- A feature from the January 2017 issue of Suffolk Norfolk Life magazine
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A Jekyll and Hyde Character, says Mark Dixon
This is probably one of my favourite local items: the red deer is not only the largest land mammal in the UK but also the most beautiful and the most tasty.
As soon as they come into the game season it’s always straight on my menus at both Kindreds in Wymondham and The Kings Arms in Fleggburgh. With such amazing quality we have right on our doorsteps this wild produce really does tick every box. With such quality as this is we just hang it a week or so in our own fridges just to bring out the intense flavour, and we really do respect such ingredients by keeping it fairly simple when garnishing it. This recipe really will light up any dinner party, but failing that you can always come and sample it at both my restaurants instead.
There’s no doubting the elegance and grace possessed by the red deer, the largest wild land mammal in the UK, particularly when they are in their full summer pelage, yet this normally sedate herbivore has another side to its character, one played out during the early weeks of autumn that gives the animal a Jekyll and Hyde persona. This change of personality only affects the males – more often referred to as stags – and is brought about by the annual rut, a time when the red deer breed and tensions run high.