Legend has it that ‘Valentine’s Day’ is named after St. Valentine, a martyred 3rd century Roman who was jailed for failing to denounce Christianity. After falling in love with his jailers daughter he left her a farewell note signing it ‘From your Valentine’. The date of his death (yes, you guessed it, February 14th) eventually became the date for exchanging love messages and flowers, though these days it is more likely to be marked by the fact you can’t get a table in a decent restaurant without 3 months notice. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a hopeless romantic but there is one night of the year I resolutely won’t eat out ‘a deux.’ The very notion of a ‘Valentine’s Night Set Menu’ is my idea of hell and a whole restaurant full of tables for two sends shivers down my spine. Continued…

Cooking and eating game is a relatively recent development for me. I only discovered the joys of pheasant, grouse and partridge after being asked to cook them for other people. You see, where I come from a ‘game bird’ is something altogether less sophisticated than a grouse or pheasant. Continued…