The advantage of having such a huge hunk of deer means there is little chance of it drying out in the oven. It’s a common pitfall when cooking game because the meat has so little fat coating or running through it. So first I chopped carrots and celery and cooked them in garlic “sottofrito”. Because game always loves a bit of fruit, I added some greengage compote we had left over from a crumble, coating the meat and pushing the mixture into long incisions on the surface of the meat and underneath it as it cooks.. Lots of salt and pepper and a bottle of heavy red wine slugged over it. Into the oven at the highest temperature to sizzle.

The beetroot couldn’t be easier. Separate the greens and stalks from the roots. I use my wonderful pressure cooker to cook them as they are, then when they are cooked you just rub off the skin with your hands under a cold tap. The stalks are like chard, you need to cook them first. Oil, salt, lemon juice and pepper. When they are soft add the leaves, a handful of capers and the sliced beetroot. We also had some carrot tops so finely sliced, in they went. It can help to undercook the meat and if necessary finish it on a griddle if people don’t like it too bloody. But sliced on top of this bed of green you get all the smell of earth, meat and rain, like the autumn forest floor.