ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603180090
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-18 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS-BANKS STAFF WRITER
I'S a misunderstood meat.
Venison, that is.
Local hunters will tell you there's nothing better than a tasty tenderloin of the wild deer.
Others cringe at the thought of chowing down on anything that conjures up images of Bambi.
People who say they hate venison, deer devotees insist, have probably never had venison.
One thing's for sure. Venison for many folks in the New River Valley is as much a part of the dinner routine as Monday's meatloaf.
It also has graced the table at one of the fanciest gourmet restaurants in the area.
Jud Flynn, head chef at Radford's Alleghany Inn, is wild about venison.
"I think it's a great nutritional value," Flynn said. "It's leaner than most meats, and it's better for you."
"It's exotic," he added. "I think people should try it."
Flynn orders his venison from New Zealand because local game is not USDA inspected and regulated. The farm-raised venison has more fat and virtually none of the "gamey" flavor of wild native deer.
The problem, Flynn said, is that the venison imported from New Zealand is very expensive.
"It's flown in fresh at a wholesale cost of $15.50 per pound," Flynn noted. By comparison, the wholesale price for filet mignon is $7 per pound, Flynn said.
Chef Flynn, who graduated in 1992 from Vermont's New England Culinary Institute, said the secret to a great-tasting venison dish is in the sauce served with the meat. Even diners who think they don't like venison will enjoy it with his poivrade sauce, he said.
"People love this," Flynn said. "It's not my No. 1 seller, but I've had no complaints."
In addition to thyme and crushed green peppercorns, Flynn adds juniper berries (available in health food stores) to the sauce.
"The juniper berries add an exotic flavor which covers up just about anything!" he said, noting that the berries have a sweet gin-tinctured taste.
For his home table, Flynn hunts and processes his own deer meat. His girlfriend, however, refuses to eat the wild game.
"Probably a Bambi thing," Flynn concedes.
"If you think about the animal before you eat it, you won't eat it," he added. "Deer have led a fun life. They've been roaming free, eating nuts and berries and vegetation. They're killed humanely, unlike cattle which are lined up and slaughtered."
Ask Norman Marriott if he's ever eaten venison and if he considers it a healthy food, and he'll answer emphatically, "Yes and yes!"
Marriott, an extension food specialist and professor in Virginia Tech's food science department, said there's not a lot of difference between venison and beef.
"Venison tends to be a little leaner," Marriott explained. "It's a near ideal balance of the essential amino acids."
Marriott offers one suggestion for preparing the meat.
"Be careful not to overcook deer. It's lean and cooks faster," he noted. "You should cook a deer roast to 160 degrees internal temperature. If you overcook it, the meat tends to be dry and not as juicy or tasty."
Donna Duff has been cooking venison for the past seven years. Her father-in-law, an avid hunter, keeps her freezer stocked with it.
"It does have to be cooked right," she said. "Because it's lower in fat, it will dry out or be tough if it's not cooked correctly."
Duff, an English instructor at Radford University and Virginia Tech, said her family likes a variety of dishes made with venison, but she is aware that not everyone finds the game palatable. She recalls the time she and her husband, Scott, took an appetizer made with venison to a church dinner.
"It was raining when we arrived," she said. "By the time we got our coats off and our umbrellas put away, the hostess had taken the dish and put it on the table. I was going to warn everybody that it was venison, but half of the appetizers were gone by the time I got around to it."
"They were telling me how delicious it was," Duff said. "When I explained that it was venison, everyone just looked at me blankly."
Mike East, owner of East Hollow Taxidermy in Blacksburg, doesn't associate with many folks who don't like venison. At the end of hunting season each year, East throws a big party for all of his customers.
The piece de resistance?
"We cook the whole deer over an open pit," East said. "The secret is to use hickory wood."
After East cooks the venison, he grinds the meat and lets it simmer in pots on a gas grill. He adds his homemade barbecue sauce and serves up a whopping batch of venison barbecue.
"If you don't make your own barbecue sauce, I recommend Cattleman's brand," East said. "It's a little more expensive than others, but it's worth it."
East eats venison at least every three weeks. Although he likes the gamey taste of the meat, he offers some suggestions for toning it down.
"Canning the meat instead of freezing it helps take the wild flavor out," he said. "Cooking it in a cast iron skillet makes a world of difference, too."
Others say the secret is to marinate the meat before cooking it. The testimonials for the best marinades range from wine to ginger ale to Italian dressing. One cook suggested a salsa-and-beer mixture.
"I've heard a lot of people say to soak venison in vinegar," noted Larken Smith of Newport.
Smith said he prefers to boil a venison roast, pull the meat off in small pieces and douse it with barbecue sauce. He slaps the meat on a hamburger bun and tops it with creamy coleslaw.
Then, he enjoys.
"If you can't eat it that way, you're in trouble," he said.
Recipes for:
Venison Marinade
Chef Jud's Grilled Venison Loin Poivrade
Chef Jud's Scandanavian Style Sauce for Venison
Mike East's Venison Steak
Donna Duff's Venison Barbecue Cups
Donna Duff's Venison Stroganoff
Donna Duff's Venison Pepper Steak
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: GEORGE WILLS. color.by CNB