Article by K.M. Wehrstein 

“Gamey” is never said as a compliment about how meat tastes. It’s a dark, crude, overly strong sort of flavour and something of a turn-off. Many people think it’s inevitable with game meats. However, the two chefs and the butcher in this feature agree it can be avoided if the game is properly handled and they have proved it with these recipes.

Dave Purdon is the owner-operator of Muskoka Meats near Gravenhurst. He uses more natural methods in meat production and presentation, avoiding growth hormones and meat byproducts in feed, eschewing extensive preservatives, binders and fillers in the final products. Goods he offers include standard meats plus lamb, veal, venison, wild boar, bison, pheasant, quail, rabbit, emu, caribou, ostrich and various seafoods. He prepares sausages from his own recipes too. Both his venison and wild boar sausages are delicious in completely different ways and have a little spicy kick.

Services Purdon offers to hunters include custom cutting, smoking, sausages, patties and education on what to do and what not to do with a carcass, as he won’t accept one that is subpar. He does not do slaughtering or gutting.

“A lot of people, when they say it’s gamey, it’s slightly spoiled,” Purdon says. “If you have tried game and had varied results, it’s about how it’s been handled.”

It’s crucial for a hunter to have a plan for when they bag a wild animal, he explains. “You go to all the trouble of getting your gun, getting your ammo, getting your tags – to let the meat spoil is such a shame. Make your arrangements for where you’re going to take it, have a spot where you can keep it cool.” A lot of local hunters, he says, have accepted his instruction, brought in good carcasses and become regular customers.

Non-hunting readers may not realize that by law you’re not permitted to sell wild game meat in Ontario or even give it away to anyone but immediate family. There are two reasons for this. One is “to prevent poaching” as Purdon puts it, a polite way of saying that but for this law, the tastiest wild animals would be wiped out shortly, as our species has a tendency to do. The other reason is that with hunted meat it’s easy to avoid the standard meat-inspection process.

Accordingly, the game meats Purdon sells are farmed but he chooses his farms carefully. “The good farmers have compounds that are like the natural habitat, so the only real difference is that you don’t go out and hunt.”

The animals are slaughtered at an abattoir, so the usual meat inspection is done. He also notes their diet is enhanced some with grains to offset the vagaries of nature. “They’re a little bit healthier than hunted game.”

When Purdon was a boy, he had a close friend whose father was head butcher at the Dominion supermarket in Gravenhurst.

“We always ate really well when we had supper at their place, so I always had that little bit of admiration for the butcher,” Purdon reminisces.

Growing up, he worked at Muskoka Sands where the chef was hoping to steer him into culinary but then he got more interested in theatre production, for which he travelled all over the world. Finding the entertainment world wasn’t compatible with family life, he went into carpentry and meat-cutting in England, then returned to Gravenhurst and bought the butchery from Guy Stroop in 2006. He moved it to its current expanded location in 2014.

“To me money isn’t that important,” Purdon says. “It’s more the satisfaction of being happy with who you are, what you’re doing and your family.”

With steaks of venison, wild boar and bison, it’s important to know the flavours of the meat itself before determining the pairings or other dishes to cook to accompany them.

Venison could be compared to beef but it’s more delicate – it’s different. The same way beef doesn’t taste like pork and turkey doesn’t taste like chicken, every animal has its distinct flavour, so venison tastes like… venison.

“Game meats have not been bred to be marbled, so they tend to be lean,” Purdon notes. They also tend to be mild.

Wild boar does have a flavour like pork but lighter; an apple sauce, or a delicate mushroom dish would pair nicely. Purdon himself describes boar as a “redder pork, almost like a cross between pork and lamb or pork and venison or pork and beef.”

While you might expect bison to be like beef, it’s not. It has a red meat type of taste, a bit as if it’s already been seasoned, making it full-flavoured and delicate at once.

To consult chefs, we’ll go to The Oar in downtown Gravenhurst, owned by chef Alain Irvine and his wife, Robbie, and staffed on and off by his son, chef Iain Irvine.

