When I was a kid and my dad took us from the South of England to the North of Scotland on holiday I was very impressed when I saw red deer; they are pretty impressive animals. Some of his relatives were involved in gamekeeping so I remember visiting homes that had deer's heads mounted on the wall of their hall. I recall well how one explained that they exported most of their meat to Germany where restaurants were prepared to pay a proper price for venison. Strangely when I lived in Scotland I almost never saw venison on the menu; but then I was a student and was limited by budget where I could eat out.

Talking of red deer - which most people associate today with the Scottish Highlands - it used to have a much wider range and was plentiful in Southern England around 1700. Today in England there are a few red deer on Exmoor, but apparently Queen Anne came to the Liphook area (East Hampshire) to seen her gamekeepers herd red deer. These days though roe deer are still plentiful in central Southern England but again are rarely on menus. What are we doing wrong in the UK?

In the mid 1980s I did a couple of business trips to Germany and was surprised at the quality and good price of venison dishes when eating out. However, when I lived there we never cooked venison. I only started when I realised that my Dad's butcher in the Highlands would sell diced venison for just £7.00/kg - why that's more or less like beef! My first incursions into cooking venison 3 years ago was just doing stews.

A couple of months ago a friend sold me the haunches, shoulders, saddle and fillet of a roe deer. Around that time I made a hot salad using the fillet (there was not enough for every family member so some people got beef). I was surprised how good a roe deer filet tasted; even my wife who is not a game fan liked it.

So what to do with the haunches? They are over 3 kg each so would make a massive roast; and I made a bit of a dog's dinner of roasting the saddle. I have read about using the haunch for steaks so gave that a go this weekend. There were 7 of us for dinner so I cut steaks from the upper haunch (photo omitted for squeamish readers!). I did it with a rocket and watercress salad which is great with hot food as it does not wilt like say lettuce and gives a strong peppery taste to counterbalence the venison.

This is what we tried:

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 kg + venison steak (in this case carved from the haunch)
200 g wild rocket
100 g water cress
3 medium onions
1 large courgette
200 ml red wine
300 ml beef stock
2 garlic cloves
3 medium onions
4 juniper berries
1 dollup redcurrant jelly
1 tblsp flour
vegetable oil
salt
pepper

Method

1. Cut the venison haunch across the grain into steaks of 2-3 cm thickness and season with salt and pepper
2. Heat two griddle pans
3. Cut the courgette into slices about 5 mm thick and season and brush lightly with oil
4. Cut two of the onions into eights and season and brush lightly with oil
5. Chop the remaining onion and garlic cloves finely and fry for about 5 min
6. Add the flour then a minute or two later slowly add the red wine while stirring.
7. Add the redcurrant jelly, crushed juniper berries and beef stock and simmer for a good 15 minutes
8. Meanwhile griddle the courgette and onions
9. Dry fry the steaks on a griddle pan allowing about 90 seconds each side (if set aside the jus will run and this can be added to the sauce)
10. Mix the rocket and watercress salad and serve on plates.
11. Add the courgette, onions, steak and sauce to the salad

Talking of Bangalore...I thought I should look up my restaurant photos...

Like most westerners I was put up in a luxurious hotel. My bedroom was about 10 metres by 4 metres! The hotel only cost $100/night though I understand it is more like $400/night these days. Bill Gates visited Bangalore the same week as me and I was told he rented out 3 floors (apparently the floors above and below him were for security people). The hotel restaurant was very good with tasty vegetarian, fish and meat dishes but was the same every day.

I asked a colleague to take me out to something local. It was nothing like a curry house in the UK and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Food was served from stainless steel utensils. You got a plate like the one on the top left with different sections for different vegetable curries, rice, etc (sorry took no notes!). Drinks were served in stainless steel beakers. Every now and again the waiters would come round with a stainless steel bucket and top up your rice or curry.

The waiters were bare-footed and wore loin cloths.

