Oh, deer

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

BY BETH D'ADDONO

For the Star-Ledger

If chef Sixto Alonso had his way, venison would be the other red meat.

Alonso, a Freehold resident and professor at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, prizes venison for its rich, woodsy flavor.

"Venison has a very distinctive taste," said Alonso, who hails from Barcelona, Spain and grew up in Lyon, France. He's hunted deer since he moved to New Jersey 25 years ago.

  "Venison tastes like no other meat, with a flavor that can change from deer to deer, depending on what the animals eat," said Alonso, who harvested his first nine-point buck this season. "I waited a long time for that buck. When I was younger, I smoked the meat, brined it, marinated it -- I even made hats from the skin. I've been through all that. Now, I stay simple. I like to eat the straps (considered the filet mignon of venison) plain, grilled, with nothing on them at all." Alonso's homemade venison sausage, written up recently in Field and Stream magazine, is one of his specialties.

Most chefs, unlike Alonso, don't shoot their own deer. James Laird, chef/owner of Restaurant Serenade in Chatham, prefers New Zealand pasture-raised venison to domestic, which he finds cost prohibitive. New Zealand venison is raised naturally, free of steroids, hormones or artificial growth stimulants. "The deer in New Zealand run around on 15,000 acre farms, eating brush in the wild. There's nothing domesticated about them."

New Zealand venison, pound for pound, costs about the same as beef. American farmed venison can retail for as much as $40 a pound for the back strap. "I pair venison with seasonal flavors and vegetables like Brussels sprouts, celery root, mushrooms, black truffles and chestnuts," said Laird. "It has a grassy, slightly wild flavor that is just delicious. Since the animals eat brush, I use herbs like thyme and rosemary with the meat. And the flavor of juniper berries, which I grind and use as a spice, really brings out the meat's flavor."

The trick to preparing venison, according to chef Matthew Levin of the Pluckemin Inn in Bedminster, is not to overcook it. "Venison is naturally lean, which makes it very low in fat," said Levin, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who bases the restaurant's New American menu on solid French technique. Three ounces of venison delivers 25 grams of protein and just 4 grams of saturated fat.

"In this area, a lot of people hunt and venison is popular. I pair it with red cabbage," chestnuts and smoked bacon.

Dan Lombardo may not be a professional chef, but he knows how to prepare venison. Lombardo is a member of the Bergen Bowmen, the oldest archery-hunting club in New Jersey. Lombardo, a native of Sussex County, supervises the cooking of the club's annual venison dinner, taking place this year at the Elk's Club in Passaic on April 3. Along with a team of 27 helpers, Lombardo prepares between eight and 12 courses of venison dishes, with the club's chili and meatloaf two popular favorites. The dinner sells out every year. The 250 available tickets, priced at $30 each, go fast.

"A lot of people don't understand the conservation aspect to hunting, how important it is to maintain the quality of the animal's population," he said. "I've been hunting since I was a kid. Thirty, 40 years ago, this area was all farmland. I'd go along with my cousins when they hunted. They were good marksmen and I idolized them. I got involved with archery when I was in the service. Bow hunting is really challenging."

Wild-caught venison can taste gamey, unless it is properly dressed in the field, said Jack Spoto president of United Bowhunters of New Jersey, a 3,000-member umbrella organization to archery clubs statewide.

"Deer must be dressed as soon as possible, especially in warm weather. Field dressing is critical to prevent the meat from becoming contaminated or tasting too gamey." Spoto, of Passaic, spends between 200 and 300 hours a year hunting.

"I'd say the average hunter spends 100 hours before he harvests a deer," he said. "The average success rate for bowhunters in New Jersey is 30 percent, which is higher than any state in the country."

Spoto, who harvests a few deer every season, said a 130-pound deer yields about 45 pounds of butchered meat. Asked if he saves a lot on his grocery bill, he said yes, and no. "In my family, only two of my three kids eat it. And my wife won't touch it. I've been trying to get her to eat venison for 27 years. Every time I make it, I offer her a bite. And every time, she says no."