SPORTING ANSWERS
How to barbecue venison
GAMECOOKING
Q I want to cook a venison haunch on a barbecue. What’s the best way of doing it?
A It depends on the haunch in question. If it is a muntjac, Chinese water deer or roe haunch, you could butterfly it by removing the leg bones and using a sharp boning knife to slice the meat, so you open it up from the middle out. Then use a dry rub — try 200g smoked paprika, 50g mustard seeds, 10g garlic powder, 50g soft dark brown sugar and 5g dried mixed herbs — and allow 24 hours in the fridge for the flavours to develop.
Remove the meat from the fridge an hour or two before cooking to allow it to come to an ambient temperature. Season with salt, then put over a roasting-hot but burned-down fire for around 10 minutes per side. The meat can be rested for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Anything bigger than a roe and you could seam out the joints of meat from within the larger leg joint. This is a little tricky.
