By Keith Stewart

Given that one of the classics of American food writing is MFK Fisher's How to Cook a Wolf , it is hardly surpising to find an Arizona restuarant offering lionburgers to its customers. Nor that the restaurant concerned is an Italian themed property that, in a reasonable world, would bot be offering burgers of any sort. But this is America, the part of America that chef Ken Hom calls "the flyover", as in "culinary America is like a donut, with substance on the outside and nothing in the middle, so you have the East Coast, the West Coast, New Orleans and the flyover".

But aside from America's questionable culinary traditions, the notion of offered an endangered species in burger form is nothing short of outrageous. Surely the King of the Beasts should be served with the respect and craft that such a noble animal demands, not be simply ground into fast food patties and dumped on plates in a burger joint in Mesa, Arizona who boasts that hot-bed of culinary excellence, Upper Hutt as a sister city.

Surely fine animals such as lions deserve to be turned into fine food that can be appreciated as a just reason for death, in the same way the sturgeon are reserved for the Royal table when caught in England. Or, to quote the timeless words of MFK Fisher herself, There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk. br />
Which brings me to the real issue at the core of all the spiteful commentary that offering lion in Arizona has aroused; should we be eating animals that are endangered?

Well the obvious answer is no, simply because there is a limit to the number of endangered animals, and so to kill them for food is to accelerate their demise. But what if by turning them to food we created more reason to ensure their survival?

If, for example, we initiated a commercial breeding programme for kereru (native wood pigeons) that required those raising the birds for food to release 25% of their annual crop of new birds into a managed release programme in a native bush reserve. This would serve two purposes; the first is to increase the wild population of keruru, and the second is that by making the birds commercially available there beomes no reason to hunt them in the wild, which remains the second greatest threat to their survival.

Such activity could ensure that a large and sustainable wild pigeon population could again be one of this country's great natural assets. It could also ensure that the magnificent dish of grilled pigeon would be restored as a culinary cornerstone of our culture.

The same is also possible of weka and kiwi, and possibly of fur seals, all of which were once at the heart of Maori cuisine. It is just a shame that Maori had such a taste for moa that they had wiped them out before help arrived.

As Fisher wrote, By far the easiest way to make a pigeon cry "Come, eat me!" is to buy it, all cleaned and trussed, from a merchant.