Roast grouse with game chips

The famous grouse

You might be more familiar with the whisky than the game bird, let alone have tasted it. The whisky label features a squatty red bird, a little like a pigeon. That’s grouse: the choicest of game birds.

Grouse appears to be the only game bird that can’t be farmed. That means the (famous) red grouse breeding in the upland heather moors of the UK. There are several other species living in North America, Siberia and Europe (ruffed grouse, spruce grouse and ptarmigan) but it’s the Scottish bird that is the greatest delicacy.

The shooting season starts on the Glorious Twelve, 12th August. There is a related environmentally contentious issue: as it can’t be ‘reared and released’ like pheasant, estate owners and their gamekeepers carry out intensive moor management by controlling predators and burning heathers. As always, there’s big money in the game (ha!), as both the hunt is a pastime for the very rich, as well as grouse very pricey to buy. London Rules restaurant (the oldest game serving establishment) is traditionally the first in the season to serve roast grouse to diners quivering in anticipation.

What does grouse taste like?

Grouse is game for grown-ups. For beginners, quail or guinea fowl will be a tame enough start. Intermediate gamers will enjoy partridge and pheasant lest it’s inexpertly dried out in the oven. Advanced gamers can indulge in wood pigeon (tasting like a cross between beef and liver) and wild duck (delicious). Grouse is hardcore.

It smells. It smells of wind and wild and decay. It smells before it’s cooked, whilst cooking and also after you’ve eaten it. The meat tastes slightly bitter, and the flesh clinging to the bones will be weirdly more cooked than on the outside. And if you want to pick the bones cleanly worth of your money, there will be blood red juices dripping down your chin. It’s the food of gods.

To brine or not to brine?

To be fair, brining is not strictly necessary for grouse as it does not tend to dry out in the oven – unless you leave it there for far too long. But since it’s such a pricey treat, you might as well do your absolute best to enjoy it – and brining will make sure it’s succulent and tender. It will also it cook more evenly and slightly quicker than without brining.

It’s absolutely best to brine the grouse for a few hours and then let it dry out in the fridge overnight. I know – it sounds pointless to first soak it, then take pains to dry it but either activity serves a different purpose. Brining makes the meat succulent, and drying the bird helps it brown.

Make up the brine (recipe courtesy of Hank the Hunter) with hot water but let it cool down to room temperature before dunking the grouse. And if you can’t let it chill overnight, allow at least two hours for it, then in the kitchen for another hour to bring it back to room temperature.

How to cook grouse?

Again, wrapping the birds in bacon isn’t essential but nice. Make sure you secure the package with kitchen string before landing the bird in the pan.

It’s important to sear the bird well all over, bacon wrapped or not, because it partly cooks it. Also the bacon wrapped around it needs to be crisp, so make sure you spend some time turning them around, browning in the pan.

Then it’s time for them to go into a very hot oven, onto a tray with some onion, and a splash of wine so the aromatics don’t burn.

And the trick is to roast it briefly on one, then the other breast, propping the bird with the onions if necessary, and then slightly longer on its back. That short time in the oven combined with thorough searing will give you a perfectly medium-rare cooked grouse, which is the textbook crookedness for this game bird.

How to make game chips

Game chips are crisps that you eat hot, freshly fried, that’s about all there is to it. They are a traditional side to grouse, partridge or pheasant, going back to early twentieth century and Escoffier.

Why not ordinary chunky chips or roast potatoes? Possibly because either would be a bit too much starch and richness, with game birds being super-rich as they are. And crisps provide a nice variety of textures to the roast meat and, while being far from a light side dish, are lighter and daintier than any other form of potatoes.

If you really don’t want the hassle, serve the grouse with good quality potato crisps from a packet hoping the grouse won’t be too insulted.

If you want to go to the trouble though, slice some Pink Fir or La Ratte potatoes very thinly, on a mandolin or with a peeler (no need to peel them, incidentally). Get the oil in a pan medium hot and fry the chips in batches until very slightly coloured.

When the grouse has rested and is ready to serve, turn up the oil to hotter, and dip the chips second time, drain and salt. It’s not strictly necessary to double-dip them, but you’ll find it less stressful to have them almost ready and only plunge them in for a minute just before serving.

You can also, probably successfully (disclaimer: I haven’t tested it myself) cook them in the air fryer.

More game bird recipes

Braised pheasant with chestnuts, tender and flavourful, it is also the ultimate sustainable food and free range meat.

Roast wild mallard duck, easy to cook, tender and full of flavour. Female specimen are plumper but if in doubt, salt the mallard in advance to tenderise it.

Roast partridge with bacon and pears, an easy recipe for a good game bird. Partridge doesn't taste too strong and isn't too dry if cooked right - here's how.

More poultry recipes

Roast duck with a spice rub. This honey and soy roasted duck recipe is from Tom Kerridge, the seasoning is perfect and the duck is flavoursome, tender and juicy.

Stuffed guinea fowl with spiced and fruity pork stuffing for a special feast. Deboned and rolled guinea fowl, with the special stuffing, won't be out of place on Christmas table.

Recipe for chicken thighs cooked under the skillet – my variation of the ‘chicken under the brick’ dish. This is easy, no need to debone or spatchcock chicken and the result is just as good as with a full chicken cooked on a griddle under a brick.