An influential committee of Northern Ireland politicians tried a Taste of Game thanks to the UK’s largest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC).
BASC Northern Ireland organised a game tasting event at Northern Ireland’s Parliament Buildings for members of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Agriculture & Rural Development Committee.
Committee members tried game dishes including partridge Scotch eggs, pheasant casserole, pigeon pie, venison sausage, venison carpaccio and pheasant, duck and partridge terrine. The dishes were presented by Paul Heron, chef at The Wildfowler Inn, Greyabbey, and Robert Crofts, gamekeeper and member of the BASC NI committee
Amanda McCallion of BASC NI said: "We are very grateful to the Agriculture & Rural Development Committee for supporting BASC’s Taste of Game campaign. Game meat is becoming increasingly popular with the NI consumer and is a healthy, nutritious low-fat alternative to our traditional beef, pork and poultry.
"It is now something of a tradition for us to make a presentation at Stormont at this time each year to highlight the game season and to bring it to the attention of MLAs. The committee members were delighted with the presentation and thought that the game looked and tasted fantastic – there was a lot of interest in the game dishes from within the corridors of Stormont."
Paul Frew MLA, chairperson of the committee, said: "We welcomed the meeting with representatives of BASC and the opportunity to sample such a wide range of different game dishes. It was great to see talented local chefs showcasing local game, one of the fastest growing industries in Northern Ireland. The committee is pleased to support BASC’s Taste of Game campaign.”
The Wildfowler Inn, Greyabbey, is offering a 20 per cent discount to BASC members on game dishes for parties of up to six people, on presentation of a valid BASC membership card.
ENDS
Pictured left to right are (front row): William Irwin MLA, Paul Frew MLA (committee chairperson), Amanda McCallion from BASC NI and Jo-anne Dobson MLA.
(Back row): Robert Crofts (gamekeeper and member of the BASC NI committee), Oliver McMullan MLA, Paul Heron (chef from The Wildfowler Inn, Greyabbey), Chris Hazzard MLA and Kieran McCarthy MLA.