Field Harvested Wild Game
Castle Estate is pleased to offer wild game Venison, Kangaroo, Rabbit, Pig and Buffalo, available from the online Providore store. Castle Estate provides a wide range of wild game products to the wholesale and hospitality industry for the domestic and export markets.
In May 2020, Castle Estate obtained Victoria’s first Wild Game processing license for the processing of Field Harvested Venison. In October 2020, Castle Estate became the first Abattoir in Victoria to be approved for the processing of Kangaroo for Human consumption. Castle Estate also becomes Victoria’s first export accredited Wild Game Processor after being issued with a human consumption Tier 2 export license.
All hunters wishing to supply field harvested game, must be accredited with both the local governing authorities and Castle Estate. Please contact the Castle Estate office on 03 5594 5222 to register your interest for wholesale supply of wild game products, or as a registered hunter you can also submit an online query below.
Venison
Venison is lean, clean meat. Higher in protein and lower in fat than beef, it is as free range and healthy as you get. If you’ve never tasted venison, it is close in flavor to grass-fed beef or bison. Rich, lean, but easy to overcook. A general rule is to cook the tender cuts a bit less than you think, and to cook the tougher cuts a bit more than you think.
Kangaroo
Kangaroos are never farmed. They’re sourced from their natural environment – roaming freely across expansive pastoral areas of Australia. This means that the meat that ends up on your plate is free from human intervention, antibiotics, added growth hormones, or chemicals. If you’re looking for a family-friendly red meat that is tasty, healthy, nutritious, easy to cook and sustainably sourced look no further than kangaroo. It is easy-to-cook, tasty, naturally lean and healthy red meat, why not add to your weekly repertoire?
Rabbits
Wild rabbit and farmed rabbit are two very different beasts. Wild rabbit meat is lean and gamy in flavour, rich, earthy and distinct. Wild rabbits run around a lot and the muscles get very developed, which is why the meat is so dark. Farmed rabbits, in contrast, are fat and lazy from lying around the pen eating. Farmed rabbit is white, has lovely creamy fat hanging around its belly and loin, and has a more delicate flavour.
The difference is even more pronounced when the meat is cooked. Farmed rabbit is tender, and can be as soft as butter provided it is cooked a certain way. Wild rabbit has to be cooked for a long time in a wet sauce before it will yield, and it doesn’t roast well. Our Wild Rabbit meat lends itself to slow braising, it can be a tricky beast to tackle, but when cooked with care, rabbit can be deliciously rustic!
