Valentine Warner goes hunting for the best autumn meat in What To Eat Now

His philosophy is to work in harmony with nature to capture the intensity of flavour which seasonal produce provides. In the first episode autumn meat is on the menu, including lamb, rabbit and venison.

Valentine is a firm believer that the best lamb is born rather than eaten in spring. Having grazed on summer grass, lamb is at its most flavoursome in autumn. To find wonderfully dark, rich and succulent meat he heads to Snowdonia to meet sheep farmer Alun Edwards, who gave up his acting career to run his father’s sheep farm. Valentine cooks a roast shoulder of lamb with bitter herbs and honey.

Vindolanda, the remains of a Roman fort on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, is under attack again – this time from rabbits. Justin Blake, one of the archaeologists concerned by the damage to the site, keeps the rabbit numbers down with a shotgun. Valentine suggests using an air rifle (it’s quieter) and then cooks a delicious dish for the volunteers – rabbit with peas, cider and lettuce.

Valentine believes that venison, which benefits from being cooked simply, is the quintessential autumn meat. To make a venison pie, he travels to the Ardlussa Estate on the remote island of Jura, in Scotland’s Western Isles. It is home to one of the last pure breeds of red deer. With deer outnumbering the islanders by 25 to 1, Valentine is sure to see a stag, but hunting one may not be so straightforward. He enlists the help of local expert Ewen MacInnes, who has been stalking on Jura for the last 18 years.