Share a meal with someone in need with The Country Food Trust

by Robert Gooch October 23 2017

Would you like to come home to a hearty pheasant casserole or partridge curry created by River Cottage’s former Head Chef Tim Maddams? And feed someone in crisis at the same time? 

The Wild Meat Company is proud to support The Country Food Trust, a unique charity that produces tasty game casseroles and curries in special pouches that can be stored at room temperature. These off-the-shelf meals make great standby dinners, when you need something wholesome and warming in a flash. What’s more, for each pouch bought, The Country Food Trust will donate another to someone living in poverty.

Tim Maddams’ Recipes

Chef Tim Maddams made a name for himself as Head Chef at River Cottage Canteen, making regular TV appearances on Channel 4 with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. A game connoisseur (Hugh delegated the writing of the Game River Cottage Handbook to Tim), game aficionados can be confident that any game recipe devised by Tim is going to be good. 

The Country Food Trust’s County Casserole is a tasty and nutritional dish made with diced British pheasant, green lentils, carrots, onion, swede, herbs and spices. Delicious straight from the pouch, Tim has also developed three alternative serving suggestions for The Country Casserole using other staple ingredients to highlight its versatility. Keep a few pouches in the cupboard to enjoy with herby dumplings or to transform into Tim’s game keepers pie or chilli con casserole!

The mildly spiced Country Curry followed on from the success of the casserole, and is made with British partridge, squash, tomatoes, coconut and spices. Serve with rice or naan bread for a quick and simple supper, adding fresh coriander and chilli if you’ve got them at hand. 

Feeding people in poverty

As well as being designed to be delicious and nutritious, the casserole and curry offer 12-month shelf lives in special pouches that do not require chilling and can be heated in a microwave in just three minutes (or heated in a saucepan). 

With no fridges required, the meal pouches can be easily stored and heated by charities and community groups supporting people in crisis. In their first year, The Country Food Trust fed over 20,000 people: this year they hope to reach 125,000, and in future exceed 250,000.

The Wild Meat Company is helping the charity achieve this ambition by selling The Country Casserole and Country Curry from our online shop. For every pouch purchased, The Country Food Trust will donate one to a person in need. 

Meals are distributed through the national food distribution charity FareShare, as well as through the Salvation Army, Veterans Aid and other charities that support homeless and vulnerable members of the community.

Nutritious, lean meat 

British game birds are ideal ingredients for these meals, being low in saturated fat and higher in vitamins and minerals than mass-produced meat. In addition to purchasing game birds, the charity is also supported by donations from shooting estates, with Sir Ian Botham donating 10,000 pheasants and partridges along with £40,000 to produce the pouches. 

Here at the Wild Meat Company, we’re very happy to be able to support The Country Food Trust’s incredible initiative.

If you’d like to join us in tackling poverty by eating delicious British game (perhaps the easiest win-win ever), visit our Pantry

You can also make a donation to The Country Food Trust by visiting their website.