Chef
overseen by chef Brett Graham of London’s the Ledbury and run by game enthusiast and chef Mike Robinson, who also operates deer management and supply business the Deer Box, it’s no wonder deer tops the bill at this wood grill-fired eatery, especially on Sundays. A top seller is a Graham creation from his
time behind the stoves at sister restaurant the Harwood Arms: a braised and glazed shoul- der of wild Gloucestershire roe deer served with ‘dirty mash’. “Roe shoulder is such a great sharing cut for Sunday lunch. Plus, it’s available all year round and one of our six indigenous species,” says Robinson. Roe shoulder is browned on the grill before
being braised overnight in red wine until the blade falls out. The joint is then brought back together by wrapping it in bacon, smothering it in a herb butter and holding it in a vac pack with a ladle of stock ready for service. The final touch is an apple glaze before it is roasted for five minutes in the wood-fired oven. “It’s enormously popular and you can’t get it wrong,” says Robinson, whose mission it is to get people eating deer year-round, particularly for Sunday lunch – just don’t call it venison. “Our shoulder of roe deer and pave of fallow deer don’t taste remotely the same. Venison is a medieval word that means ‘meat of the hunt’ – it could be anything. Britain has six species of deer, and they all taste very different so we
“Britain has six species of deer, and they all taste very different so we should always refer to the species on menus” Mike Robinson, the Woodsman
should always refer to the species on menus.” It’s not just deer he’s banging the drum for
– game birds, too, make the perfect Sunday roast, urges Robinson. “We sell a lot of wild duck and partridge. A pheasant for two is also very popular. We poach the birds first in a game or chicken stock, then bag them loosely and hold it there, before finishing to order on the woodfired oven. That way you get a beau- tifully juicy bird.” And the dirty mash? “Think potatoes Robu- chon-style, with lots of butter and double cream, sprinkled with shredded dried venison shoulder and a herby crumb then drowned in a deer gravy – it’s disgustingly good,” he says.
Andrew Pern’s Yorkshire pudding royale
Sweet onion marmalade 200g white onions, thinly sliced 200g white sugar 40ml white wine vinegar
Gravy 1l reduced veal jus ½ bottle Yorkshire ale of choice 3 banana shallots, halved and lightly fried
Yorkshire pudding 100g plain flour, sieved 3 fresh eggs 100ml full fat milk Seasoning
Foie gras 6 x 50g slices of foie gras, seasoned
To garnish 3-4 fresh black truffle shavings per person (used tinned if fresh is not available and put through the gravy instead) Fresh thyme, deep-fried
Make the sweet onion marmalade by placing the onions, sugar and vinegar into a pan and reducing until the onions are caramelised and the liquid has reduced to a syrupy consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Keep warm. To make the gravy, combine the ingredients and heat. To make the Yorkshire pudding, blend
32 | The Caterer | 28 April 2023
together the flour, eggs and milk, then pass through a sieve. Season. Heat a Yorkshire pudding/muffin tray. Add a little oil in the bottom of each one and heat to 180°C until smoking hot. Fill with batter until ¾ full and cook for about 25 minutes or until set and firm. Pan-fry the foie gras. To serve, place some warm sweet onion marmalade inside each Yorkshire pudding. Place a slice of foie gras on top of each pudding, then pour over the gravy. Garnish with the black truffle shavings and the thyme, if wished.
The Woodsman
Piggy in the middle Pork belly isn’t usually a big seller for chef director Ben Tish at London’s Cubitt House group of gastropubs as it’s deemed too fatty by some. But fashion it into an Italian-style porchetta and serve it to the Notting Hill crowd on a Sunday at the Princess Royal pub and it flies. “It’s our biggest seller for Sunday lunch,” he reveals. A true porchetta is made from whole suckling pig, deboned and aggressively seasoned with flavourings such as fennel, garlic and rosemary, before being roasted in a wood-fired oven, but Tish prefers to use Middle White pork belly. “It’s so forgiving. We salt it overnight
with thyme to get a bit of moisture out, then we score the skin and stuff it with day-old Coombeshead Farm sourdough combined
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PHOTOS: OLIVIA BRABBS; TIM MARTIN PHOTOGRAPHY; SHUTTERSTOCK/TATIANA VOLGUTOVA
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