ppl are always writing characters doing dumb shit like roasting a fresh-caught rabbit over an open flame instead of making a stew with that thing. great now you’re letting all the fat drip down into the fire as it cooks, wasting calories and flavor as well as causing the flame to flare up = inconsistent heat source,… when you could be maximizing the nutritional value of small game by making a soup or stew. Come on
I mean I do think about this also. It is undeniable that the maximum calories come from a stew and that roasting is wasteful! It’s also apparently uncommon knowledge for everyone who didn’t read Hatchet too many times as a kid what do you mean
But it’s very much dependent on whether you have a pot. Roasting can be done with a stick, or three sticks if you’re fancy. Sticks are usually findable in contexts that have rabbits and are acquired with much the same kind of tool.
A pot requires at minimum a pot, implying planning and sensibility, plus various other implements that make it manageable to cook with, and if possible access to water too. Very hard to deal with stew if you don’t have even a marginal spoon. Stew is really best decanted into a smaller vessel (did you bring a smaller vessel?) Most people aren’t very conscious of the importance of vessels.
Of course, this is contextual. On the day after a plane crash leaving you stranded in the North Woods - you’re doing incredibly well to have any rabbit at all - definitely get out your sticks and pocketknife and roast it and be proud of yourself. Conversely, if it’s something like a fantasy setting, then it’s reasonable to wonder why they’re camping and foraging/poaching without bringing the minimum equipment.
Anyway absolutely right OP! but it’s also not especially unrealistic
Writing down notes: make... sure... to always... have pot...