HUNTING SAMBAR DEER


welcome back to another episode of the wild table in this episode we're going to be chasing some sri lankan samba deer which are one of the 7d species we have in in new zealand and i'm wrapped i've been waiting a while to get the chance to do this that's only just from earlier today some really really fresh tracks through here so we're super super lucky and fortunate that we get to hunt this block because there's a really really high concentration of sampadir here now sambadir one of those they're incredibly big and thick animals so there's a lot of meats on them which i really like um they can also tolerate human presenceuh much more than other deer species so quite often you don't have to walk as far to find the mum yeah so i'm pretty hopeful that we'regonna get some meat on deck to dasambadir are actually quite rare in new zealand and so we are incredibly lucky to be here amongst good numbers of the today the wind unfortunately isn't  on our side and does a bit of a number onus which means that even though there are deer here already there's also deer carpering for cover in the bush already you can't hear it very well but i actually managed to spook several deer and they go off crashing through the bush with all the subtlety of a freight train  nonetheless the sign here is plentiful and it really feels as though there might be a deer standing around every corner we turn all my senses are on fire and i am ready as can be to pull the trigger,

 






so















man i took a standing shutter this year



and for a harrowing few minutes i expect



to find the worst by which i mean



nothing



thoughts about being an idiot in a rush



come to my mind


but after only a few moments we find the


young hand lying in a creek she is


completely still and relief washes away


the feelings of work


what's happened here




yeah that animal just stood still


long enough


i wasn't really going to shoot an animal


quite so young but um


still a yearling when healing


still be good meat and he just stood


still long enough to pull the trigger




it's always a bittersweet experience


with deer they're a majestic and


beautiful creature and i like to see


them thrive and frolic just as much as i


like to hunt them


this is also a very young animal and


wouldn't have been my first choice

but in all reality her meat will be the


most tender and sweet meat you could


possibly ask for


it's funny how you say


bugger it's only a small deer


but when you pick it up you're like hey


it's only a small deer


uh and saying that like these things


even at this stage they're already


bigger than some fellows will ever get


so they'll still be sizable mamma mates


on this


and uh yeah wrapped


absolutely wrapped


okay so um it's about 8 p.m in the


evening and as you can see the light's


starting to die so this hunt would have


been over anywhere and this was just


quite simply the last animal that was


really the first animal animal that we


saw that stood still so i'm quite happy


to take it home and


here's the crux about samba deer right


most people especially here in new


zealand think that they're rubbish for


eating


and we're gonna make something delicious


with this animal and make sure that we


disprove that


once and for all




okay so we brought that beautiful young


sam behind straight home and the good


thing is because she was still so young


and small she actually fits straight


into the chiller i didn't have to any


cutting or anything which made it a


whole lot easier at 11 pm at night which


is what time we got home


so she's been resting uh overnight in in


the chiller getting nice and cool and


firm and then this morning i basically


quartered the animal so i separated it


into its prime cuts


and then we had to think about what to


do with it and here's the thing


this


book we've been having in our position


for a little bit now for a couple months


and it is one of my favorite cookbooks


ever these guys have no idea who i am


but i'd just love to give them a shout


out this is hunt together cook and they


do some beautiful recipes we opted for


capacio cabacho is basically we take


a nice tender cut of meat such as


venison


in this case we're using back strap then


you


give it a little bit of flavor through


some kind of marinade and then sear it


for about a minute on either side on a


really hot cast iron plate and then


stick it back into the fridge for about


15 minutes to chill it right down after


that the meat gets sliced into


beautifully beautifully thin thin slices


and obviously you can serve it with some


other kind of beautiful accompaniments




okay so


this hunk of venison backstrap um i've


taken uh previously and marinated it in


garlic a little little bit of balsamic


vinegar and some olive oil and


chucked a couple of bay leaves in there


as well for flavor and then i've just


set it at room temperature for the last


hour or so


now i'm going to take some fresh flat


leaf italian parsley and chop it real


fine i'm going to take some himalayan


salt and also


a good


um a teaspoon of dijon mustard and then


we're going to marinate this piece of


venison in all those herbs and spices


and then that goes straight on the hot


cast iron plate


and get this place nice and hot so you


just get a little bit of smoke coming


off the cast iron and then you know it's


ready to sear


your red meat on there


okay so this venison really only wants


to be on there for about a minute either


side bugger or just enough to give it a


nice seal on either side and pretty much


leaving it completely rare on the inside


just giving it a nice little see a


little bit of color on the outside


obviously those that the mustard and the


herbs are nice and fragrant now we're


going to pop this straight into the


fridge leave it in there for 15 minutes


okay so with wild food what i try to do


as much as possible is look around to


see what's in season and what is local


that we can serve with it now how does


it get any more local than our tree


right here so our figs right now are


actually in season and ripe and good to


go we've been eating about one or so off


the tree per day each which has been


awesome right now we've got about i


don't know 10 or so ripe on there so


we're going to pick some figs right now


and then we're going to take the figs


and some bacon and we're just going to


sear those on the same cast iron plate


for a little bit and basically just make


it a little side serve for the capacity


once that's ready


so first thing first i'm going to take


this bacon and chuck them on the same


cast iron plate and get that nice and


crispy and then when i cut up those pigs


straight to it


that combination of


sizzling hot cast iron figs bacon or ah


man that's just my personal dream i


think those flavors are on point now i'm


gonna take just a wee bit of maple syrup


and add it over the top to just give it


a little bit more sweetness and then


that's good to go


okay so here's the moment of truth now


we have this beautiful


seared piece of venison backstroke we're


gonna cut it into this really thin thin


slices i haven't done this before so i'm


really keen but i do know that i really


enjoy


red meat especially when it's totally


rare like this so i think i'm going to


really enjoy it plus we've got freshly


baked bread and butter because the figs


and the bacon and to top it off a little


bit of feta


i'm at the very end there and we're


gonna just have this little like finger


food feast um and enjoy this all


together


if this had been an older animal the the


inside of this would be completely red


because obviously it's red meat but


quite interesting on a younger animal


like a like a young deer or even like a


young cow the meat is a much much paler


color but you'd have to look quite


carefully you just have this nice little


seal on the outside and then the inside


is pretty much completely rare


and this as it is




it's just


stunningly flavoursome




yeah


got the acid there from the vinegar


got a nice herby salty crust on it and


the meat itself just totally speaks for


itself




it's bloody good


it's just let me see




my guitar


support um this was


hands down one of the nicest things that


i've made in quite some time actually


really really strongly i recommend this


dish


yeah


a couple minutes do you guys the camera


definitely won't get justice


if i didn't


no i would say it's from probably


high casting songs that's beautiful


there you have it first hand report from


craig the neighbor and i'm a leo so i


give my honest opinion too


if you're 100 too and you haven't tried


this recipe before do yourself a favor


and correct that


as always i offer a moment of gratitude


to the animal this country and good


friends who make meals like this


possible in the first place


you know who you are