People traditionally think of eating game in the late autumn and winter months but there are certain species on seasons outside of this time. Pigeon and rabbit are available all year round as is my personal favourite squirrel. Hares only have a short closed season but they’re generally only available during the winter months. Deer seasons are generally different for the males and females which are normally known as “stags and hinds” or “bucks and does” depending upon species. There isn’t a month of the year in which some deer or other can’t be shot so it’s something game lovers can enjoy all year round.
In this particular dish I’ve used the Chinese Water Deer. The season for these ends on the 31st of March so my particular specimen has been shot at the end of the season and is in prime condition. I happened to acquire this whole deer from a really pleasant and very experienced gamekeeper who culls various deer species for the local farmers to help keep the populations in check. Just spending half an hour with this man made me realise he wasn’t a “hunter” or “stalker”. This was a man who truly understood his local environment. His intimate knowledge of the behaviour, whereabouts and breeding seasons of all the deer on his land would have put the most educated zoologist to shame. He understood the fine balance between nature and farming that exists in our countryside and it is people like this that do more for the conservation of our indigenous populations than anyone else.
The Chinese Water Deer is a species not native to the British Isles, nowhere near in fact. Their native habitat is by the banks of the Yangtzee river in China where they lurk among the rushes, coming out to feed during dusk and dawn. They are a very primitive form of deer in evolutionary terms with the males bearing no antlers, instead they have tusks much like a wild boar, yet they stand with a raised hind quarter and run almost like a hare when disturbed. They were kept in captivity in Britain but escaped in the late nineteenth century from Woburn Abbey Estate which is not far from where I live. From here they have dispersed across small pockets of East Anglia but due to perhaps being selective about their environment they have never gone as far and wide as the Reeves Muntjac which is much more widespread across the UK. They are in an odd conservation situation because while we know they are an invasive species and should not by rights be in the UK but they are becoming increasingly short in numbers in their native China. The attitude of both Natural England and The British Deer Society appears to be to allow a moderate but stable population here that could one day help repopulate the Chinese one.
Opening my bag of beautifully butchered deer I have a selection of cuts. Two upper hind legs with bone in, two upper fore legs, boned and rolled, a full saddle with loin fillets and two bags containing both neck and shank meat, diced for stewing. The smell of the various cuts of meat even raw is quite sublime. There’s a fresh but rich aroma that is far more appealing than even the best beef or lamb.
As time is limited I opt for a cut to cook quickly which is obviously a cut from the saddle. Much like a fillet of beef, this will be tender and tasty but will not take to over-cooking. Beef fillet or for that matter the fillets of a larger deer such as a red or fallow deer are much thicker and are generally cooked cut off the main piece of meat. A small dear such as this or a muntjac would only make small discs in comparison so I have opted to cook a section as a roll and cut off to medallions once done. This deer itself was to quote the stalker “in very good nick” with plenty of body fat so I took some of the relatively neutral tasting fat from inside of the abdomen to use as a cooking fat, hopefully keeping the flavours in and not introducing another ingredient.
Such a great piece of meat doesn’t need to be over complicated. Venison has flavour and does not therefore require lots of sauces or marinades, especially when genuinely wild and not farmed like much of that on the supermarket shelves or restaurant tables. A wild animal has a much wider diet and therefore encompasses all of those elements of its diet in the meat. I therefore wanted to provide a simple accompaniment that worked with the flavours and not against them. I opted for a simple chestnut mushroom sauce with a potato rosti accompaniment. Humble salt and black pepper will make enough seasoning to give a genuine complement to the flavour of the meat.
The meat itself will take very little cooking therefore the rosti needs to be done first. Traditionally rosti should be made with potatoes par-boiled the night before. My quick decision to make this meal has no such foresight but I have a small trick up my sleeve; you can quickly par boil some potatoes, preferably waxy varieties then plunge into an ice bath for half an hour to emulate letting them rest overnight. Peeled and grated they can then be plunged into some hot fat. I used rape seed oil which gives little extra to the flavour but knowing the fields where the deer was shot, the standard crop rotation of wheat and rape gives that little incentive to think that such a wonderful creature had bounced among the yellow flowers which now can make a part of its side dish. Simply peeled and grated cold you can just throw the potato into hot oil and gradually toss it. Rosti has a wonderful habit of letting you know how well it’s doing; as it’s cooking it gradually sticks together so you can feel at what point it is ready to join0 together into a “cake” that you can turn over into a single entity. Once at the sticky stage I stuff mine into a metal ring and continue to fry at a lower heat in this to brown either side. Holding it in this shape helps the excess oil drain away, preventing it becoming oily and aiding to its shape on the plate.
While the rosti gently browns the main event is ready to cook. The lovely flavour of the deer is too good to waste so rather than dilute the flavour with another oil I diced some of the clean hard internal cavity fat and rendered it down in the pan to then fry the loin. Once very hot I seared the fillet for about five minutes all over, turning three or four times. Once done, it was removed to rest for a while and some finely chopped chestnut mushrooms added to the pan. During the cooking process I dropped a little boiling water into the mix to deglaze the venison juices and assist the quick softening of the mushrooms along with a tiny taste of garlic. Once happily softened I added a little cornflour and milk to quickly make a sauce.
Plating up was a simple affair of putting the rosti in the centre surrounded with sliced medallions of the venison dribbled with the mushroom sauce. My presentation lacks a great deal but in this case I really don’t care. Flavour beats image…
The result was far better than I ever could have imagined. The meat itself was truly sublime. The tongue touched each mouthful and rebounded with a wonderful concentrated meat flavour then evry bite softly pressed through each medallion with no resistance , tender beyond the finest steak. The rosti offered a crisp complement to the soft meat and balanced the texture of the meal. Above all the decision not to flavour anything with herbs or spices was truly vindicated. The very basic ingredients of venison, potato, mushrooms, salt and pepper were more than enough to give true delights beyond overcomplicated dishes. The lesson learned above all else is to take a quality ingredient and crown it rather than drown it.
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