Game mode

“GAME IS PLENTIFUL AND DOESN’T DEPLETE THE SAME NATURAL RESOURCES THAT TRADITIONAL MEAT FARMING DOES”

Words: Thea Everett

As a home cook, there are a few ingredients I’ve always been tentative to take on. Game – a source of protein I’d previously thought the preserve of Michelin-starred chefs and MasterChef contestants – was one of these. But I’ve often found that trying my hand at a new ingredient makes the kitchen a more exciting place. And so, this autumn, I’ve decided to open my heart to game. After some experimentation, I now know that pheasant and grouse are not scary. They’re for us all. Hear me out…

When you hear the names of game meats, you might be more likely to make associations with Christmas carols featuring pear trees than your weekly meal plan. But don’t let that put you off. Pheasant, partridge, grouse, pigeon, venison and rabbit all offer opportunities for experimentation and fun in the kitchen. And when you know where to buy them and how to prepare them, they can put exciting new twists on old autumn favourites like curries, ragus or stews.

The word sustainable gets thrown about a lot in the food world, and you might have heard it said that game is one of the most sustainable sources of protein in the UK. But the proof is in the prehistory: humans have hunted wild animals for sustenance for thousands of years (and we still do). It’s an ecosystem that works. For most of our history, game hunting has been strictly controlled by the upper classes, who limited access to certain breeds of animal. Royals and the nobility would get the best – fallow and red deer – while peasants were left with roe. Happily, those days are over – game is available to anyone with a good market or butchers at their disposal – and if you’re going to eat meat, it’s one of the tastiest and most eco-friendly ways to do it.

I bring up game’s environmental credentials only because they can be backed up by cold, hard facts. Game is plentiful, doesn’t deplete the same natural resources that traditional meat farming does, and is usually sourced more locally. It’s also not pumped with chemicals and antibiotics in the same way that a lot of intensively farmed meat is, with all the associated implications for human health.

So, what actually makes a meat ‘game’? The key criterion is that the meat comes from wild or free-to-roam animals, which exist on a natural diet. That diet means the meat is typically leaner and lower in saturated fat. During the autumn, it’s also a competitively priced source of protein. But despite all this, game still hasn’t broken through to the mainstream. Don’t you think that’s a shame?

For Darren Brown, founder of Borough Market’s Shellseekers Fish & Game, providing game meat to the public is driven by a sense of duty. “There is a big problem in our country,” says Darren. “We are overrun by deer.” Because there are no natural predators for deer remaining in the UK, and new breeds have been introduced from other countries, the numbers are out of control. This has negative effects on the environmental regeneration of woodlands, as Chris Packham has argued in his (perhaps surprise) support of deerstalking. The solution, Darren says, is not to introduce more wolves into the wild (which would come with its own issues) but to “eat our problems” and make venison part of the big four or five meat sources that we regularly consume.

When it comes to the birds, pheasant and partridge are bred by gamekeepers, and typically live up to three years, free to roam, unlike their popular cousin the chicken, which is often bred in appalling conditions in cages and only allowed to live for a few months. Grouse are still completely wild, and can’t be bred. Is it any wonder that chefs go wild for a bird whose unique flavour comes from a natural diet of heather?

Controversial though hunting might be, Darren says that “the public don’t see the infrastructure and conservation that goes into shooting”. There are still misconceptions that game meat constitutes “killing bambi”. When most people have no problem eating pigs, sheep and chicken, it’s undeniably a hypocritical stance that the gamekeeping community wants to help address.

As shoppers, we are keener than ever to know about where our food comes from. Surely a source of protein where the provenance is traceable and animals are not bred to be big and tasteless but given the opportunity to live a more natural life should be taken seriously? No air miles or battery-farmed consumer guilt necessary. I urge you to join me in my autumnal gameplan…

Chicken gets all the air time, but how about making your next curry with pheasant? You’ll be contributing to a less harmful form of meat consumption, and maybe even connecting with your hunter-gatherer ancestors. Like chicken, pheasant does need attention to ensure it doesn’t dry out, so in my recipe for pheasant tikka masala, I marinate the meat before grilling it quickly and adding to the gravy at the final moment to ensure it doesn’t lose too much moisture.

Grouse is a special ingredient only available for a couple of months a year. It cooks in a quarter of the time of chicken and is much more manageable than you might think, just needing a quick sear in a pan and then 15 minutes or so in an oven. The skin can have a slight bitterness, so avoid that if you prefer, and enjoy the meat itself which is full of flavour – almost more like steak than poultry. You’ll see why chefs get excited about it.

I hope my recipes will have you looking at game with a little less suspicion. Game mode activated. Come along for the ride.