Most people who say they do not like pheasant have eaten a dry one, and concluded the fault was the bird.

Why it goes wrong

Pheasant is lean. There is almost no fat in the breast, so the margin between cooked and ruined is about four minutes. Roast it like a chicken and it will be dry, every time.

It is also frequently cooked too fresh. A bird that has not hung has no flavour to lose in the first place.

What we do instead

Braise the legs, treat the breast separately. The legs have the work in them and reward two hours in cider and apples; the breast wants speed and rest.

Our shoot dinner staple is a pheasant casserole with cider and apples for exactly this reason: it is forgiving, it holds, and it tastes of the bird rather than of the oven.

Partridge is different

Smaller, sweeter, and better roasted quickly and served pink. If you have both on a day, roast the partridge and braise the pheasant.

Venison

The easiest of the three to get right and the one people are most nervous of. A roast venison loin with blackberry jus, glazed carrots and a thyme potato rosti is one of the best things on our wedding menus, and it is an autumn dish that happens to suit a formal dinner.

Cooking a shoot’s own birds

We will do it, given reasonable notice and a bird that arrives hung, plucked and dressed. It is worth doing at least once a season — it closes a loop most shoots leave open, and it is the best pheasant anyone on that day will eat.

More on shoot lunch catering.