowed.