Is there a right time for meat?

It’s not just fruit and vegetables that are best when in season. Although most meats are available year-round, they can be even better when served at the right time.

Seasonality is a gastronomy cliché, along with the likes of ‘local’ and ‘artisan’. Yet, it is also strongly associated with fruit and vegetables and not necessarily the world of meat. That bubble may be about to burst though as clever chefs across the UK tap into seasonal meats to build stronger stories around animal flesh and combat the rising consumer movement towards vegetarianism.

In an age where chefs and consumers can have any ingredients whenever they like, it might seem a little old fashioned to only serve proteins when they are ripe. Yet there are a myriad of reasons why you should consider serving flesh only at certain times of the year – with taste and sustainability being the prime ones.

Giving people more of a reason to order a steak – considering the number of vegetarians in the UK has risen by 360% to more than 1m in the past decade – is something many chefs are looking at with greater interest.

A connection with the meat is more important to diners now as they seek assurances about where their food has come from – especially in the wake of the horsemeat scandal and other recent food scares. It is a lack of trust about an animal’s origins that is turning punters away from meat options and on to vegetable-based dishes.

That said, a cohort of chefs is coming forward and championing seasonal meats in their full flavour and glory and, according to NPD Group’s Juliet Cordery, it is working.

“Protein servings are growing ahead of non-protein servings,” she says. “This shows that while people are talking a lot about being vegetarian/vegan, it is affecting their in-home eating more than out of home. When people are eating out of home they want to treat themselves, and often choose to eat meat.”

Meats for the healthy-minded

As with vegetarian and vegan options, sustainable and seasonal meats appeal to the healthy-minded among us, as they are deemed to be ‘free from’. Hormones, artificial flavourings, colours, preservatives and antibiotics are big no-gos for many diners at the moment and without assurances, they are unlikely to pick up that pork chop.

Meat in season also soothes the conscience of the buyer as they sit more comfortably knowing that the food on their plates has had a life free from the claustrophobic confines of a factory cell, and been left to freely roam in the great outdoors, which is a big story with game.

Russell Allen, managing director of meat supplier Aubrey Allen, explains: “Pubs want to be able to point to something different on the menu, and consumers want to know where the meat is from. Is it organic and locally farmed?

“With the main shooting season coming to an end, sales of game meat are strong. And with the British gastropub era making pheasant dishes less gentrified it allows for a good mark-up at restaurants.

“The one-time so called ‘cheaper meats’, like pork belly, have gone up in price so some are moving to different cuts.”

The cliché of going ‘local’ comes in now, as former head chef of the Gordon Ramsay Michelin-starred Maze Grill in Mayfair, Chris Arkadieff says: “Get to know your butcher, and ask them everything you want to know about the meat they have – how it’s bred, when it’s in season, where it’s from, etc. Go the extra mile.”

Arkadieff explains that restaurants are starting to look more closely at the seasonality of the meat on their menus, saying game is becoming bigger in the sector for that reason.

However, when it comes to lamb, he warns: “Spring lamb is an odd one. The UK is holding off from buying Kiwi lamb, which is always sold as spring lamb in spring here, as true English lamb comes on after spring.” Also, up and down the UK, British lamb can be at its prime at different times, depending on the weather, “but Brits don’t mind waiting for the British spring lamb,” says Arkadieff. “It sounds a cliché but people love good British spring lamb.”

Comeback for heritage breeds

Beef, usually a good meat to serve all year round, can also have its seasons, says Arkadieff, who explains: “Although there is not a lot of seasonality in beef, there are many heritage breeds making a comeback. Short ribs of beef and brisket are popular in summer. The low ’n’ slow craze is ‘in’ at the minute, and these cuts lend themselves to a British barbecue, the same can be said about pork belly and pork ends.”

But true seasonality belongs to game, such as 12 August, known in the game world as ‘The Glorious Twelfth’, when the main shooting season begins.

Grouse is one of the true wild, seasonal meats as little, if any, is farmed. “Grouse and pheasant are two of the meats that chefs look forward to cooking,” says Arkadieff. “But while waiting for them to come on the menu at their best in late autumn, try hare or rabbit.”

Bartering pints for game

Seasonal dishes 

Spring          

Rack of lamb with potato gratin and minted vegetables

Summer        

Slow-cooked pork shoulder with borlotti bean cassoulet and greens

Autumn

Grouse with fried brioche and fig purée

Winter           

Venison haunch with braised red wine cabbage, orange and cranberry sauce

*Serving suggestions from James Edwards, chef at Meat Up restaurant, Wandsworth, south London

In the winter, dark wild meats come to the fore, as Arkadieff points out: “Venison is a big topic in the food circles right now. It is very sustainable and there are a number of pubs bartering pints for game. Its flavour works amazingly well with the likes of sloe berries, which are also at their prime in late autumn.

“With chefs also applying the head-to-tail practice to avoid waste, what’s great about venison is you can freeze any odd cuts, along with any pheasant trimmings and make beautiful haunch pies.”

Farmed duck is available all year round, but wild duck is only in season during October to December. The fat content between farmed and wild is very different, with wild duck having up to 50% less fat per 100g, when compared with farmed, due to increased activity.

And finally, wild boar shines particularly brightly during winter months, with its rich and nutty flavours coming from their forest floor foraging. There is strong belief that this British meat could rival its Spanish ibérico counterpart. A spokeswoman from Hockey’s Farm Shop in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, says: “Pannage pork is very popular now, most people make their orders well in advance to get their Christmas meat and all they want is pannage pork.”