Grey squirrel proves a bit hit on the menu at the Royal Oak in Whatcote
MOST of us wouldn’t expect to see squirrel on the menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant, but it’s a big hit at a popular gastro pub.
Michelin star chef Richard Craven, who with wife Solanche owns and runs the Royal Oak in Whatcote, whips up pasta dishes and consommé out of grey squirrel meat. He makes a mousse out of the hind legs and loins and braised shoulder before serving in tortellini. And as 30 or 40 squirrels tend to leave a lot of bones, instead of wasting them, Richard creates broth from them.
According to Richard, although squirrel is a white meat a bit like chicken, because of their diet and how muscular they are, its taste is closer to rabbit.
But squirrel was never something he set out to cook. Eight years ago, a friend working in woodland management near Chipping Camden came to him with an unusual request.
Richard said: “He has to cull grey squirrels because they strip the bark, which eventually kills the trees. Controlling numbers is really important, as they destroy large swathes of woodland if left unchecked.”
He added: “As there were so many of them my friend didn’t want them to go to waste, so asked if there was anything I could do with them and that’s how it started.”
Last week, the host of a popular Russian TV talk show claimed the British were being forced to eat squirrels, due to food shortages and poverty. In fact, they have been on restaurant menus for years.
Grey squirrels were introduced to England from North America in the late 1800s and almost erased the native red squirrel population.
There are now an estimated 2.5 million grey squirrels in Britain, versus just 140,000 red.
Richard’s squirrel pasta and broth dishes are among the recipes shared in his newly published cookery book A Rural Cook. It takes a detailed look at 12 years running a rural business, seasonal ingredients and dishes.
Richard moved to the Cotswolds with his family when he was 10 and went to Chipping Campden school. After meeting South African-born Solanche, they went to Cape Town and worked together at top restaurants.
Once back to the UK, they helped launch The Fuzzy Duck in Armscote and opened the Chef’s Dozen restaurant in Chipping Campden. The couple took over the Royal Oak in 2017 and have built a loyal following among villagers and foodies who come to sample the cooking that won Richard his Michelin star in 2019.
The pub has also just been included in the 2023 Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub Awards.
The Royal Oak’s menu is packed with foraged ingredients and game such as roebuck deer, muntjac, pheasant and grouse.
Free-range eggs, vegetables, rare-breed pork and beef are sourced from Paddock Farm in Brailes.
Deer is often on the menu as there is a wild herd on the hill opposite the pub which must be culled regularly. “They’re not going for the impressive stags, they’re looking at the smaller ones that are a couple of years old, as they want to make sure the herd is as strong as it can be,” Richard explained. “You want the best specimens left for breeding to maintain it for future generations.”
As muntjacs are much smaller than fallow, their diet is mainly young shoots and berries, producing more delicately flavoured meat, so they are particularly popular.
Richard points out that as his pub has just nine tables – it’s easy to be flexible.
“If we have five hares, we can do hare just for one evening and then change the menu.”
He pointed out: “In the old days, they used to hang hares and pheasants on the back of the door almost until the legs fell off. We don’t do an awful lot of that, as we prefer it to have a slightly milder flavour because it’s going to be attractive to more palates. We’re trying to show that game doesn’t have to be man versus food, or a bushtucker-trial type situation, it should be enjoyable.”
While growing up in the Cotswolds, Richard used to beat for the pheasant shoots on the farm where he lived.
“This is a farming community so lots of my friends go out shooting or farm in some way, so I’ve always had those contacts and all chefs make use of the contacts they have,” he explained.
And while in South Africa, he cooked wildebeest and warthog.
“Coming back to the Cotswolds, it made sense to work with local farmers and shoots,” he said. “But it’s important to work only with people you really trust and who have similar values. If we’ve had a fallow that hasn’t been shot particularly well, we’ve said we don’t want it, as it’s not something we want to endorse.”
He said: “Squirrels are a good example, because our contact prides himself they are all headshots, so it’s really quick. They’re running around and that death is a lot less traumatic than a flock of sheep being put on a trailer and driven for hours to a slaughterhouse.
“It’s all about traceability and knowing the people you’re dealing with will put the animal’s welfare first.”
He added: “It’s not a question of trying to kill every squirrel within five miles, it’s about maintaining woodland.”