The CORD Game Dinner: A Conversation with Karl O’Dell and Joshua Hunter
Venison raviolo, partridge pithivier and a fresh perspective on British game: CORD by Le Cordon Bleu’s Executive Chef Karl O’Dell joins forces with Joshua Hunter, Head Chef at Holland & Holland Shooting Grounds, for a seasonal dinner in London on 16th October. Ahead of their collaboration, they talk to The Knife about deer stalking, cooking grouse and why game deserves a place at the everyday table.
Karl O’Dell
What made Josh the right chef for this collaboration, and what are you hoping to learn from him?
Josh has an incredible understanding of game, not just as a chef but through his experience as a deer stalker. He understands the ingredient from the field to the plate, and that's quite special. I'm really looking forward to sharing ideas, learning from his techniques and seeing how our different approaches work together.
Game can still feel unfamiliar to some people. Which dish on this menu would you give someone trying it for the first time?
I'd probably start with our Highland venison raviolo. It's a familiar, comforting format, but the filling of venison and black pudding brings something completely different. The blackberry and beetroot complement the richness beautifully. It's a lovely introduction to game.
What inspired you to put venison and black pudding inside a raviolo, rather than serve a more familiar cut of meat?
I wanted to do something a little unexpected with venison and show how versatile it can be. Black pudding works brilliantly with its flavour, and the pasta brings everything together in a really delicate way. It's taking two quite traditional British ingredients and presenting them in a more contemporary style.
How did you put the menu together so it feels like one dinner while still showing each chef's personality?
We both have a real respect for the ingredients and classical techniques, so that's our starting point. Josh's dishes showcase his fantastic knowledge of game, while I've taken a slightly different approach with the venison raviolo. The idea was to create a progression of flavours and textures that feels like one complete experience.
You're using venison hung for two weeks. What difference will diners actually taste, and how do you decide when it's ready?
Hanging allows the meat to develop a deeper, more rounded flavour and become more tender. We want to bring out the character of the venison without letting it become too strong. It's about getting that balance right, and working with meat that's been properly handled and we keep a close eye on the meat during the maturing process to make sure its bang on.
What should people ask their butcher or supplier if they want to buy good game and try cooking it at home?
Go to a good butcher who knows exactly where their game comes from, and don't be afraid to ask questions about the different cuts and how to cook them. Start with something relatively straightforward like venison or guinea fowl and remember that game doesn't need to be complicated. Often the simplest cooking lets the ingredient shine.
There's often a lot of tradition around serving game. Which classic idea do you always come back to, and which would you happily leave behind?
I'll always come back to the importance of a really good sauce, something that complements the meat without overwhelming it. What I'd happily leave behind is the idea that game always needs to be heavy, rich and served with lots of traditional accompaniments. There's so much scope to make it lighter, fresher and more interesting.
If this CORD Game Dinner could change one thing about how people think about British game, what would you want it to be?
I'd love people to realise just how versatile and delicious British game can be. It doesn't have to be reserved for country houses or special occasions, and it certainly doesn't have to be intimidating. It's a fantastic seasonal British ingredient that deserves to be enjoyed much more widely.
Joshua Hunter
What first got you excited about cooking game, and which dish made you realise how good it could be?
When I first started working in restaurants, I was at La Trompette in Chiswick, on the hot starters section. One of the dishes was a simple roasted partridge with pearl barley and parsnip purée. I’d grown up familiar with game in things like pies, but this was the first time I’d seen it elevated in a restaurant in a way that really opened my eyes to what it could be. It was a relatively simple dish, but incredibly delicious, and it showed me just how much you could do with game when you treat it well.
How has being a deer stalker changed the way you cook, and how much of that experience do you share with diners?
It’s given me a huge respect for the animal and the whole journey from the field to the plate. I really enjoy talking to diners about it, because there’s so much more to game than what happens in the kitchen. Deer stalking is about understanding the ecosystem and the importance of managing deer populations to keep them healthy. There’s a real sense of responsibility among deer stalkers to ensure animals are dispatched as humanely as possible, and that every part of the animal is used and respected.
It also gives you a real appreciation for the work involved. During the spring and summer, I can be up at 3am to go stalking, and that experience has deepened my respect for the craft and strengthened my desire to share it with others. Whenever I’ve cooked venison from an animal I’ve stalked myself, I’ve enjoyed sharing that story with diners. It gives them a different understanding of the ingredient and a greater appreciation of what’s on their plate.
Your partridge pithivier brings together smoked bacon and crab apple. Where did that combination come from?
I wanted to bring together the richness of the partridge and smoked bacon with the natural sweetness and acidity of crab apple. It’s a lovely seasonal ingredient that can complement game really well, cutting through the richness and bringing balance to the dish.
How did you put the menu together so it feels like one dinner while still showing each chef’s personality?
When I met Karl and the team, we discussed which types of game we wanted to showcase and what was best in season. From there, it was about choosing different ingredients for each course and making sure we had plenty of variety across the menu, rather than repeating similar dishes or flavours. With so many different types of British game available, we wanted to make the most of that diversity and give each ingredient its own place in the dinner.
Grouse has such a distinctive flavour. What do you want to bring out in it, and what’s the most common mistake people make when cooking it?
I think grouse is sometimes misunderstood, with people expecting it to have an overwhelmingly strong, gamey flavour. We're using young grouse that hasn't been hung for an excessive amount of time, so the flavour should be much more balanced and approachable, even for someone who hasn't tried it before.
The biggest mistake is overcooking it, which can leave the meat dry and intensify those liver-like flavours. Cooked properly, grouse is a really special ingredient, and I think experiencing it at its best can genuinely change people's perceptions of game.
What should people ask their butcher or supplier if they want to buy good game and try cooking it at home?
Provenance should always come first. Ask where the game comes from – it should be British. It seems counterintuitive to me that venison is still being imported from as far away as New Zealand when we have such a fantastic natural source of it here in the UK.
I'd also encourage people to think about how they can make game part of everyday cooking, rather than treating it as something complicated or reserved for special occasions. Spatchcocked partridge, for example, can be marinated and cooked on the grill, and you can buy it prepared, so there's no need to worry about plucking or gutting it yourself. Venison loin is another great option: you can cook it much like a steak, making it an easy way to start exploring game at home.
There's often a lot of tradition around serving game. Which classic idea do you always come back to, and which would you happily leave behind?
I'd happily leave behind the idea that game always needs to be cooked in a stew. That's a great way to prepare certain cuts, such as venison shank, but it doesn't do justice to every type of game or every cut of meat.
One tradition I'd always come back to is eating grouse at the start of the season, particularly around the Glorious Twelfth in August. When it's cooked well and served with classic accompaniments such as game chips, bread sauce and redcurrant jelly, it's something really special. For people who grew up in the countryside or have a connection to shooting, that first grouse of the season can be particularly memorable. It's a tradition worth preserving because, when done properly, it showcases the ingredient at its best.
If this CORD Game Dinner could change one thing about how people think about British game, what would you want it to be?
I'd like people to appreciate just how versatile British game is, both in the variety of ingredients available and the different ways you can cook them. I'd love to see people incorporating it into their everyday cooking at home, rather than thinking of it as something reserved for restaurants or special occasions. It's nutritious, and British game can be a sustainable source of protein when managed responsibly.
There's also a wider reason to encourage people to eat it. Responsible deer management is important for maintaining healthy populations and ecosystems, and there needs to be a market for the meat to make the process viable. By making better use of this natural source of protein, we can support responsible management of our wildlife while making the most of an ingredient we have here in Britain.
