A new smokehouse has been set up on a Deeside estate to make better use of the pheasant and venison from it.
Serena Humphrey is behind The Deeside Smokehouse that will be exhibiting at next weekend’s Taste of Edinburgh, being held in Inverleith Park, and then at the Taste of Grampian at Inverurie’s Thainstone Centre on June 6. She too is heading to the Scottish Game Fair at Scone, near Perth, on July 3, 4 and 5.
She is excited about the business, which aims to add value to the pheasants and deer shot on the Dinnet Estate, near Aboyne, and for which she hopes to find new markets, both locally and nationally. She added: “It just seemed such a waste not to use the pheasants. Game dealers give us tuppence ha’penny for them.
“The idea is that we’re turning them into a really healthy food. Until now pheasant really hasn’t been all that readily available. We’re going to be doing a website and hope to do a bit of mail order. We’re also looking to develop sales through shops, restaurants and hotels.”
The purpose-built smokehouse is producing three varieties of pheasant – hot roasted, a Deeside Glider which is two breasts stuffed with haggis, and a salami.
The venison range is wider. It too includes a hot roasted product. But Mrs Humphrey has also created a venison bacon which is dry-cured and good either cold with salad and lemon or cooked. Venison chorizo and a spicy venison salami are the two other products.
She has further plans for a beef bresaola, a dry-aired salted beef that originates from Italy and which is hung for two to three months.
Mrs Humphrey has been developing plans for the business for the last two years. She went on a meat-smoking course, and followed this up with tutoring in salami last year. She said the smoked pheasant was especially good. “It doesn’t taste gamey at all. It is slightly firmer than a smoked chicken, but much more delicious.”
A website is expected to go live at the end of the month. It will be at www.thedeeside smokehouse.com