Game Cookery

Minced venison and tomato sauce in a Sloppy Joe-style sandwich is an excellent shoot snack alternative to a bacon bap, suggests Cai ap Bryn

Now, I know what most of you are thinking: what on earth is a Sloppy Joe? The title does not sound like a culinary treat at all, does it? However, the Sloppy Joe is a delicious sandwich that’s believed to have originated in America in the 1930s. It comprises a minced-meat filling with a barbecue or tomato sauce addition.

It’s extremely simple and makes it easy to feed a lot of people quickly, as it is ladled inside a burger bun and often served with coleslaw. It’s a cheap meal that’s extremely popular at gatherings and sports games all over the US.

I tried my first Sloppy Joe from a street vendor at a college football game (American football not soccer) in Texas. We went to watch Baylor University play TCU (Texas Christian University) with 45,000 in attendance for a college game. It was a truly unbelievable spectacle.

As noteworthy as the game was, the vast array of street food on offer was even more impressive. I was immediately intrigued by the Sloppy Joe, so I bought one without hesitation. It’s exactly as it sounds — although not only sloppy, but juicy and incredibly delicious, too.

Pick-me-up

It was only recently that I decided this would be excellent recreated using ground venison. I have plenty of primequality fallow venison left from last season, frozen up in 1kg bags, and it needs to be used.

Not only is this sandwich a great addition to a barbecue, it would be excellent for a shoot snack. Hot venison mince on a winter morning sounds like a great pick-meup and an alternative to bacon baps.

“It is ideal that the fallow buck season has started and we can begin deer management”

As I work through my venison stocks, it is ideal that the fallow buck season has now started again and we can begin our deer management and restock the freezer. Here in Sussex, we have large numbers of fallow deer that need to be managed correctly.

Post-covid, we have seen numbers soar due to a drop in both venison prices and demand from the consumer. Last season, we started to really concentrate on managing the increasing numbers. Once all the crops are cut and we have full access to the land, we will certainly be kept busy this year.