Many people still ask: "What exactly is game?" Well, it's a term that applies to wild animals that are hunted and eaten – but also birds and animals once caught in the wild that are raised domestically. While there is the debate around which is best – wild or farmed – I believe we should always source RESPONSIBLY, no matter what food source it is.
SCOTLAND has a wonderfully abundant source of game and, due to our smaller human population, larger swathes of countryside and the different sub-divisions within it, we have a wider range of game than anywhere else in Britain.
We have birds here that do not exist anywhere else and, as a result, wild game – both fur and feathered – is highly prized in all its many guises. Our farmers rear some of the very best animals in the world, usually in a very good environment, with eADVERTISEMENTver-improving conditions and thought to the animals' welfare. Never has it been tastier.
Many people still ask me, what exactly is game? Well, it's a term that applies to wild animals that are hunted and eaten – but also birds and animals once caught in the wild that are raised domestically. Partridge, grouse, wood pigeon, hare, venison and boar are all examples of game commonly seen on many a menu in the Capital's restaurants, supermarkets and in every local butcher.
While there is the debate around which is best – wild or farmed – I believe we should always source responsibly, no matter what food source it is. There is no need to farm something that exists in abundance in the wild – simply manage it effectively so we have a better and healthier population. And likewise, there is no need to eat species that are decreasing in numbers when they can be encouraged to flourish. So, in these cases, I'd always advocate farmed alternatives.
In October, wild partridge is in season, is widely available and all butchers will skin and clean your game for you, if you ask. They'll even joint it, too. It's one of my favourite game – delicate yet succulent, flavoursome and unique. All that's left is to cook it.
Enjoy it roasted, seared or slow cooked, served simply with a nob of butter or marinated. And while you can add your own gravy and keep it simple by using only the breasts, for an authentic taste nothing beats cooking this elegant wild game from scratch. What you put with it is up to you.
• Tony Borthwick is head chef and owner of the Plumed Horse, 50-54 Henderson Street, 0131-554 5556
RECIPES
Partridge with autumn mushrooms, celeriac and truffles (serves four)
Ingredients
4 partridges, legs, head and neck, wishbone and guts removed.
4 livers and pairs of kidneys.
1 head celeriac
100g wild mushrooms
1 small autumn truffle (optional)
1 large Yukon Gold potato
250ml chicken stock
50ml Madeira
15ml armagnac
70g shallots, finely sliced
25g diced carrot
25g washed celeriac skin
1 large sprig fresh thyme, plus 4 more smaller sprigs.
1 small bay leaf
50g unsalted butter
50g slightly salted butter
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Method
Lightly brown the necks and wings in a heavy pan with a little oil, add the sliced shallots, carrot and celeriac skin and colour. Add the thyme and bay then add the armagnac. Add Madeira. Add chicken stock, simmer and infuse for 30 minutes. Reserve.
Peel potato and cut into fine strips. Using half of the salted butter and a little oil, sweat the potato off until sticky and then divide into four moulds and cook until golden in a frying pan. Remove and allow to drain on kitchen paper. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook off the celeriac until soft in a very small amount of water, over a lower heat with pierced cling film over the pan. Put the celeriac in a processor and puree, adding a little cream if you wish, season it well and reserve.
Heat a heavy frying pan, preferably non-stick, with a little oil. Sear partridge breasts, season, put a small sprig of thyme inside each one, cover with butter papers and put into a hot oven for five minutes.
Melt the other 25g of salted butter. Remove the birds from the oven and baste and return for a further five minutes. Remove from oven.
Remove the legs and the backs and put into the stock. Heat your stock gently, pass through a cloth again and reduce to a coating consistency. Keep warm. Heat your celeriac, warm the potato galettes, and sauté the mushrooms. Slice truffle.
Put a dollop of celeriac puree in the middle of four plates; put the potato galette on top. Scatter mushrooms. Remove the breasts from the bone and place two on each plate. Scatter slices of truffle, and then simply sauce with your partridge reduction.
Roasted partridge (serves four)
Ingredients
4 young oven-ready partridge
4 slices unsmoked back bacon
100g foie gras, diced
50g foie gras fat
50g golden raisins, soaked for a week-plus in Sauternes.
50g corn-fed chicken breast
1 egg white
15ml sweet Madeira
50ml whipping cream
300g young parsnips
1 large Maris Piper potato
28 baby silverskin onions, skinned
50g salted butter
50g stale white homemade brioche, trimmed
4 slices brioche
75ml milk
Pinch nutmeg
Salt and fresh white pepper
150ml strong chicken stock
150ml water
30ml veal stock
50g finely sliced shallots
200ml good red wine
25ml armagnac, 25ml ruby Port
bay, thyme(optional)
Method
Remove legs, wings, feet. Trim crowns, leaving the breasts on the bone, remove the wishbone as well as the rest of the carcass. Remove the drumsticks and trim all the meat from them, also remove any flesh from the carcass and reserve.
Remove the bone from the thighs. Use all the bones and wings to make a stock together with the red wine, port and Madeira, shallots, herbs and stocks.
Pass through a cloth until clear, adjust the seasoning and reduce to a coating consistency.
Using all of the trimmings from the drumsticks and the carcasses, the chicken breast meat, Madeira and the egg white, make a farce in a food processor. Add the cream, pass through a drum sieve. Season. Chill and reserve.
Remove skin from thighs. Lay flat as if to use as a protective outer skin on some seasoned foil. Using a cutlet bat, flatten the thigh meat and place on top of the assembled thigh skin. Season. Mix foie gras and the golden raisins with the partridge and chicken mousse. Evenly pipe the mousse along one side of the thigh meat, roll tightly in foil and chill for an hour. Make a bread sauce with the stale brioche, milk and nutmeg, season and reserve.
Put the silverskins in a sautéuse and cook slowly with the butter and a few thyme flowers, season and keep warm. Make a puree from the parsnips, season and reserve.
Sauté the partridge boudin, still in the foil for a few minute on all sides and put into a low oven for 50 minutes. After 25 minutes, sear the partridge crowns evenly in a little oil and a nut of the foie gras fat. Season. Turn them upright and cover each with a rasher of bacon. Put into a hot oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove, allow to relax and keep warm.
Cut the four slices of brioche into a disc with a cutter and sauté in the foie gras fat. Remove the boudin from the oven and unwrap it whilst hot.
Warm the parsnip puree and plate, together with the silverskins and bread sauce. Remove the breasts from the carcasses and arrange two matching breasts on each plate, sauce and serve immediately.
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
