| Nowt to grouse about on City Breaks Guide |
Even if you don’t shoot, most game eating gastronomes will know what the Glorious 12th signifies. Declared under The Game Act of 1831, the 12th day in August (unless it happens to fall on a Sunday, when shooting is definitely not permitted) heralds the official start of the grouse season, which its proponents eagerly anticipate - explaining the somewhat eminent and enthusiastic title.
Of course not everyone is so enthusiastic about grouse shooting. But, unless you’re an animal rights activist and/or strict vegan, then it’s kind of hypocritical to admonish shooting when you would happily sit down to feast on roast Aberdeen Angus, fresh fillet of turbot or even a bacon roll. Whether it is beef, fish, pork or poultry, each animal is killed to provide us with the food we eat on a daily basis. It’s similar for game, except Joe Public can take part in the kill. In 2002, the Game Conservancy Trust estimated the grouse shooting industry contributed some £17m to the Scottish economy and provided in excess of 900 full-time jobs. Although still predominantly the domain of the wealthy, shooting is attracting an increasingly diverse audience.
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It is also a little-known fact that without grouse shooting, we would be deprived of one of Scotland’s most beautiful emblems: heather. "Once widespread, Britain’s grouse moors are now the only extensive area of heather left in Europe," says the Game Conservancy Trust, which adds "grouse shooting has been the motivation that has conserved this habitat against opposing forces of subsidised forestry and intensive sheep grazing." In a nutshell, the native red grouse population (numbering around 800,000 in Scotland) dines on a diet almost entirely of heather - explaining its lovely aromatic and earthy flavour - and in areas where there is no interest in grouse shooting; the pretty purple-flowering shrub just doesn’t grow. Imagine Scotland without heather? Not only would natives and tourists be visually assaulted but we could say goodbye to that other heather-derived delight, heather honey, as well as game birds. At the beginning of the 19th century, the pastime of shooting was not nearly as popular as it is today. Grouse shooting was actually considered to be uncouth and it wasn’t until the creation of a more sophisticated shotgun after the Napoleonic Wars that the gentry began practising the sport.
The acceptance of shooting among the upper classes was sealed when Queen Victoria bought Balmoral Castle and began enjoying country pursuits. It is quite likely that Queen Victoria would have dined on what she shot. Certainly in Mrs Beeton’s Family Cookery and Housekeeping Book (1893) there are several entries on grouse including how to truss, roast and carve the bird? In the 21st century, the fabulous taste, texture and table worthiness of Scotland’s famous grouse lives on - but it could be under threat. Last week, the Game Conservancy Trust in Scotland warned that the bird’s breeding rates has plummeted, heightening concerns for a species, which is already in trouble. Pests and disease have played a part in the grouse’s troubles, and grouse experts suggest global warming is adding to problems, by causing insects on which the chicks feed to come into season a month too early. According to the trust, each pair of breeding grouse has produced an average of only one chick this year - a drop from last year’s average of 1.6 and well below the 1.5 chicks per pair needed to ensure the species can successfully maintain its population. All of which is bad news for those with a taste for this particular type of game. Many of Britain’s top chefs source their birds from dealers, who in turn source their produce from Scotland’s 450 plus grouse moors.
Alternatively, some procure their grouse direct from estates. A bit closer to home in the heart of Perthshire, prime-shooting country, Pitlochry’s East Haugh House attracts a big shooting fraternity around the Glorious 12th. "We’re fully booked on the 11th and the 12th," says chef-proprietor, Neil McGown. McGown is an experienced shot himself, but spends more time in the kitchen than on the hill nowadays. Much to his guest’s delight, he serves up the grouse they shoot, "but only if they’re young enough," he points out. "I roast them in a very hot oven for 15 minutes and serve them with game chips, bread sauce and a Port wine and juniper berry gravy." When his guests are less successful, McGown sources grouse from his local dealer, Pitlochry Game. "We sell a lot of grouse during the season, but they’re hideously expensive at the start [around £6 per bird] so we tend to have it on the menu more around mid-September when the price drops," he explains. With an ever-increasing emphasis on the importance of tractability, buying locally shot grouse is an excellent and tasty option.
Traditionally, young grouse are served simply roasted from the oven, drizzled with game gravy (the juices from the pan thickened with some redcurrant jelly) on top of a "croute" - or crestless toast - soaked in dripping from the pan. Older grouse are hung for three to five days and are best cooked slowly in a casserole, as their flesh is less tender than the younger birds. But both types of birds lend themselves to a range of flavours. Rosemary, thyme, juniper and lentils are all ideal flavours for this game, while an accompaniment of sweet things such as peas, redcurrant sauce, or even beetroot will make sure your dinner guests really will have nothing to grouse about. |
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