Senior chef and lecturer in culinary arts at Westminster Kingsway College in London, Jose Souto is a game expert who gives master classes on game cookery to chefs worldwide.
Alongside world-renowned photographer Steve Lee, Souto has created a book which not only teaches the reader how to cook venison, but celebrates it.
As venison becomes an increasingly available – and sought after – dish, Souto brings his master classes into the home.
Not just focusing on the cooking of the meat, this book tells the story of the deer from the wild, including stalking at the Gairloch Estate on the west coast of Scotland, to the butcher’s block. With mouth-watering recipes, the book also provides a unique insight into the meat, lovingly introducing and explaining the different cuts of the deer and how to prepare them.
Souto talks from experience, not just as a chef, but as a keen and experienced stalker. He regularly participates in Game Fairs throughout the UK and works closely with Taste of Game. Through his book and his teaching, he aims to inspire a new generation of international chefs who respect deer and cooking as much as he does.
Presented with an array of breathtakingly stunning photographs from Steve Lee, the pair truly capture the essence of the deer as well as the care that goes into preparing and cooking the meat. Words and pictures successfully combine to tell the story of the game larder.
The book contains over 50 recipes, with Souto adding to his own repertoire by inviting guest chefs to add their own favourite venison recipes to the book, opening up a wide range of dishes from simple venison lasagne to elegant dinnerparty show-stoppers.
This is not just a cookery book but a work of art, on which it is clear a lot of time and care has been spent. Each photograph by Lee is worth a thousand words and all tell a story – it is no wonder that he is in demand worldwide.
The exquisite recipes are sure to stir your senses and leave you watering at the mouth, while teaching you all about the meat that is experiencing an unprecedented growth in popularity. The photographs not only offer a fuller understanding of the meat, but also an in-depth insight into the care that has to be taken with it.
Souto and Lee have turned cookery books in to a true art form with Venison – the Game Larder, with budding culinary artists and deer-stalkers alike in for a treat.
Definitely not just another recipe book destined to lie unopened and gathering dust on a shelf, this really is a venison book with a difference.
Venison – The Game Larder, by Jose L Souto, published by Merlin Unwin Books, £25
[review rating=”4″ align = “left”]
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