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Oh Deer

Posted Friday, 3 February 2012 / Written by The Twig

The passing of 1 Feb marks the end of the game season for another year. Pheasants, partridges and other feathered game can all rest easy until the Autumn. But where does that leave the meat eaters among us for the next few months? Well, it's a little too early for Spring lamb. That will hit the shops in the run-up to Easter but, even then, it's not always the most flavoursome meat around. New season lamb is expensive generally just because it's a new season and not necessarily because of the quality of the meat. Autumn lamb is usually more flavoursome, the result of the animals having a full Summer of grazing in lush green pastures.

One good option available is venison. Although there are legal seasons for deer, they vary between breeds and sexes, meaning that you can get decent meat most of the year round. Like many game meats, venison is flavoursome and low in fat. Since the extinction of wolves from the UK, deer have needed to be controlled so we have very healthy numbers of all the breeds which can withstand (and indeed need) regular culling. The culling itself is highly regulated and usually carried our by skilled individuals causing minimum stress to the animals. So, wild venison is, as far as meat goes, an ethical and environmentally friendly option.

As I write this, the Met Office have issued a weather warning and predicted temperatures of -11C with heavy snow in some places. It will come as no surprise then, that our recipe recommendation is a warming stew. This weekend, get down to your game dealer and ask him for some venison...provided you're not snowed in, of course.

Mark Hix's Venison Stew with Dumplings Recipe (in the Independent)

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