Jesse Griffiths was sitting in a field sprinkled with bluebonnets in the spring of 2022 when his phone rang. The Austin-based chef wondered why his girlfriend would be calling, since she knew he was hunting turkeys. It didn’t take long for it to become a welcome interruption. She told him his cookbook had been nominated for a James Beard Media Award, a prestigious honor given to top cookbook authors, food journalists, and more in the nation.His first cookbook, Afield, received a nod in 2013, but this recognition felt different. The Hog Book: A Chef’s Guide to Hunting, Preparing, and Cooking Wild Pigs was self-published and had photos of blood and guts—something most traditional cookbooks try to steer clear of. At the awards ceremony that summer,…