Just the meal ticket

Tom Sykes explains how he sources the majority of his meat from the field instead of supermarket shelves

- Tom Sykes

Growing up in a shooting family meant there was always an abundance of meat in the freezer gathered from the field. I enjoyed our game meals as a boy, even if the family recipes weren’t as adventurous as those we use today.

Despite game being a frequent source of meat in my diet, the majority of the meat I consumed was beef, lamb or chicken. This all started to change when I left college and embarked on a gamekeeping career. Living off meagre wages as a trainee soon led me to look to the land to reduce my weekly shopping bill. This included rabbits and pigeon in the summer and daily raids on the game larder once the season was underway. I even helped the game dealer load the wagon, which typically rewarded me with game sausages and burgers for my efforts, a real treat at the time. During this period, eating game instilled the belief in me that it would be possible to gather most of my meat through field sports, and not have to rely on inferior 30-day-old supermarket chicken.

After meeting my partner, Charlie, we made a conscious effort to source the majority of meat for our meals through field sports. We are nearly self-sufficient in this aim, with our only store-bought alternatives being sausages and bacon, typically used to create game dishes. Besides, who can survive without a good old bacon butty now and again?

Versatility

I have come to realise just how versatile wild meat is. Various wild meat, be it partridge, pheasant or rabbit, can be substituted in pretty much any recipe as an alternative to chicken. And wildfowl, venison and pigeon make an excellent substitute in any red meat dishes. We typically process our quarry into different categories for a range of recipes.