The first supplier to bite after being asked for an interview was delightful David, from Capreolus Fine Foods of Dorset. After a cheery phone call, I was invited to visit their farm headquarters in the deepest folds of Rampisham in West Dorset. Passing through a farm gate, I pulled up to a series of grain stores and was welcomed by the most delicious waft of oak smoke and promising saltiness in the air. Karen greeted me and gave me a tour of their business in a warren of buildings that they’ve cobbled together themselves. Two butchers were skilfully trimming and preparing cuts of carefully sourced meat and game, before adding them to fresh, homemade cures – Karen highlighted the importance of the fact that their cures are freshly toasted and ground for each batch, to ensure the vibrancy and depth of the flavours in the resulting product. From there, their meats are stored in the maturing room – hung in labelled rows for months and sometimes years, until the perfect level of tenderness, dryness and concentrated meaty goodness is achieved.
For their…show more content… With an inherent passion for curing and smoking at home, they gave it a go on a professional level. Their first product was a cured venison made from roe deer, whose latin name is Capreolus Capreolus, and the business was born. “Fallow deer are Dama Dama in latin, which sounds too much like a takeaway, so we didn’t go with that! Capreolus is far more romantic!” They soon found themselves supplying charcuterie to the River Cottage Canteen and the National Gallery, and quickly gained a loyal following from other chefs and restaurants in the South West and across the