At the end of the meal, my colleague asked if I wanted to see the kitchen. I of course did! I was fascinated by two guys sitting on the floor making puris.

This guy was preparing the dough while his colleague was frying them. The boss was on hand to thank us for our custom and to show me how clean his ovens were.

I was so pleased to get out of the coccoon of a big hotel. A great evening with great food!

I remember in the 1970s hearing that there were big problems with heart disease in Finland because people were taking in too much fat. The growing season for vegetables there is very short and there are a limited number of fruits other than berries that grow there. Some people were consuming massive amounts of dairy products (full fat).

The Finnish government had a big drive to get people to change their diets and eat far more fruit and vegetables. That programme seems to have also been driven through schools and company canteens. When travelling around Europe you usually can buy a side salad or salad as a main course. However you normally need to pay extra for the side salad. In most Finnish canteens I have visited they are designed so that you hit the salad bar first and stock up on your raw veg (and dressing) before hitting the hot food. Everybody seems to eat their daily salad! The same is true of many ordinary restaurants too.

We refused to let our children eat at the school canteen when we heard that typical meals were a "triple starch" main course of pizza, chips and baked beans; with sticky bun as "dessert". Our office has a simple sandwich bar - and no real canteen - and it is a while since I have been to a company canteen in the UK; however I did not think they were too healthy.

When I had my canteen lunch in Tampere, Finland earlier this week I was reminded of my one and only business trip to India back in 2002. Our office in Bangalore had a rooftop canteen which was a pleasant place to go.

I liked the buffet with its vegetable curries.

...and friendly service!

Just goes to show that even institutionalised food can be interesting and healthy whether in Finland or India.

Having lived abroad from 1987-1998 I sometimes have the feeling that there is a continuum between the late eighties and the end of the century. I often do not know what happened in the UK in that period.

When I lived abroad I often was embarassed at the terrible culinary experiences foreign friends had when they ate out in the UK. Food was often expensive, tasteless and accompanied by surly service. My experience on business trips to the UK was no different unless a customer, colleague or family member could tell me where there was good nosh. In the last 1990s my sisters in London said that the restaurant scene was much improved and indeed experiences got much better. About time too...I thought!

Apart from people travelling abroad, enjoying eating out and then demanding something better at home I have wondered what brought about the change between the eighties and the noughties. I just turned up an article in the Independent on a google search and they say it was all down to Anton Mosimann. I had never heard of this Swiss chef who apparently revolutionised the Dorchester, but there again it happened in my decade abroad.

I do remember my first experiences of posh nosh in the 1970s. My parents could afford to eat out very rarely so a meal in a hotel or restaurant was something very special. I remember being disappointed with what seemed bland tasteless food - I remember the grey meat mentioned in the article! But if it was roasted at five in the morning and reheated in the evening that would explain everything. My first really exciting meals out were as a student in Glasgow in my first curryhouse on Gibson street and my first multi-course Chinese New Year meal at an authentic Chinese restaurant in Sauchiehall Street. I suddendly expanded my taste.

I'm glad things have moved on...

A number of news sites have reported that a company - Balti Wines - wants to offer wines to go with curry. I fear that the initiative is doomed to failure as I believe that good curry and good wine tastes are mutually incompatible.

Very spicy dishes in my view drown out the taste of a good wine. I do not think I could tell much difference in taste between one white (or rose) wine and another when my taste buds are tingling with curry spices. A red wine with curry is totally wasted (and probably tastes odd) as its flavour only jives with relatively unspiced red meat. On the other hand lagers and ales fit quite well - whether a cool Cobra or a hoppy ale.

If a curry is too hot, the best thing of course is yogurt; that's why some accompaniments to curry like raita or mint chutney are yougurt based. In my view most yogurt dishes do not go well with wine either. However the Greeks manage tzatziki with wines like retsina or a red but their food may be herby, garlicy but not really spicy like a curry.

A cool cider also goes with a curry... but wine, no way!