Cambridge Edition September 2019

CAMBR I DGE ON A P L ATE

G a m e on for organi c SEPTEMBER BRINGS NOT ONLY A CELEBRATION OF ORGANIC PRODUCE, BUT ALSO THE PLEASURE OF EATING GAME, SAYS DR SUE BAILEY

boiled larks or sparrows (which we’d no doubt balk at today). By the 18th century, land enclosure had occurred and legally controlled shooting had been imposed by landowners, with risky game poaching becoming more frequent as common land declined. However, by the 19th century, strict laws started to relax, with the sale of game being legalised and guns licensed under the Game Act of 1831, which is still in force today. This legal protection fixes the dates of the seasons of various species so they can reproduce and preserve an ecological balance, covering red and black grouse, partridge and pheasant; the birds that are commonly known as β€˜game birds’. Obviously, there were many economic reasons for the enclosures, and the regularisation of game was an important factor in the diet of the aristocracy and the smallholder. It’s also worth noting that until the turn of the last century, most food grown or reared was just natural food: the term organic did not exist. No agrochemicals and sprays were used to enhance growth and yields, as the petrochemical industry was in its infancy. The new agricultural techniques, although with short-term benefits, had risks of longer-term side effects such as soil compaction and soil fertility decline, plus the worry of toxic chemicals entering the food supply. Partly as a response to this, 1930s educationalist Rudolf Steiner developed biodynamic farming. Then, in the 40s, Sir Albert Howard (graduate of St John’s College) was an organic farming pioneer and a principal figure in the early organic movement. Cambridge has long been a supporter of organic produce, with Arjuna on Mill Road being early organic suppliers over the last 49 years. Cambridge Organic Food Company’s owner, Duncan Catchpole, says: β€œIn the 21 years we have been in

appled sunlight drifts through the trees and the crow of a cock pheasant is heard in the undergrowth. Outside our cottage, by the back door on a cast iron hook, hangs a brace of pheasants, strung together with orange twine. They are ready for us to pluck, gut, then roast till golden, stuffed with soft pink quinces. We’ll be adding some of our allotment kale and leeks, some spices, a pinch of creativity and a measure of our appreciation of countryside heritage. But first, let’s step back in time. Before the Fens were drained in the 1630s, Tudor Cambridgeshire was rich in game that could be trapped and sold on the market, given to the manor house or consumed in college halls. Game played a healthy and easily accessible role in local larders. Medieval physicians recommended partridges as one of the healthiest of all the game birds, being β€œof moderate heat and moisture and generating good blood”, while Elizabethan Cambridge graduate Sir Hugh Plat wrote one of the earliest household recipe books, Delightes for Ladies , giving recipes for

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C A M B S E D I T I O N . C O . U K

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