P
L E N T Y
Pigeon in pitta
Game is great fast food. It doesn’t take long to cook
a pigeon for a kebab with a difference.
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and black pudding goes extremely well with
pigeon. With venison, again it’s the berries
that they eat. Chocolate really brings out the
flavour of venison, or red wine and brandy;
thyme, rosemary and sage go really well, too.
If we wanted to try something
different for Christmas dinner, what
would you suggest?
A Venison Wellington instead of a Beef
Wellington is absolutely to die for – it is
such a special dish. For me, venison is
actually tastier than beef. A lot of butchers
do three-bird roasts. That’s quite a nice way
of introducing people to game – it’s a duck, a
pheasant and a partridge. You can try three
different types in one go but you’re not
overwhelmed by one meat. It’s quite good
for cooking, too – the duck will give the
moisture to the pheasant and the partridge
so the fat will go down through it. I
recommend undercooking it slightly and
then leave it to rest. Don’t leave it until it is
all white meat because then it will dry out.
Do you know of any good places to buy
game in Dorset and Hampshire?
There’s the Dorset Game larder, which has
been going for years – Chris Tory down
there is very skilled at what he does. If you
went in there you’d be absolutely guaranteed
to get good game. Any reputable butcher
will have good quality game because he
lives and dies on his reputation. I can also
recommend Hampshire Game in Orford;
it’s been going for a couple of generations
and is a reputable dealer.
The Very Best Game Dishes
How would Annette cook the main game meats?
Venison
I’d have it as a carpaccio - very rare.
Just salt and pepper, sealed, very
finely chopped with some celeriac
in the middle.
Pheasant and mallard
I would have that as a lasagne.
Pheasant and mallard makes an
absolutely lovely lasagne. Do it
as you would a normal lasagne,
but just replace the beef with
minced game.
Partridge
I would cook that with some
spices. A Dukkah spice. Really,
really nice.
Rabbit
Pie definitely. You can make a good
rabbit stock and sauce and you can
either put mashed potato on the
top, or do it with pastry.
Pigeon
I would have it in a pitta bread with
pumpkin seeds and a bit of salad
and black pudding.
www.menu-dorset.co.uk