PubChef Awards - Game
Game is growing in popularity in pubs, with diners attracted by the health benefits and flavours inherent in the meat. This category saw chefs revealing the versatility of this seasonal ingredient. Natalie Cooper reports on our game competitors.
Sales of game have risen by 15.2% year on year over the past four years, and due to its excellent gross profit potential and versatility, it's an increasingly popular ingredient with pub chefs.
The game category challenged pub chefs to create a main course game dish using British and wild venison, partridge or pheasant. Chefs had 75 minutes to create four main-course dishes. The only preprepared ingredients allowed were stocks.
The category was sponsored by Game to eat, a campaign dedicated to raising awareness of game among chefs and consumers in the UK.
Judges included Mike Robinson, TV chef and chef/director of the Pot Kiln in Yattendon, Berkshire, Mark Taylor, food writer, Mike North, chef/director of the Michelin-starred Goose, in Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire, Alexia Robinson of
category sponsor Game-to-eat and Jose Souto, chef lecturer in Culinary Arts at Westminster Kingsway College.
Chef: Killian Callender, head chef
Pub: Merrie Harriers, Cowbeech, East Sussex
Dish: Confit of pheasant leg with winter risotto of prune and Armagnac
Menu price: £12.95
Ingredients costs: £3.85
Why this dish?: "It's easy to prepare pheasant. You don't have to pluck the feathers as the skin comes off like a jacket. Pheasant can dry up so this dish is designed to keep the meat moist and tender. It's cooked with chestnut and prune to give off earthy flavours that go well with the game.
Background: Killian has been cooking for 10 years and has worked at the pub for nearly two. He believes not enough pubs sell game because there is a misconception that customers are frightened of it. He comments: "We're in a game eating area. Our game is supplied locally. We feature dishes such as pigeon breast."
Chef: Simon Goodman, head chef
Pub: Lickfold Inn, Petworth, West Sussex
Dish: Oven-baked fillet of venison, celeriac purée, braised red cabbage, herb sautéed potatoes, thyme and Madeira jus
Menu price: £16.95
Ingredients costs: £4.80
Why this dish?: "Venison is really underrated in pubs and only seems to be used in stews. I chose the fillet because it's healthy and lean. As venison fillet is expensive, I've brought down the cost of the dish by using cheaper vegetables like cabbage and celeriac instead of fancy baby ones. Venison has always been a popular dish on the menu."
Background: Simon has worked at the Lickfold Inn for four years. The menu changes regularly and is seasonal. Simon is currently trying to build a dedicated local supplier network and found his game dealer through a local farmers' market.
Chef: Daniel Kirkpatrick, head chef
Pub: Garsdale Country Inn, Bury, Lancashire
Dish: Pan-fried Holker Hall-estate wild venison, Hesketh Bank celeriac and sage mash with bitter chocolate sauce
Menu price: £13.95
Ingredients costs: £3.66
Why this dish?: "Celeriac goes well with venison. Although the chocolate is the smallest ingredient, it's added into the classic French sauce to take the edge off the red wine. This helps to smooth the venison down."
Background: Daniel has worked at the Garsdale for seven months. He also runs the kitchen at the Brown Cow, Oswaldtwistle, which has been open for three months and serves duck, teal and venison. Daniel feels that game is more challenging to cook so he's excited about offering
more of it on the Brown Cow's new menu.
Chef: Ian Piper, head chef
Pub: Villa, Preston, Lancashire
Dish: Pan-seared venison loin wrapped in leek, with smoked pancetta, sweet potato and braised shallots
Menu price: £18.95
Ingredients costs: £4.50
Why this dish?: "Venison is lean and fresh. It's quite strong tasting so the wrapped leak infuses the venison and the pancetta complements it all. The sweetness of the potato with the venison sauce goes well with the strength of the venison."
Background: Ian has worked at the Villa for three years. Everything is made in-house and 90% of their ingredients are fresh. He says: "We created an à la carte menu with three different types of bird: goose, pheasant and guinea fowl. The goose is the most popular. On our set menu we feature venison. With game you have to get the dish right and know how to cook it."
Chef: Neil Mackenzie, head chef
Pub: Queens Head, Llandudno Junction, Conwy
Dish: Loin of Welsh venison with blackcurrant and rosemary jus on parsnip and apple mash
Menu price: £14.95
Ingredients costs: £5.50
Why this dish?: "I wanted to give it an autumnal feel. The parsnips and apple work really well together and provide earthy flavours. The blackcurrant and rosemary jus complements the venison."
Background: Neil has worked at the pub for 15 years, and spent one season in France. "This is a game eating area," says Neil. "I think the younger generation are willing to branch out and try game more now because it's organic, has no fat and is fresh." Other game dishes on the menu include
pheasant and pigeon. The game is bought from local suppliers.
The judges' verdicts on the finalists
Killian Callender: "He showed excellent skills in handling the bird. This is a great autumnal dish, excellent comfort food. The risotto was a beautiful marriage of flavours."
Simon Goodman: "Great presentation. Exactly the sort of dish you want to find on a pub menu. A well executed dish. Excellent flavours. Simon is an efficient and tidy chef."
Daniel Kirkpatrick: "The dish had a really rustic feel to it. He cut the venison well and he has some really good cooking principles. He has a real enthusiasm for what he does."
Ian Piper: "Impressive technical skills. A really good recipe and great dish idea. Fantastic presentation. The jus
was amazing. A really efficient worker."
Neil Mackenzie: "Well organised and tidy. Really good presentation. Excellent parsnip crisps. The dish offers really good value for money and the ingredients all worked well together."
The winner
Killian Callender, head chef of the Merrie Harriers in Cowbeech, East Sussex, was named category winner.
Judge Mike Robinson says: "I'd love to go and eat at his pub. The pheasant was delicious and his risotto a beautiful marriage of flavours. He showed excellent skill, knowledge and provenance of the game itself."
Alexia Robinson, of category sponsor Game-to-eat, added that the dish was full of texture, great smells and colours. Killian explained that originally the chestnut and prune risotto was a vegetarian option.
The dish was created when he had game in the kitchen and was making the risotto dish and decided to put the two together. He says that most of his customers expect the pheasant to be dry so are surprised when it's tender and moist.
The pub, which is a freehouse owned by Roger Cotton, averages 300 covers per week with 70% of turnover down to food sales. Other dishes on the menu include fillet of Sussex beef, with a dolcelatte cheese sauce (£16.95), pan-fried sea bass, crushed new potatoes and saffron butter
sauce (£14.95) and roast breast of corn-fed chicken, on four cheese tagliatelle (£11.95).
