The Glorious Twelfth – the start of the grouse season in the UK – begins today (August 12^th), with other game including partridge and wild duck coming in soon.

To celebrate, Wild and Game, the Bristol-based company selling wild game across the UK via its website and retail stockists, has released four easy game recipes and more information why eating game is such a good food and lifestyle choice.

Wild game is free from the hormones and other additives found in some farmed meats. These birds and animals are free to roam and forage naturally, resulting in more interesting, full-flavoured meat.

Pheasant or partridge offer a more flavoursome alternative to chicken, although they are closer to the way it used to taste!

Several key game species, including rabbit, venison and wood pigeon, are a highly sustainable source of food as the animals need to be culled to keep population numbers in harmony with the environment and prevent damage to crops and trees.

Wild game is typically leaner than farmed meat, not to mention being more nutritious and higher in protein.

Co-founder Steven Frampton said: “We founded Wild and Game in 2017 with the aim of reviving the tradition of eating game in the UK. We were aware that while game was in plentiful supply in the UK, most people lacked confidence about cooking with it.

“We’ve worked to turn that around – firstly, by selling high quality game pies, ready meals, sausages and burgers to serve as an easy introduction to eating game meat, and secondly by selling ready-to-cook game meat backed by lots of fresh recipe ideas to get people cooking with game themselves.”

The company’s sales increased dramatically during lockdown as people sought new ways to add interest to their mealtimes. Its lockdown boxes of game and its monthly recipe boxes have been particularly popular. The company is currently seeing a big rise in demand for venison, which many people are discovering as an interesting, healthy alternative to beef.

Steven added: “The beauty of our products is not just that they taste great; they’re also sourced from the UK’s fields and forests, keeping food miles low and helping support the stewardship of the land.

“By selling frozen game we’ve been able to make it available all year round, not just in game season – but we still get excited when game season begins, because with it comes new additions to our product ranges.

“We’re delighted that people are now rediscovering game and finding interesting new ways to cook with it, and the autumn and winter are traditional times to enjoy game – so we’ve released some recipes to inspire more people to give it a try.”

To find out more, visit www.wildandgame.co.uk