Great British Game Week puts wild game on the nation’s menu

Great British Game Week is being celebrated from 2 to 9 November, inviting cooks across the country to discover how versatile, nutritious and delicious wild game can be. Organisers are challenging everyone, from seasoned game cooks to first-timers, to try a new game recipe before the week is out.

Why eat wild game?

Game is the countryside’s own free-range food: lean, wild and in season right now. Pheasant and partridge are both in full supply as shoot days build through November, wild duck is on the foreshore and in the game dealers, and wild venison has never been more widely available, from farm shops to supermarket shelves. For anyone trying to eat less processed food, a brace of birds or a venison haunch is as natural as meat gets: high in protein, low in fat, and raised by no one. Every bird or beast in the larder has lived wild or free-ranging on British farmland, moor and marsh, and eating it supports the land management that keeps that countryside worked and warded.

Where can cooks find inspiration?

The Eat Wild website is carrying recipe inspiration for the week, from comforting family favourites to new dishes, built around British wild game. The campaign’s message is that game need not be intimidating: a pheasant breast will stand in for chicken in most midweek recipes, and slow-cooked venison asks no more skill than a beef casserole. Partridge roasts in 20 minutes for a fast midweek supper, duck takes the flavours of any Sunday roast, and a whole pheasant poached then finished in the oven stays moist for even the most cautious first-timer. The week is also the moment to introduce friends and family to game: most people who say they do not like it have simply never been given it well cooked.

What is happening across Europe?

The week runs alongside the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE)’s Game Meat Week, which runs from 2 to 8 November across the continent with 37 national hunting associations taking part, sharing daily recipes and a game meat quiz under the #GameMeatWeek banner. Together the two campaigns put wild food at the front of the public conversation in the heart of the season.

What happens next

The week runs to Monday, 9 November. Game is available from local butchers, game dealers and farm shops throughout the season, and readers who shoot can do their bit by giving a brace and a recipe to a neighbour who has never cooked game before.