To celebrate the start of game season, we spoke to chef James Knappett, founder of two-Michelin-star restaurant Kitchen Table (not far from Audley House in London), about his focus on British flavours, commitment to the best locally sourced produce and why he loves the seasonal approach – plus he shares a recipe to inspire more of us to make the most of the ingredients that this time of year brings.
“I grew up in the countryside in Suffolk where I was surrounded by the shooting lifestyle and it’s definitely influenced how I cook – we would always make the most of everything we could from a shoot. With game, it’s full circle, from the countryside to the plate. To be eating a pheasant or a partridge or a pigeon over a supermarket pork chop back in the 1980s was a no brainer.
I’m proud of where I’m from, and of the abundance of ingredients we have in the UK; our game season is really unique to us. It’s so special, with so much history and tradition behind it. As we enter into game season, we work with all kinds of different specialist suppliers at the restaurant. We stay true to our suppliers – you can cheat and always find an ingredient through more mainstream channels, but we don’t do that. If you have access to everything all the time, there’s less sense of achievement when you pull off a great dish.
I don’t find it a challenge working with super-seasonal produce, it’s more of an inspiration and drive. When a supplier says we’ve got teal, woodcock, wild deer, wood pigeon – that’s like the best phone call ever. Along with the herbs, flowers and berries; you can turn that into something incredible. Vegetables too can be the star of the show: hand-picked girolle mushrooms from Scotland can cost more per kilo than the beef we use!
I’ve worked around the world (with other top chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Rick Stein, Thomas Keller, René Redzepi), but the draw to come back to the UK for me was 100% the food and the four seasons that we have here. I love spring, summer, autumn, winter and the different feeling that each one brings. Those four seasons dictate what grows, how you feel, what you want to eat in that particular time of year. Despite all the places I’ve travelled to, I never really felt that anywhere else.
The feel of cooking is what it’s all about for me, from the weather outside to what you want to eat month to month, week to week. It’s time and place. I think people’s attitudes towards eating game are changing now, too – a wood pigeon over a farm pigeon or a regular chicken, for example, is another level when we cook with it. Regardless of price, the rarity of the ingredient is often what makes it all the more special, and it’s what you do with it. Last year, we had one teal, just one, and I actually ate that myself, it was the best thing I ate all year. It was a proper food moment, incredible and so rare.
I love spring and autumn the most, as that’s where you notice the most drastic change in ingredients, weather, nature. The change in the pace, from your wardrobe to what’s on your plate. The colour of the world changes too, the blossoms or the autumnal leaves, it makes you really notice what’s happening. You really feel it in cooking too, it dictates the kitchen. Soon it will be cobnuts and walnuts, getting further into the game season, and all of a sudden you’re putting jumpers on again…
We’re constantly trying to find the best ingredients to showcase where we are. A big part of what I try to get across in my cooking is that I’ve been lucky enough to do it all: I’ve been fishing, I’ve been shooting, I’ve planted vegetables, I’ve picked fruit, I’ve been to the dairy and made cheese, I’ve driven to the Isle of Mull to see the cheddar we use there, I’ve seen the hand-dived scallops in Scotland, I’ve visited our beef supplier in Wales, I’ve seen the rhubarb in Yorkshire… Having that connection with the food and then bringing it to our guests allows me to bring them into the full experience. I can talk to them about stalking a deer for hours in the fenlands of Cambridgeshire, that have been grazing on the fields where our celery is grown, and how we then hang, prepare it and use the whole animal when it has been shot – we love to get that across. It highlights the value of everything we do.”
Below, James shares a recipe that’s perfect for the start of game season.
Fallow deer, celeriac, prune, chocolate – James Knappett, Kitchen Table
INGREDIENTS (Serves 6)
DEER
- 1 x quarter Fallow deer Loin
- Brown butter (melted room temperature)
- Fresh juniper branches
- Table salt (for seasoning)
- Maldon sea salt
CELERIAC PUREE
- 1/2 of a celeriac
- 100g unsalted butter
- 750ml double cream
- 4 sticks celery (juiced)
- Table salt (for seasoning)
BRANDY SOAKED PRUNE
- 6 x pitted prunes
- 200ml water
- 1 tsp loose black tea
- 6 black peppercorns
- Half vanilla pod scraped
- 1 strip lemon peel
- 1 x strip orange peel
- Brandy to taste
DEER SAUCE
- Deer saddle bones chopped
- Deer saddle trim
- Veal stock
- 1 x carrot
- 2 x banana shallots
- 2 x sticks celery
- Spring of thyme
- 2 x bay leaves
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1 x star anise
- 4 x juniper berries
- 300ml port
- 300ml red wine
- 100ml sherry vinegar
TO GARNISH
- 100% bitter chocolate (a few grams to grate on top of the dish)
METHOD
Deer sauce
- Place the chopped bones into a roasting tray and dress with a little vegetable oil. Roast at 170c for 20-30 minutes until browned.
- In a large heavy based pan add a little oil and gently caramelise any deer trim. Remove from the pan and strain in a colander.
- Add the peeled and chopped vegetables to the pan and colour all over until browned. Remove from the pan and add the aromatics. Gently toast to release the flavour and aroma.
- Deglaze with sherry vinegar, reduce slightly and then add the red wine. Reduce this by half before adding the port, and reduce this further by half.
- Add the trim, thyme, bay leaf and roasted bones to the pan and cover with the veal stock.
- Simmer for 4 hours, strain through a sieve and reduce until thickened, glossy and deep in flavour.
Celeriac purée
- Peel the celeriac and dice into 2-3cm cubes. This will allow it to cook evenly.
- Add the butter to the pan and melt. Once melted and gently foaming add the celeriac and a pinch of salt and soften slightly with no colour for 10-15 mins.
- Cover the celeriac with the cream and gently cook making sure it doesn’t boil.
- When the celeriac is soft and cooked, use an immersion blender to blend until silky smooth. Pass through a sieve onto a bowl and set over a bowl of ice to allow it to cool rapidly and retain its flavour, and adjust the seasoning (to taste) while still hot.
- Once the celeriac has cooled, finish this with celery juice to freshen the flavour.
Brandy soaked prunes
- For the prunes, add water to a pan and bring to the boil. Add your tea and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
- Strain through a sieve and add remaining ingredients apart from the prunes.
- Turn off the heat and infuse for 10-15 minutes with residual heat.
- Add prunes to the pan and gently cook on a very low heat for 2-3 minutes. Set aside at room temperature off the heat to infuse. Season to taste with brandy.
Deer loin
- For the deer loin, ensure the meat is at room temperature before cooking, this will make it cook evenly.
- Brush the deer loin with brown butter and season with table salt.
- Place a mesh grill rack directly over hot coals and colour the meat all over ensuring not to scorch the meat once the meat is coloured.
- Raise the rack slightly above the coals and place a bowl over the top of the meat
- Place the juniper branches on the coals and allow to burn and create smoke ensuring the smoke is caught by the bowl and maximum flavour is transferred to the meat. Leave to smoke for a few minutes and then leaving the bowl over the meat leave to rest in a warm place.
To plate
- For plating of the dish, place a spoon of celeriac purée in the middle of the plate, and nestle the warm soaked prune in the middle of it.
- Carve the meat and season with Maldon sea salt before placing it on top of the prune.
- Dress the meat with the deer sauce and grate some chocolate over the top on a fine grater to finish.