Born in Scotland, chef Alain made his name cooking in some rather renowned venues, starting with apprenticing at Chewton Glen in England – “the best small hotel in the world,” he calls it, at age 17. After attaining master chef credentials at Bournemouth Lansdowne College, he chose a job posting at Jasper Park Lodge in the Alberta Rockies over one in New Zealand “because the Canadian job paid 25 cents more.”

From there he travelled back and forth across Canada with stays in Jamaica, Bermuda and Venezuela as well and worked as chef at Truffles at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto, Minaki Lodge near Kenora, the Grand Okanagan Hotel in Kelowna, the Rimrock Hotel in Banff, the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary and finally Taboo in Muskoka, in 2004.

“It was time to stop moving,” Alain says. “Robbie put the pressure on.” They bought North Restaurant in 2007 and changed its name in 2014 to The Oar and Paddle. Their first son, Andrew, was born in 1986 and their second, Iain, in 1990.

Chef Iain started cooking at age 17, apprenticing with his dad and going on to a purely on-the-job culinary education which included stints at the Rimrock and the Langdon Hall Country House in Cambridge.

“The Oar was my home base,” Iain says. “I went and learned in other places but always came back here.”

“I love cooking game meat,” says Alain. “It’s easy. You’re braising a lot of it.” (Take-home point!)

“Moose and bear we can’t do,” says Iain. “We can’t go hunting it, bring it in and cook it for customers. You’re generally going to get farmed unless you go out and hunt it yourself. Luckily our grocery store carries rabbit.”

“Bison is easy to get,” says Alain. “We often use a butcher shop out of Toronto. I love venison because it’s such an easy, accessible dish. If you have access to the internet, you can have it delivered to your door, same price probably as beef tenderloin.”

“Venison is pretty lean,” says Iain. “You don’t need much more than salt and pepper with it; if you’re cooking the loin, think of it like a lamb rack without the bones.”

But let’s leave off the tasty father-and-son repartee for some recipes! We’ll start with Alain’s: Pan-Roasted Venison Loin with Red Currant Demi-Glaze, Mushroom Duxelles and Parsnip Puree.

It’s not on The Oar’s menu but is similar to dishes he’s done in the past and oh is it good. Venison is often sauced with something fruity and this is no exception; the demi-glaze with its hints of red currant, brandy and wine is to die for. So are the duxelles and the parsnip puree, with lovely little chunks of parsnip, is delectable. The ingredients all work together to terrific effect.

Now Iain’s recipe: Rabbit Ragout with Pappardelle.

It is said rabbit tastes just like chicken but let’s disagree on that. Rabbit has its own distinct taste and also very much its own texture. However, it is very tender. 

“I’ve only had it braised,” Iain says. “Slow-cooked, two-and-a-half to three hours – or you could put it into a crockpot and go to work. The recipe is a one-off, not on the menu. (Exclusive for us!) It’s a pretty classic French kind of dish; I did a more Bolognese-style sauce but without the peas. I made it up as I went.”

Chef Iain made it up very well. The sauce is intensely flavourful in a tomato-based way, with delightful tiny bits of vegetable mixed in with the morsels of rabbit. Topped with shaved parmesan and fried leeks, the dish is delicate, balanced and delightful to eat!

And so concludes the 2024 edition of Cottage Country Cuisine. Have a good winter, may you stay well-fed, healthy, happy, and as ever, bon appetit!

 

Pan-Roasted Venison Loin with Red Currant Demi-Glaze, Mushroom Duxelles and Parsnip Puree

– Alain Irvine

 Ingredients

Venison and Demi-Glaze

700g venison loin

60ml grapeseed oil

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

6 juniper berries

10 black peppercorns

2 garlic cloves, crushed

30ml red currant jelly

125ml red wine

500ml beef stock

Method

• Preheat oven to 375° F.
• Season the venison on both sides with sea salt.
• In a heavy-based pan, pour in oil and bring to a medium heat. Brown the venison for two minutes on each side to seal.
• Put the rosemary, garlic, juniper berries and peppercorns into the pan, transfer the pan to the oven and cook for five to seven minutes.
• Remove venison from the pan and leave to rest.
• Put the pan back over a medium heat.
• Add the red wine to deglaze the pan.
• Then add in the red currant jelly and stir in the stock.
• Strain out solid items and reduce until it becomes syrupy.
• To serve, cut venison into medallions and pour the sauce over and around them. 

