Fancy a change from chicken? Now is the best - and easiest - time of year to buy game. But forget guns and traipsing through the countryside after your dinner: you can now buy pheasant, grouse and duck at the supermarket
Although considered an expensive treat - and usually the reserve of country dwellers or landed gentry - game animals such as partridge, pheasant, grouse and hare have become much more widely available. No longer do you need to know a man with a shotgun: even supermarkets are starting to stock game.
In the ancient and true sense of the word, game refers to wild animals, birds and fish that are not raised for food but hunted. In recent times, the distinction has become blurred with the introduction of game farming - the rearing of wild animals in controlled environments to provide a ready supply of game.
Why should we eat game?
In addition to being leaner, and therefore healthier, than traditionally raised domestic animal meat, game has a range of interesting flavours. Most types of feathered and furred game make a flavoursome and appealing change from chicken or pork, and there are centuries' worth of cooking methods and accompaniments to bring out the best in the meat.
Here's a list of the most popular game in Britain. Click on the name for more information on buying and cooking that particular animal:
Grouse
Partridge
Pheasant
Wild Duck
Hare
Venison
Wild Boar
Over the page: General advice on choosing and cooking game
The flavour of game is determined by two main factors: how long the animal has been 'hung', and how old the meat is:
Hanging game
Most game must be hung, the process during which the meat matures, tenderises and develops its full flavour. This 'improving' can be controlled by time and temperature, and is a matter of taste.
Those who hunt and eat game regularly usually like it well hung, or 'high'. This means that the meat has a very strong gamey smell and flavour.
Game offered for sale, particularly in supermarkets, is more likely to be mild, though hopefully still full of the animal's individual flavour.
Age
Another important consideration is the age of the beast you are cooking. This is especially true of birds, but generally applies to all animals (think of lamb and mutton). It's not always easy to tell the age of game, and even gamekeepers can be unsure.
It's almost impossible to tell how old a bird is once it's been plucked and packaged for sale, so you'll need to trust your butcher or supermarket and hope for the best.
Cooking game
Because game is quite lean to begin with, care must be taken so as not to dry it out. 'Barding' a roasting bird is a good way to help protect the meat during cooking. This means laying a piece of pork back-fat (if you can find any) or fatty, streaky bacon over the breast to render slowly as it cooks, keeping the bird moist. You can also smear it with butter and lay a piece of baking paper over the top, which will help retain meat juices.
Over the page: Identifying and choosing game
Feathered game
Grouse
12th August-10th December
These plump birds are roughly the size of a small chicken. They spend most of their time on the ground, although for sporting purposes they must be shot while in the air. Getting them there is the job of 'beaters' who rustle through the heather and bushes to startle the birds into flight.
Grouse are delicious to eat - younger birds are good for roasting whereas older, therefore tougher ones are better in a stew or casserole.
Recipe: Roast Grouse with Bread Sauce and Watercress
Partridge
1st September-1st February
A plump, chicken-like bird. Like the Grouse, it's best cooked simply by roasting or grilling when young and tender, and stewing or braising if older. A classic accompaniment to partridge is cabbage cooked with a bit of bacon and served with a cream sauce.
Recipe: Partridge with Apples and Port
Pheasant
1st October-1st February
Beautiful and magnificently coloured, the pheasant is the most bred and shot bird in Britain today. Often sold in a brace (meaning as a pair, usually one male and one female), there are countless recipes for pheasant from many different ethnic cuisines.
Recipe: Pheasant in Whisky and Cream Sauce
Wild Duck
1st September-20th February
Pochard, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Mallard, Pintail, Shoveller, Teal, Tufted Duck and Wigeon are the species shot in Britain. The flavour varies according to the breed and where and what the duck has been eating.
When it comes to cooking duck, the same rule applies as to other game - younger birds are more tender and older ones require long, slow cooking.
Duck has a dark red meat and is particularly good cooked with fruit or served with a fruit sauce.
Recipe: Duck Breasts with Gin and Blackberry Sauce
Over the page: Furred game
Furred game
1st August-28th February. In addition, there are laws concerning where, by whom and when hare may be shot. For more details, see The Wild Life and Countryside Act 1981
Hare is not as appreciated in the UK - in the culinary sense - as it is in the rest of Europe, though its meat is lean and tasty and lends itself to many different recipes.
The most famous dish for hare is Jugged Hare, most notably because it uses the blood of the animal to thicken the sauce at the end of cooking. Hare can also be adapted to suit most venison recipes.
Rabbit
No Closed Season
Everyone knows what a rabbit looks like and most of us have seen them scampering around the countryside, if not in our own back gardens as pets. They are delicious eating, extremely lean and should be cooked either very, very slowly in a simmering casserole or very quickly (especially the fillets) much like a chicken breast.
Like hare, rabbit is popular throughout Europe. Lapin aux Pruneaux is a classic French country dish that uses prunes and beer in the cooking. In Spain, rabbit is almost a staple, either stewed in wine and served as a pie or simply roasted with the more robust herbs. Even in Britain, we're not averse to the odd rabbit stew or pie.
Recipe: Rabbit in White Wine and Prunes
Seasons vary depending on the type, sex and age of the animals, and which country you are hunting in (Scotland's seasons are different to England and Wales). In general terms, deer are mainly shot in autumn and winter.
Venison is probably the most common game meat available in the shops today, largely because much of it is farmed and controlled. Still, it is lean, healthy and full of flavour, and because there are so many different cuts to be had off the animal, it lends itself to countless cooking methods and recipes.
The prime cuts such as haunch, loin and best end are tastiest served rare, while the neck, shoulder and shin need long, slow cooking. Venison also makes excellent sausages.
Marinating is a good way to introduce more flavour into the meat - as well as tenderising it - but you must allow several days for it to have optimum affect.
When serving venison, make sure your plates are hot as the fat congeals at quite a high temperature and can become unsightly halfway through the meal.
Wild Boar
Not hunted in Britain
As wild beasts, boars have been extinct in Britain since the 17th century, although they're still hunted on the continent. They're being farmed in this country and the meat is beginning to appear at game butchers and even some enterprising supermarkets. You can also special order boar from game suppliers.
Only younger boars are eaten (adults can weigh up to 300kg and are huge, ferocious beasts). The meat is dark and is best roasted, pot-roasted or braised and improves in a marinade.