Venison butchery

Muscle/seam boning a roebuck Allow yourself 60 to 90 minutes initially to complete this procedure, but expect to work more quickly with practice.

The process divides neatly into two halves: breaking up the carcass into joints, and trimming the joints so they are ready for portioning.

Skilful muscle boning depends on cutting into meat as little as possible. When parting individual muscles, Everitt-Matthias often runs his fingers rather than a knife-point down the seam. The same techniques apply to fallow, sika and red deer, although they will obviously be heavier animals.

Buying and hanging wild deerÁ‚ºC and +4Á‚ºC.

Prime cuts
Legs. Lay the carcass on its back. Slit through the skin in an arc, following the line of the hind leg where it joins the body A]. Pull the leg back against the bone. Expose the ball of the thigh bone fitting into the socket of the pelvis (aitchbone) and free the bone. Free the leg by cutting it from the backbone. Work from the loin end towards the tail [B]. Repeat with the second hind leg.

Offal. Take out liver, kidneys and any other offal left inside the carcass.

Shoulders. Lay the carcass on its back. Slit through the skin in an arc, following the line of the foreleg where it joins the body [C]. Free the shoulder by pulling it back against the bone [D]. Sever any skin and gristle attaching the shoulder to the carcass. Repeat with the second foreleg/shoulder.

Scrag end (neck). At the neck end, locate a point three ribs back from the neck. Cut through the meat on either side of the carcass. With a cleaver or heavy-duty knife, chop through the neck to remove the scrag [E].

Loins/best end. Everitt-Matthias removes the muscles running either side of the backbone as a single piece, instead of preparing cutlets and chops.

Slit through the skin running down the backbone, starting at the tail end. Keeping the knife-point against the vertebrae, cut down one side of the backbone, freeing the loin [F]. This is where careless cutting costs portions Á¢Â€Â" itÁ¢Â€Â™s easy for the knife to slip and dig into the muscle, or to leave valuable loin attached to the vertebrae.

Fillets. Cut out the two small fillets lying under the vertebrae on the inside of the carcass.

Muscle boning joints, trimming and portioning Haunch/leg. The legs are about the same weight as a spring lambÁ¢Â€Â™s (2kg each). Each divides into six separate pieces, and these form the basis of 20 main courses on Le Champignon SauvageÁ¢Â€Â™s Á‚£42 dinner menu (and two lunch specials).

Lay the leg so that the knuckle bone is exposed and bone out the chump. Turn over the leg so the topside (or cushion) is facing you. Sever the skin around it and, using your fingers as much as possible, prise it free [G].

A silvery seam runs down the leg. Split it and, again using fingers where possible, free the silverside from the leg [H]. The under-cushion is still attached to the bone; use a knife-point to cut it free [I]. A long, thin Á¢Â€ÂœfilletÁ¢Â€Â attaches to this cut, which Everitt-Matthias cuts off and uses as a soup garnish.

You will be left with the shank attached to the bone.

Shoulder. Cut through the bone joining the shank to the shoulder [J]. Lay the shoulder skin-side down. Free the meat lying over the blade bone. Loosen the meat under the blade bone (it has a ridge running down the middle).

Where the shoulder attaches to the foreleg, either tunnel around the bone or cut along the bone to expose it, then cut around it, removing blade bone and leg bone together [K].

Mince. On a lean animal such as roe, the meat around the flanks and from the trim weighs more than 2.5kg, and all of this is valuable. As mince, Everitt-Matthias turns it into crÁƒÂ©pinettes, tortelloni or miniature hachis parmentiers (cottage pies), all served as garnishes, accompaniments or amuse-bouches.

When mincing venison, use a medium blade, because a small one will turn it into a purÁƒÂ©e and a large blade will leave gristle.