Food for thought on shooting day feasts

Feeding hungry Guns and beaters is a central part of the shoot day ritual. Rose Prince explains how to make lunch a fitting celebration

- Rose Prince

Before sitting down to write a discourse on the subject of feeding Guns, it feels only fair to say my opinions may not match those of other shoot cooks and their guests.

No two shoots are identical, but I may be more persuasive if I explain the root of my own views. The Dorset shoot that I cooked for, started and run by my husband, Dominic, was best described as commercial, nonprofit, family style.

For the best part of 20 seasons, the remit was to cook for eight Guns and their partners, a dozen or so beaters and plenty of children. Over the same period, I’ve eaten shoot lunches prepared by others, some influential, some more a lesson in what not to do.

In the end, I have resolved that there is only one rule — a shoot lunch is a feast and not a school dinner. It is the conclusion to a ritual, if that does not sound too pretentious, so the lunch needs to be celebratory even within the constraints of a tight budget. And it is wholly possible to do this without slaving or overspending and, perhaps vitally, showing off.

First up, as regards the ritual element, shooting game is the purpose of the day and can be — or must be — a feature of the meal in some way. However, if being brutally honest, every time I served pheasant stew, I could smell the dissatisfaction, yet fully understood it. Cold, wet and tired people are happier with a dish of braised red meat, beef or lamb, not white meat that can be fatally dry after slow cooking.

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