These birds had to die for someone to treat them like this!

I published a response to a post on social media, a much shorter version of the following recently, but I was so enraged by what I had seen, as too were many others, I just had to write more

(I published a response to a post on social media, a much shorter version of the following recently, but I was so enraged by what I had seen, as too were many others, I just had to write more and expand on the subject)

I have just seen a series of photographs on Instagram that made my blood boil. We are currently in the game season, a fabulous product that really is not used as much as it ought to be. It is a subject close to my heart and one I have a vested interest in as I have been, and still am, a keen shooting man and of course have written a game cook book. While it is great to see fresh game being used in season and promoting its use too, which I applaud, please I beg of you, if you are trying to promote its use then, like anything else, do it well or don't bother doing it at all.

If you are going to effectively "show off", that is using photographs of your work to show how good it is, how appetising and tasty it is, and making it a reason for people to come and try your food, then try showing something properly done, show it at its best, and where food is concerned then surely it should be appetising at the very least.

 The list of things wrong with not only the preparation but also the cooking and then the serving of these magnificent birds in these photographs is a lengthy litany of mistakes, bad practice and shoddy workmanship.

The art of cooking, for that is what it is, requires a love and understanding as well as respect for food in all its forms, without these you can not be a good cook and you certainly should never call yourself a chef. The term cooking is not only confined to the application of heat to raw food. It applies to all aspects, from purchasing to its preparation, through the actual cooking and finally to serving.

Preparing a game bird for cooking is not for everyone, I get that, but the necessity to get it right still remains, and if you are prepared to cook and eat it then you should also be willing to do the proper preparation.

Let’s start with plucking, the removal of all the feathers prior to cooking. So many people just skin a game bird rather than going to the trouble of plucking it, especially pheasant. I can just about understand this in a domestic environment but not in a commercial chef driven kitchen surely.  It needs to be plucked correctly and with care. Correctly so all the feathers are removed, even as far down as the knee joints and the parson’s nose. Carefully so as to avoid tearing the skin.

The bird should then be singed (in the attached photo it is clear that the birds have not been plucked completely or correctly and the fine hairs can still be seen in the finished dish) to remove the fine hairs that cover the body that plucking and cooking will not remove.

The feet should be cut off just above the ankle not hacked off at the knee, to prepare the bird whole for roasting the centre toe can and should be left on, only the two front toes and the rear one should be removed.

The neck should be cut as close to the body as possible but the skin from the neck should be left and cut off just shy of the head. The entrails are then removed through a small incision just above the vent having first loosened off the windpipe, crop and gullet from the skin of the neck and the lungs loosened from the back of the rib cage. For the best results the wish bone should be carefully removed before the bird is then trussed.

Let's also appreciate that these birds had to die for someone to treat them like this, something that seems to be forgotten. If you're a chef then be proud and treat produce with respect, be it animal or vegetable, it matters not, it all deserves our respect. Is it too difficult or do people just not care enough? Or is it that the students of today are being taught by those that actually know no better? If you don’t know how to do it, ask, I am happy to teach.

It has always been my mantra that it is easier to cook well than it is to cook badly, but it does not start there, it is far more satisfying to do the job well from the beginning, from choosing the product through storing it well then preparing it as well as it can be. All this takes time but it is so worth the effort.