Page 27 - Rooftops
P. 27

                  GAME ON
  The rich, earthy flavours of autumn and winter define Chris Lee’s cooking at The Bildeston Crown. He is in his element working with locally shot partridge, as Tessa Allingham found out when writing her book, Suffolk Feast: One County, Twenty Chefs
It’s February 1st, the last day of the shooting season. Keepers and beaters, dressed in their trademark sludgy green and brown, are gathered in the yard
at Box Tree Farm for the traditional last outing. Assorted labradors and spaniels quiver and pace, eager to be done with the early formalities, and for the day to begin.
Our day begins differently, though Chris Lee also looks the part, every inch the shooting man in tweed waistcoat, shirt and tie, 12-bore hooked over a forearm. We head into the fields around the Wattisham farm with Elaine Rushbrook and Sandy her 12-year-old yellow lab. This is 4,000 acres of prime and picturesque Suffolk shooting land, the fields rolling in a gentle East Anglian way, and hedges, woodland, dips and valleys creating an ideal habitat for birds, and some challenging terrain for the
guns.
While her father, Peter, runs the
shoots, Elaine is the calm, unassuming force behind the food side of the Mallard Barn enterprise. She prepares and sells the
feathered and furred game shot on three sites (Box Tree Farm where the Rushbrook family lives, and two estates where they run the shoots – Ampton, north of Bury St Edmunds, and Plashwood Hall near Haughley). “In the season I’m most often covered head to toe in feathers!” says Elaine. “I prepare all the game myself – duck, pheasant, partridge, pigeon, hare, venison – so that it’s ready for chefs like Chris.”
“We’ve always got on really well,” says Chris of the pair’s 15-year professional partnership. “I even bought my gun from Elaine, and she always supplies top-class game.”
And that’s the important thing, because when it comes to cooking, there is little that gets Chris’ chef juices flowing more readily than game. He jokes – a day with Chris is sparky with banter – about the appeal
of a ‘meat and no two veg’ menu.
“Meat every time! I’m into food with
gutsy flavour. I love using truffle, I like
intense reductions, wintry slow-cooked casseroles.” It
tracks back to his mother. “Every morning when I was a kid, sausages, onions and carrots would go into the slow cooker and she’d make a classic ‘one pot wonder’ meal which I loved.”
Back in his orderly kitchen – “yes, I am a bit OCD, I like my J-cloths stacked straight, and drawers must be organised” – he buttons himself into fresh whites. He has a loyal team here – sous chef Stuart Darton has worked with Chris for some 25 years – so it’s not surprising to feel an easy atmosphere as he prepares a classic wellington using Mallard Barn partridge.
It’s a dish that works well with lean game, the wrapping of parma ham, spinach and pastry ensuring the breast meat stays succulent; it’s helped further by a layer of rich duck liver through the middle. Nothing is wasted, the legs confited for the accompanying terrine, the liver and heart kept for a sauce. He slices through the rested meat in its crisp, golden packaging, and arranges it with precision.
It is a good-looking plate of food, but it’s the flavours and textures, powerful and balanced thanks to a ‘
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