At Eat Game, we know all about the benefits of cooking with great tasting, healthy and sustainable game meat.
However, there are a few myths out there about game, and this can be enough to put some people off. Let’s get to the truth about game….
Game meat is dry
One of the great benefits of game in your diet is its low fat levels. This is because the animals are free to roam (game birds are free to roam once released), living a natural life, which contributes to them being lean when it comes to cooking.
Venison is significantly lower in fat than beef, with pheasant also registering higher on the health scale than chicken, for instance. With a little respect and knowledge in the kitchen, all game is delicious.
If you’re looking to up the indulgence-levels, combining game birds with a fattier meat like pork offers great results. See one of our favourite partridge recipes here as an example.
Prime cuts of venison are best enjoyed cooked rare to medium to achieve a succulent, tender end product, and don’t forget to rest after cooking! Check out our venison steak with miso parsnips for a twist on a classic.
Game meat is expensive
Game has sometimes suffered from an expensive reputation. It can often be a pricey option on a restaurant menu or be seen as only affordable for wealthy households.
The truth is that eating game in season is very affordable and building up a good relationship with a local supplier is key to this.
In return you will be purchasing top quality, local, seasonal meat that goes a long way.
To really get some bang for your buck, consider using some of the cheaper venison cuts that suit slow cooking.
Pre-made products are also easy to find and no more expensive than other meats – think pies, sausages and burgers, what could be better!
Game meat is difficult to get hold of
More and more supermarkets are now filling up their shelves with British game which is brilliant to see. Waitrose, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, among others all source British game.
Available products range from joints and whole birds, to sausages and burgers. Expect to see more as time passes as sales of game are up year-on-year.
Using our Buy Game directory you can find a retailer or game dealer local to you. To add to this, there are some excellent businesses offering online delivery now too.
Game meat is hard to cook
Game meat is not any harder to cook than anything else – you can easily substitute in venison to your favourite beef dish or game birds in for a chicken dish.
To help you along the way, Eat Game aims to provide a host of recipe inspiration for all manner of game species and cuts of meat.
If you’re new to cooking with game, try starting with venison mince, wild duck breasts or an oven-ready partridge and use these to follow some of our basic recipes. You may be surprised how easy and delicious, and rewarding it is.
The basic cooking rules of either low and slow, or a quick pan-fry suits the majority of game.
Don’t forget that the majority of game is a wild product and as such, different species and times of year can produce different results in terms of flavour and texture. For quick cooking, stick to younger, early season. Older, later season quarry is excellent for use in slow cooking.
The long and short of it is that if you can cook other dishes, you can cook with game. Check out our venison lasagne to see just how easy it is.
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