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Reediehill, Auchtermuchty, Fife, KY14 7HS
To order: call 01337 828369 quoting Delia Online
For prices and information on products visit http://www.seriouslygoodvenison.co.uk 

Will deliver: Fresh, vacuum-packed venison; keeps 6-14 days in the fridge. Includes boned and rolled haunch, casserole, medallions, boneless sirloin roasts, haggis, Wild Rowan Jelly.

Last order date for Christmas delivery: 17th December 2010

Up to Auchtermuchty in Fife to meet a couple who have made deer a career. John Fletcher has studied the handsome beasts to doctorate level, and Nichola, his wife, is Britain’s best authority on venison cookery. Thirty years ago, they bought Reediehill Farm and began to put John’s veterinary study of wild deer into practice, farming red deer on the gently rolling acres.

It’s quite a sight to see the stags appearing out of a mist- - their antlers look so like bare branches that the first impression is of a small forest on the move. The gorgeous star of the recent Glenfiddich commercial belonged to the Fletchers. What we didn’t see was John following close behind: ‘Our deer are used to people and we don’t select stags that panic or are dangerous as breeding stock, but it was close to the rutting season, so I was nervous.’

Nichola and John blame chewy, old stag meat for putting many of us off venison. ‘The sinews of a deer start to thicken and toughen after two years,’ John explains. Wild venison can be superb, but in bad years the deer may be almost starving on the hills. Sometimes the animals are too old, sometimes wild venison meat is bruised. Long handing and heavy marinades may correct this to an extent, but the Fletchers are into producing something completely different: venison as succulent and tender as the finest fillet steak.

Red deer prefer to graze – it is roe deer that graze shrubs and gardens – and so need good pasture to flourish. The young (calves, rather than fawns) are born in May and June out in the fields and spend the summer with their mothers. When the weather turns, they are moved indoors and fed on a strict, pure diet of local hay, potatoes and carrots. The following spring, they go out to graze and remain free-ranging with their own sex. 

 Provided they are fine, healthy specimens, they will be killed when aged between 14 and 27 months. The Fletchers are most forthright on this: deer are shot point-blank in the head in the field and that way the stress is minimal. ‘We can look each other in the eye over our evening meal because we know our animals didn’t suffer being transported to an abbatoir,’ says Nichola.

Now Nichola and master butcher Graeme take over. The venison is hung for two or three weeks beef-style (after skinning and gutting), and can be cut into any joint: saddles, cutlets, steaks and stewing cuts, including venison steak and kidneys. Fletchers Wild Rowan Jelly is the ideal accompaniment. Also popular are sausages, venison burgers, pies, liver and a vensison haggis.

The Fletchers only sell direct to the public and their attitude is friendly and flexible. ‘Actually, I prefer it when people ring up and we go through what they want together,’ says Nichola. ‘I can say helpful things, such as you need less venison per person as it doesn’t shrink in the pan, and please arrange a delivery a day or two before the dinner party – our meat is very fresh and our delivery service good, but surely it’s less nerve-racking on both sides if you have your order safe in the fridge at least 24 hours ahead.’

Some of Delia's venison recipes include:
Venison Braised in Guinness and Port with Pickled Walnuts
Pot-roasted Venison with Shrewsbury Sauce
Venison braised in Blackfriars Porter and Port with Pickled Walnuts
Venison Sausages Braised in Red Wine
Venison Steaks with Cranberry Cumberland Sauce
Braised Venison with Bacon, Chestnuts and Wild Mushrooms in a Rich Madeira Sauce

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