Nicelylean, ifa littledeer

THE cooks in the kitchen of Wyndales Hotel just outside Lanark are

from Motherwell College: a team of two catering students, Elaine

Torrance and Andrea Hastings, with their lecturer, Michael Smith.

They have just returned from a tour of some of Europe's top eating

establishments; part of their award for winning this year's British

Toque d'Or competition, judged in London by a team including Anton

Mosimann. Tonight, however, sleeves are rolled up and they are back at

the stoves. So, are they cooking the winning dinner? ''Well, no,'' says

Smith. ''It's a bit too complicated for a hotel dining-room, but the

dessert is the same.''

It turns out that the winning starter was a feat of culinary mastery

which involved very thin slices of celeriac, sandwiched with duxelle

(mushrooms and onions reduced to a thick paste) and an egg yolk which

was then deep-fried. The yolk, Smith explains, had to remain soft and

unbroken while the rest was just cooked. How many trial runs had they

had? A lot.

Though the winning main course was seafood, they have chosen local

venison for tonight's menu -- a choice of meat which is appearing more

frequently on menus in hotels and restaurants around the country.

Informed catering lecturers like Smith recognise the need for Scottish

students to understand and deal with this native -- and previously much

under-used -- meat which has its own cooking rules.

July and August are reckoned the peak months for Scottish stag venison

though the legal season for shooting stags in Scotland lasts from July 1

until October 30 (hinds, October 21-February 15).

It has been estimated that there are currently around 100,000 too many

deer roaming the Scottish hills and they must be culled to protect the

natural habitat. Wild venison is a valuable food asset providing highly

flavoured, un-fat-marbled meat from animals which have wandered freely

and eaten a diet free from anything man-made.

The marketing of venison is still less sophisticated than other meats,

though it is improving. The meat must be from healthy young animals,

hung long enough to tenderise and butchered carefully to remove sinew

and gristle. If in doubt, choose a long slow cooking method.

Game dealers, who are usually also fish merchants, are good sources of

venison but Scottish estate venison at reasonable prices can be also be

found in some outlets close to the source. At the petrol filling station

at Tomatin they keep a deep-freeze full of Coignafearn venison from the

estate up the glen. On the A82 at the head of Loch Lomond there is the

Larder Shop at the Stagger Inn, Inverarnan, where wild estate venison is

available, also a range of their venison sausages both fresh and

oak-smoked.

The notion that venison must be marinaded to make it tender does not

apply to prime meat from young animals which should be tender anyway.

The real cooking challenge is to keep this low-fat meat from drying out

without adding too much fat.

Making a pie was a traditional Scottish solution; also wrapping the

haunch in a pastry which was then discarded.

Contemporary recipes use foil to achieve the same purpose, though less

decoratively.

FOIL-BAKED VENISON

A foolproof method for a large piece of haunch, shoulder or loin is to

flavour it with crushed juniper berries, salt and pepper; lubricate it

lightly with olive oil; wrap it loosely in a double-layer foil parcel

and bake it in a moderate oven until the meat is just tender (30 minutes

per lb, then check for tenderness every half-hour).

FOIL-BAKED LOIN WITH MUSHROOMS

Ingredients for 1:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4-8 oz (125-250g) boned loin with fat and sinew removed, or loin chop

on the bone

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon rowan jelly

4oz (125g) mushrooms, sliced

Large sheet of greased foil*

Method: Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Heat a frying pan and add

oil. Season the meat and seal quickly on both sides.

Put on the foil. Season with juniper and rowan jelly. Toss the

mushrooms in the oil for a few minutes until they soften and then pour

everything over the meat. Wrap up, not too tightly, in parcel. Bake for

20-30 minutes. Serve in parcel.

* Wrapping in foil can be omitted if meat is to be served rare.

HAUNCH or SHOULDER of VENISON with PUY LENTILS

Ingredients for 6-8:

2 tablespoons oil

3-4 lb (1.5-2 kg) haunch or rolled shoulder

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, sliced

Half a head of celery, chopped

Salt and pepper

Bunch of thyme

Rosemary

Bay leaf

1 cup (8 floz/250 g) water/red wine

1 x 200g tin chopped tomatoes

1lb (500g) puy lentils, soaked for an hour in boiling water

1 jar rowan and/or sloe jelly

Method: Melt oil in pot, add venison and brown on all sides.

Remove. Add onion and saute until well browned. Add carrots and

celery, toss in oil, cover and leave to sweat for five to 10 minutes

stirring occasionally. Add herbs, salt and pepper, water or wine and

tomatoes. Bring to a slow simmer and place meat on top. Cover tightly

and cook very slowly for about an hour. Remove meat, stir in lentils.

Replace meat, turning it and continue cooking for another hour or until

the meat is tender turning it occasionally. Season and slice venison

thinly. Serve on pile of lentils and vegetables with rowan or sloe jelly

and boiled new potatoes or white crusty bread.