Results tagged “pheasant” from Birmingham Mail - Restaurant Spy

Why do so few restaurants feature game on their menu, especially when there is such a trend towards seasonal foods?

At the weekend I bought some wild ducks (dead, plucked and ready to cook rather than feathered, waddling and quaking) and they were fabulous - the breasts briefly fried and the legs poached long and slow in duck fat in a wok.

I've previously bought pheasant, partridge and venison from the same source - Mr Fish in the indoor market at the Bull Ring - and thoroughly enjoyed them.

Yet restaurant menus seldom feature such meats.

Looking out at the gorgeous autumn sunshine, I shouldn't moan. But I'm going to.

Through summer I cooked and ate summery things - light dishes suited to balmy wather. And, of course, what I really needed as the rain fell and the wind howled was hearty grub.

Now that autumn's here, it seems appropriate to eat stews and mashed spuds and pumpkin and the like. Which is what I'm cooking for lunch.

Idiot. The day is glorious and the dainty dishes of June, July and August would be altogether more suitable. Trouble is, the ingredients for such meals are now out of season.

It's probably not a day you'd want to celebrate if you were a game bird, but Ilet's hear a cheer for the Glorious Twelfth.

August 12 is the day when the grouse shooting season returns and, though I rarely eat that particular bird, the date still resonates because it means there'll soon be plenty of other game on the shelves.

I love the pronounced flavour of fowl such as pheasant, mallard and partridge, especially after the lighter tastes of summer.