We paid a visit today to Bakewell in Derbyshire, about 45mins drive away. I wanted to go to The Original Farmer’s Market Shop to stock up on various gamey things, and also to lunch at the Tiroler Stuberl, an authentic Austrian coffee-house / deli somewhat incongruously situated in the rather touristy Peak District town. Much to my Austrian wife’s disappointment, it was closed for the week, so we repaired to a cafe more in keeping with the environs for bacon, egg and sausage sarnies all round.

But back to the shopping.

Game has been pretty hard to come by in my part of north Derbyshire this year. The butcher has had venison but not a lot else, and while the fishmonger normally has pheasant and mallard, nothing has been forthcoming so far this season. With October rapidly running out without my game fix something needed to be done, and if that meant a day off work and braving the tourist throng with two fractious kids then so be it. Bakewell it had to be.

As you can see from the web site linked to above, this shop isn’t exactly inexpensive (the mallard, for example is 50% more than I usually pay), but for a game lover it’s a treat. I came away with a couple of wild rabbits, a couple of wood pigeons, a partridge, and - much to the consternation of my wildlife-loving wife - an oven ready squirrel.

Add to that some Gloucester Old Spot bacon, a frozen haggis, some reasonably local pressed apple juice, some distinctly non-local Polish dried mushrooms and a fresh loaf, and I was satisfied with my £35.

Tonight’s tea combined a rabbit with some of the bacon, apple juice and mushrooms plus a touch of soured cream, and my 2yr old daughter was most pleased.

Now, what to do with that squirrel?

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