For obvious reasons, Strawberry Fields co-founders Tara Medina and Billy Staughton (also co-owner of Melbourne’s native-ingredient-focused bar
Galah) couldn’t physically go into “The Wildlands” for the regional music festival in 2020. But they could – metaphorically – for a completely different project.
Late last year they launched Discovered Wildfoods – a new delivery service centred around sustainable, ethically harvested Australian wild game meats. Specifically wild Sambar venison.
The mission is two-fold, Medina tells Broadsheet. “We’re giving people something delicious to eat, but more than that we’re helping fix a problem by making sustainability and ethics a crucial part of our model.”
Deer have long been a hazard to native flora and fauna in Australia, as well as a serial pest to farmers and their crops. And when the Victorian government moved to allow the commercial hunting of deer in 2018, it inspired Medina to be part of the conscious-carnivore movement.
“Our wild game never experiences a moment in captivity, it’s never coerced, it lives a truly wild life and isn’t told what to eat or where to be,” she says. The animals are harvested by way of a single headshot with a suppressed rifle, after being located with infrared camera and drones, so as not to alert their attention.
The Sambar deer are sourced all the way from Far East Gippsland and the Nariel Valley in Victoria to NSW’s South Coast and Snowy Mountains. Working with landowners and harvesters, the process is aided by Wild Game Resources Australia – a pioneer in game harvesting since 1952.
The range of wild venison is also certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Reduction Institute.
Discovered sells eye fillet and backstrap, as well as ground venison, shanks, legs and more. So, it’s great whether you’re into seared prime cuts and long braises or light tartares and cured smallgoods.
The key to cooking a knockout meal with it, Medina says, is to let go of any preconceptions you might have. “There is a lot of stigma about wild game and people automatically think of a gamey taste, that it’s difficult to cook or complex and only prepared in certain ways.”
Firstly, it’s much less gamey than you think. And, “[Cooking with] Sambar venison is very similar to cooking with beef or lamb – there’s slight variations in cooking times, but you can substitute a recipe with beef mince to include venison mince and the shoulder or shanks can be approached the same as any other recipe you find for lamb shoulder,” Medina explains.
To help get you started, there’s a recipe section on the Discovered website. Learn how to make a wild venison burger, a venison cottage pie, or venison meatballs and ragu.
Discovered Wildfoods delivers across metro Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland – and some regional areas. The venison packs start at $99.
