During October and November the Great Inns are celebrating the game season with an array of special recipes, tempting seasonal offers, game dinners and other events.
Game On the Menu
The Head Chefs and their teams will be cooking up dishes using the freshest, best quality game and other seasonal ingredients and influences, including:
At the Feversham Arms & Verbena Spa, Farndale Red Leg Partridge, yellow beetroot fondant, girolles and lentil jus will be prepared using locally sourced Red Leg Partridge from the popular Farndale shoot, just three miles away, and served with wines to complement.
The Peacock at Rowsley will be serving Venison loin, pancetta, sweet potato, brussel sprouts and blackcurrant jus using Black Norwegian Fallow Deer bred on the Haddon Estate, where guests can join the seasonal shoots.
Faithful to its name, The Boar’s Head in Ripley will be serving a starter of Boar’s Head Terrine with crusty bread, mixed salad and “Crackshot” chutney. The dish uses locally supplied wild boar combined with Crackshot Ale, which is brewed for the hotel by Daleside Brewery using a 17th century recipe found by in an old housekeeper’s book by Inn keeper Sir Thomas Ingilby.
A Wensleydale favourite, The Blue Lion in East Witton, North Yorkshire will be treating diners to Breast of pheasant wrapped in streaky bacon with pine nut and butternut squash risotto. As a keen shot, Innkeeper Paul Klein will be helping to keep his kitchen well stocked with a plentiful supply of local, fresh game!
At The Hoste Arms in Burnham Market, Head Chef Aaron Smith and his team will be cooking up a storm on the stunning North Norfolk coast, with local butcher Arthur Howell and the Holkham Hall Estate supplying fresh, seasonal ingredients and game for their Braised Partridge served with Merguez sausage, confit cabbage and root vegetables and Warm smoked pigeon, rhubarb compote, fennel and rye bread.
Barnsdale Lodge in Oakham, Rutland will be serving weekly game specials through October and November with a complimentary wine list. Dishes include Exton Estate Pheasant Pot Roast, served with root vegetables, apricots and chestnuts which will use the freshest pheasant, direct from shoots on the adjacent Exton Estate, owned by Lord Gainsborough, father of Innkeeper, Thomas Noel.
The Walshall and Lancashire Moors, near The Inn at Whitewell in The Forest of Bowland, are home to some of the best grouse and partridge in Britain and guests can look forward to dishes such as Roasted young Lancashire grouse, served with bread sauce, game chips, roast potatoes, garden peas and cranberry compote.
The Bell Inn, at Horndon-on-the Hill, will be serving their award-winning wild rabbit saddle in herb mousse with fondant potato, rabbit leg ballottine and chestnut mushrooms. Using rabbit from local suppliers in North Essex this dish featured on the menu that helped the Inn win the Pubchef Food Excellence Award 2009.
A favourite haunt with shooting parties, The Royal Hotel in Perthshire will be offering two contrasting game dishes this autumn. The classic Scottish Highland Venison, with roasted root vegetables & Dauphinoise potatoes and a cherry brandy jus uses venison from local stalks on Glen Artney, while their twist on a old favourite - pheasant burgers, uses freshly caught game from their sister property in Cumbria.
Special Events
During the game season, special events at the Great Inns will include:
On the 16 and 17 October, Barnsdale Lodge at Oakham is hosting a special Game Weekend, to include a game dinner, overnight accommodation and a presentation on preparing and cooking game with the Head Chef. The Old Bridge Hotel in Cambridgeshire is hosting a four-course game dinner with selected wines, chosen by Innkeeper and Master of Wine, John Hoskins. The Bell Inn in Essex will be tempting diners through with their game dinners and carefully chosen wines to compliment each course throughout the autumn. Chef Patron Stuart Phillips from the Hundred House Hotel, Shropshire is leading a unique Game Masterclass on 13 November when, during a full day of cooking, participants of any skill level will be able to develop their culinary skills and learn how to cook a range of game dishes, with the added bonus of being able to take home the results of their efforts! At The Boar’s Head on 5 October Game and Gardens celebrates dishes inspired by game from the Ripley Estate and produce from the Castle’s gardens.
Situated on or close to some of the country’s finest locations for stalking, shooting and clay pigeon shooting, many of the Inns can arrange for guests to join a shoot and some of the Inns are also able to offer exclusive hire for private shooting parties upon request.
Tasty Seasonal Offers
Sample a mid-week break at The Blue Lion, North Yorkshire, which is offering guests the chance to indulge in an extended retreat, with three nights for the price of two on mid-week stays, whilst The Boar’s Head’s Yorkshire Break offers the best of Yorkshire hospitality at a great price. The Feversham Arms & Verbena Spa Muddy Boots package offers the chance to enjoy fresh air, the great outdoors, a specially prepared packed lunch and a retreat to the new Verbena Spa to ease your weary muscles!
In association with
BASC (British Association for Shooting and Conservation.