Ingredients

Mushroom Duxelles

200g butter

2 shallots, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 pounds cremini mushrooms,

washed and chopped

Salt and pepper

250ml white wine

125ml whipping cream

60ml brandy

Method

• In a large heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté for about two minutes.
• Add brandy and flame (that is, flambé). • Add the chopped mushrooms and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes stirring occasionally until the mushrooms begin to caramelize and all the liquid has evaporated.
• Add the wine and cook, stirring until again all the liquid has evaporated, about five minutes.
• Remove from the heat, transfer into a food processor and blitz for two to three minutes.
• Add cream and seasoning to taste. If the mixture is too thin, put it back on the stove and simmer until it reaches the desired consistency.

Yield: ½ cup Duxelles. 

Ingredients

Parsnip Purée

1 kg parsnips, peeled and

cut into chunks

60ml whipping cream,

at room temperature

30g butter

Salt and pepper

Method

• Place parsnips in a large pot and cover with water, season with salt and bring to a boil.
• Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until soft and cooked through.
• Drain and transfer to a food processor, blitz until it’s a smooth paste.
• Add cream and butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: about 500 ml.; about four portions.

Wine Pairing

• A strong red but one that is a little lighter and more delicate like Pinot Noir.

Chefs Tips

• Why grapeseed oil? “Because it’s neutral,” says Alain. “I love cooking with olive oil but don’t want to overpower this.”
• On cooking venison: “You must keep in mind that it cooks very fast. It takes no more than five minutes to sear, both sides.”
• Why flambé the brandy? To remove the alcohol taste while leaving the (delicious!) brandy taste.
• The presentation Alain chose for the duxelles? Sandwiched between two mushroom caps, the larger one on the bottom with a nice sprig of rosemary as a garnish.

 Rabbit Ragout with Pappardelle  

- Iain Irvine

Ingredients

1 whole rabbit

3 stalks celery, finely cubed

2 onions, finely cubed

1 large carrot, finely cubed

10 cloves garlic, minced

1 leek

1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced

1 bunch fresh thyme (or 1 Tbsp

dried thyme)

2 ounces shaved Parmesan cheese

2 bay leaves

1 cup red wine

1 cup plain tomato sauce

1 cup beef or chicken stock

1 box pappardelle

(or favourite noodle)

 Method

• Quarter the rabbit, removing the legs (which will provide the meat for the dish), but keep the rib and back sections to braise with the legs for more rabbit flavour.
• Preheat a roasting pot on medium high heat and sear the rabbit until golden brown on all sides. Deglaze with red wine and add four sprigs of thyme (or 1 tsp dried), 2 cloves of garlic and 1 bay leaf. Cook covered at 325° F until the meat pulls off the bone, roughly two hours.
• In a different pot, add 1 tbsp of oil, then carrot, celery, onion and the remainder of the garlic. Sauté until fragrant. Deglaze with red wine and stock and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce, the remainder of the thyme and 1 bay leaf and reduce to desired thickness.
• While rabbit is braising, cut the leek in half and rinse out any dirt. Julienne into thin two-inch strips, coat in flour and fry in canola oil until golden brown. Season with salt.
• Pull rabbit meat off the bone and shred into bite-sized pieces. Add the rabbit to the sauce and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened to desired consistency.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta for the time given in the instructions on the package. Remove from pot, add to a buttered pan and stir to glaze the pasta.
• Place pasta in a bowl and top with ragout. Garnish with fried leeks and shaved Parmesan.

Yield: about four portions.

Wine Pairing

• “With that kind of heavy red meat and sauce,” says Iain, “Go with a strong red: Merlot.”

 Chef's Tips

• “Be careful when you’ve got it to the point of meat coming off the bones; the ribs are so small they can get into the meat.”