Venison workshop proves popular

A chocolate cake made from deer liver would probably not be the first choice for dessert for many of us. But thanks to the culinary skills of well-known chef, Nichola Fletcher, participants at a venison production workshop described the unusual cake as delicious.

Nichola Fletcher is the author of Nichola Fletchers Ultimate Venison Cookery and Charlemagnes Tablecloth.

The 5 March workshop, which took place at Craigadam near Dumfries, taught participants a wide range of skills from ensuring venison quality to identifying diseases to cooking creatively with venison.

John Fletcher, a veterinarian and deer farmer, outlined deer health, including diseases and carcass inspection. Participants were also taken into a larder to see how to best skin, cut and package venison, and find out how to make speciality products like venison sausage and smoked venison.

There were also sections on health and safety regulations and grants available from the Scottish Government.

One of the most illuminating parts of the workshop was a demonstration by Nichola in which she prepared different quality venison cuts for example, meat which had been processed right away compared to meat which had been hung for a time and allowed participants to taste the difference.

Another highlight was when Neil Rowantree from Ardnamurchan Estate and Richard Pickup of Craigadam shared their expertise on running a venison processing unit, explaining how to set a business up and discussing the challenges and opportunities.

The workshop was held by the Best Practice Partnership, which includes the Deer Commission for Scotland, the Forestry Commission, Lantra, the Association of Deer Management Group, the British Deer Society, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation. The partnership has run seven events to date all over Scotland, attracting over 1000 deer managers. The events have been an integral part of developing and promoting a series of 74 best practice guides on topics ranging from red deer to firearm safety and crop and habitat protection. For more information, see www.bestpracticeguides.org.uk.