Forty chefs and restaurateurs from across Sussex have taken a lesson in clay pigeon shooting to help appreciate what’s needed to put the real thing, and other game, on their menus.
The event, to mark the start of the season and promote game meat, was organised jointly by Taste of Game and the Brighton Food Festival. The chefs enjoyed clay pigeon shooting lessons with coaches from the UK’s largest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC). Then, after a short bus trip, they were treated to a game lunch at Jeremy’s Restaurant near Haywards Heath, with venison and grouse featuring on the menu.
Producing wild venison and grouse requires sensitive land management and provides significant conservation benefits. Grouse shooting alone invests upwards of £100million in conservation annually. The heather moorland where grouse thrive is rarer than rainforest and when it is managed for grouse it supports up to five times more threatened bird species than unmanaged moors.
Dan Reynolds who helped host the day for Taste of Game said; “This was a great opportunity to showcase game meats to the people who design menus for pubs and restaurants across Sussex. Game is healthy, sustainable and the majority can be sourced from within a few miles of the kitchen door. We are coming in to the main season for game meats, and I hope that this event will ensure game meat is placed on menus so more people can experience its delicious flavours”.
Nick Mosley, Director of Brighton Food Festival said; “Sussex chefs continue to champion locally sourced and seasonal produce so game meats regularly feature on their menus. By profiling the range of game available through our consumer activities, and promoting its unique qualities in terms of being leaner than farmed meats, sustainable and free range, we can influence consumer demand to ensure more game is on the menus of restaurants and on butchers counters. Taste of Game is an important national campaign to educate consumers on a better way of eating, and we’re proud to be a part of that again this year.”
The bus tour ended with Taste of Game showcasing its new Grouse and Whinberry flavour and Smoked Pheasant and Wild Mushroom flavour crisps. These unique bar snacks will be stocked at a number of businesses throughout Sussex in the coming months.
While grouse are predominantly sourced in the north of England and Scotland, they are readily available throughout the UK and a list of shops and online sources can be found at, www.tasteofgame.org.uk together with some inspiring recipes.