It only feels like yesterday that I was stepping out of a gun bus for an early September day's partridge shooting, and with a blink the shooting season is at an end. I like to think of the end of the season much like harvest festival, it's a celebration, and a reflection of what has just gone. Whether you are a wild fowling fanatic, high bird specialist, or just enjoy any opportunity to be out in the field, remembering why we do what we do is important. We are harvesting a wild source of meat that is not only nutritious and healthy, but ethical and sustainable too.
For all of us involved in shooting, it is essential we set the correct moral standards when we go out and harvest game. After all, it is a matter of respect, you have taken a life, you must eat it. It is the entire point of doing what we do. Also, with the most recent government change, as a sector, we need to be squeaky clean, championing all of the benefits of our sport. The main benefit being the quality harvest of food.
I genuinely believe that promoting the amazing product that is game meat. This is the best form of defence for our sector from the noisy minorities, who, especially under a labour government, can hold significant sway. Look what happened to hunting in the early naughties. It is a contributing factor for me leaving my job as a manager of a large game farm to start up my food business, which if you hadn’t guessed, only serves game meat.
So, whether you’ve got got a freezer full of game from the season, a few vac packed breasts from that local shoot, or some plump dressed “ready to roast” pheasants, it’s time to get adventurous, and start reaping the rewards of the harvest. I especially like cooking game for friends (or strangers) that haven’t tried it before. Anyone who tries, and enjoys game, is another ally to our sport.
This has become even more important within our community. I don't know if it's just me, but a few years ago, I started to come across more and more people in the shooting season that shoot, beat, or pick up, and "don't like pheasant". This is upsetting. My first response being "Why get involved in the sport?" however, I now wonder if these people, like me, have had that bad experience, like I suffered from my father's dabbling into game gastronomy. As a child, my father would hang birds for what felt like months and then get me to dress them out, God how I can still remember that smell. After this, he would forget them in the aga with one measly strip of bacon on top. The result being an absolutely disgusting meal that could probably turn a Labrador vegan. I do wonder how I came to do what I do now.
Now fast forward 20 years, I thoroughly enjoy cooking up new ideas and proving people’s misplaced game prejudice wrong. One sure fire winner this season has been the “in field” grilled pheasant sandwich. A simple brine the night before of 3% salt and sugar to the volume of water (30gs of each in a litre of water), then using a game rub purchased on Amazon, I pan fry them in the field over a camp stove. Once seared for a minute on both sides, add plenty of butter and thyme, basting until cooked to medium or 60oC internal. Stand for 5 minutes, slice and serve in a French stick with some rocket, and a horseradish cranberry mayo (ratio or 1:1:12 respectively).
The amount of people who have changed their opinion of pheasant after trying this has been humbling. It also made me realise that just a small amount of culinary knowledge will greatly improve your enjoyment of game, so here are my top tips when it comes to cooking it:
Don’t overcook it! Game is a wild meat, and unlike the intensively reared chicken, slaughtered at 37 days old, game doesn’t carry the same disease pressure. Much like pork it is safe to eat medium, hence I like to cook to 60-65oC internal, allowing the meat to stand before serving.
Ditch the roast. Firstly roasting pheasant or partridge is difficult, we all want crispy skin, but by the time it happens we’ve overcooked the middle. There are methods to combat this. On the rare occasion I do roast a bird, I like to poach in warm (not boiling) stock for 5-10 minutes, then dry the bird out, stuff, salt and oil before going into a roaring oven. However, I still don’t enjoy the process of eating an entire roast partridge or pigeon or grouse on my plate. It’s fiddly, and certainly not the meal to introduce your non shooting friend to.
Brine: people worry about drying game out, well if you haven’t tried brining meat before (game or not), let me tell you, this is how the restaurants do it. Brining uses reverse osmosis, and what I can only assume is magic, to make your meat moist (and safe!). There is one simple rule to follow: a minimum of 3% salt to the volume of water you are brining in, and don’t go above 10%. You can add fruit, spices, alcohol, etc, but for basics, and the only brine I use I just match the salt content with Demerara sugar. I use a 3% brine overnight, 5% morning to evening, and 8% if I’m only brining for a couple of hours. Wash and dry the meat before cooking, and when seasoning, remember you don’t need much (if any) salt.
Pan fry a breast like a steak. If I’m telling you not to roast pheasant, learning to pan fry a breast is very important. The plethora of dishes you can make with a pan fried breast is unlimited. The trick, smoking hot pan with minimal oil in, I tend to have seasoned the breast with something (coriander powder is the usual go to) and removed the mini fillet, lay away in the pan and apply pressure with a spatula for 45 seconds to a minute, flip and repeat, add a heaped tablespoon of butter to the pan, some thyme and garlic if you like, heat down to medium so the butter doesn’t burn, move the breast to the side of the pan, this will sear the edge, baste with the melted butter, flipping every 30 seconds. Remove when medium and allow to stand, pouring the hot butter and herbs over while standing. The cooking process can take 3-4 minutes for a partridge breast and 4-7 minutes depending on the size of the pheasant breast.
Mincing; making game mince is easy, if you own a meat grinder, if you don’t, a hand turn grinder can be bought for £17 off amazon. Simple maths, 25% pork fat with breast meat, 20% with the thighs meat. I find mincing the thighs is delicious and doges all those tough sinews - from here you can make, sausage rolls, smash burgers, ragus, curries, etc!
Finally, don’t be scared. Use it as a replacement for chicken, after all, it’s healthier and tastier. But when I say don’t be scared, you are much better taking the meat off the heat, cutting into it and finding it needs a couple more minutes in the pan, than cutting into it to find it has dried up and over cooked. If you’re looking for a sure fire way to get moist pheasant without a brine, poach in a gently simmering stock for 10 minutes, take off the heat and leave in the stock for ten minutes, drain off, then you can cut or shred the meat into a pie, crumble or curry gravy!
I have plenty more tips so feel free to get in touch. There are over 100 recipes for you to see via my instagram page @thegameglutton - apologies, but the YouTube channel isn’t up and running yet, there’s only so much capacity for social media one can have!
Remember, whether you’re a part time novice shot, or a seasoned pro - this sport is a livelihood for many of us. So if you’re carrying your stick and flag, or a whistle and lead, or your favourite gun and cartridge bag; every time we step into the shooting field, we are ambassadors for our own future. Treat your quarry with respect, enjoy the harvest process, ensure we are all doing our best to enhance the quality of the produce, whether that’s a clean kill, soft mouthed dog, instant hanging and refrigeration, most of the time there is something we can be doing better.
If you want to dust up your knowledge to help defend game shooting, I highly recommend reading the Value of Shooting report 2024(VoS), and having a flick through the Eat Wild website for the useful nutritional facts. If you’re still insistent you don’t like pheasant please get in touch, I love a challenge!
Hugo Campbell Hill
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