Grubby goings on foster good communication
Most people couldn't care less about the food chain, whatever the entreaties of Hugh Fearnley-Wotsisname. But, says Dougal Paver, cook 'em a good game pie and your audience may just be willing to listen.
My Nopy three year old (that's North-of-Parly, for the studiously urban) can already tell you the difference between a Snipe and a Woodcock, and he knows which feathers to pluck first so that you can breast out the meat quickly.
He understands that pheasant is more gamey than partridge and he loves cutting open a bird's crop to see what it had for its last meal. Show-and-tell in his nursery is a joy, believe me, though I'm expecting a knock from social services any time soon.
The point is, Rory already has a matter-of-fact appreciation that if you want to put food on the table someone's got to go out and kill it. It just happens that that's his dad's job, albeit not a full-time one.
Over at Paver Towers the team have become used to the winter supply of game pie that I make for them following my expeditions in to the field. The last one I did lasted 6 minutes.
Apart from the gratification of knowing that what I shoot sustains a hard-working team, the best bit comes from seeing how my adventures spark an interest in the provenance of the birds and how they came to the plate.
People realise that the conservation effort that goes in to sustaining the birds' landscape sustains so much more than avian life - a biodiversity five times greater, in fact, than land not managed for shooting.
And they quickly appreciate the free-range qualities of game meat, with its attendant health benefits.
So, whilst none has yet requested an opportunity to join me at my shoulder and harvest a pheasant themselves, plenty have requested whole birds, extra recipes and hints and tips on conservation matters.
Which just goes to show that good grub begets good communication. My mate Nige would approve heartily.
COMMENTS
No comments added for this entry.
POST A COMMENT
