On a sunny day at the end of September a group of six H&J chefs took a trip to Denham Estate Venison Farm which occupies 1200 acres of rural Suffolk to learn about the world famous Denham Herd of fallow deer, considered to be the premier herd in Europe.  This was a fantastic opportunity for us to learn about the deer, and as all the animals are reared, slaughtered and butchered on site at Denham Estate, we were given a fascinating insight into the whole farming process.  In addition to the venison, Denham Estate also farms its own breed of sheep, Denham Castle Lamb, supplies game shot on the Estate and presses its own Suffolk apple juice.

The proprietor of Denham Estate, Cecilia Glikstein, met us on arrival and gave us an informative talk on the history of the Estate and its day to day business.  We were then shepherded into a Land Rover for our tour.  First stop was to see the unique flock of sheep that grazes the conservation pastures surrounding Denham Castle. This breed, derived from 3 ancient British breeds; Soay, Wiltshire Horn and Southdown, produces a lamb that is slow growing and hardy with great tasting meat and a fleece that moults and so does not need shearing.

We were then taken to see some of the fallow deer, of which Denham Estate has around 3000.  These were separated into smaller herds with one stag per herd.  We tried to get close to the deer but as they are kept in a very natural environment they were easily spooked and maintained a safe distance.

Our final stop was the abattoir and butchery plant.  All the Estate’s deer are slaughtered and butchered on site under strict guidelines and we were lucky enough to see a full demonstration by the Estate butcher.  Working from the neck down he showed us how the whole carcass is butchered and also pointed out the lesser known cuts of venison such as belly and neck fillet as well as the better known loin and best end.

At this point the chefs asked lots of questions and started to think out loud of dishes they could put together. Everyone managed to bag some samples to take away and try and Gavin from St Paul’s was given a venison belly rolled with the Estate’s own venison sausage meat to try.

This farm trip was a real success; very interesting and informative.  Denham Estate is certainly a producer that fits with Harbour & Jones’ ethos of a top quality local supplier who cares about the produce they are supplying.