Ireland: Venison casserole with stout

Deer have been present in Ireland since ancient times, and have been a favorite food for hundreds if not thousands of years (prehistoric sites show that the most ancient Irish ate venison regularly, if not as often as the pork they largely preferred).

Local poets of the first millennium spend a surprising amount of time singing the praises of Irish venison, which they seem to have preferred spit-roasted in times when the grazing was good and the deer were plump. Today, though, venison is valued in Ireland (as elsewhere) for its leanness when compared to many other meats. Most supermarkets across Ireland carry local venison, as deer are plentiful here, both farmed and wild. Phoenix Park in Dublin, the biggest in-city park in Europe, has its own herd of wild deer which have to be culled each season to keep their population from exploding, and their venison disappears from the city's butcher shops as quickly as it turns up.

This recipe's approach to venison deals with the meat's only downside -- its relative dryness -- and pairs it superbly with that most Irish of drinks, stout. (Hint: if you're lucky enough to have a pub or bar near you that serves draft Guinness or Beamish, use that in this dish if at all possible. However, if you're using canned or bottled stout, even the "draft" kind, open it about an hour before you start cooking so that it can breathe a little.)

• 900g / 2 lb stewing venison, such as shoulder

• 3 tablespoons seasoned flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 or 3 large onions, sliced
• 5 or 6 juniper berries, crushed
• 3 allspice berries
• Rind of 1/2 lemon or orange
• 25g / 1 oz / 2 tablespoons butter
• 300ml / 1 1/4 cups chicken or beef stock
• 150ml / 2/3 cup red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
• 300ml / 1 1/4 cups stout (or red wine if preferred)

Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / gas mark 4. Cut the meat into 5cm / 2-inch cubes. Toss the meat in the seasoned flour. Shake off and reserve the excess flour.

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan and fry the meat in it until well browned all over. Lift out the pieces with a slotted spoon and put them into a casserole. Add the onons to the casserole with the juniper berries and allspice, a little salt and black pepper and the lemon or orange rind.

Melt the butter in the pain in which the meat was browned, add the reserved flour, and stir and cook for 1 minute. Mix the stock, vinegar and stout or red wine together and gradually add to the pan, stirring until it boils and thickens.

Pour the sauce over the meat in the casserole, cover closely an dcook in the oven for 1 hour. Reduce the temperature to 150C / 300F / gas mark 2 and cook for a further 2 hours, or until the venison is tender. Check the casserole occasionally and add a little extra stock or water if required. Serve piping hot.

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