At the Wild game shop in Huntly, I asked the gentleman at the counter whether ‘Wild pork’ was boar.
He looked at me quizzically and stated that since it wasnt specified, it could be boar or sow. I decided to not ask any more questions.

I cut the shoulder up into large cubes then placed in a bowl with diced onion, carrot, garlic and leek and added “1 cup/110ml of the wine” – which is it Tony? Half a cup or a full cup?? I added a full cup, then marinated overnight. At this stage in proceedings, the ingredients and aroma very much matched Soupe au Vin. Not a great sign of things to come, since I wasnt really taken with the winey leeky soup. On the other hand, Coq au vin starts out somewhat like this and is excellent.

Larousse Gastronomique defines ‘Civet’ as the following:

I suppose some of the blood from the boar makes it into the marinade, but it is hardly a defining characteristic.
It would be interesting to see what the general take on this is..

The boar cubes come out of the marinade stained a rich red and needing a pat dry before going into the pot to get browned all over, and set aside while the drained veges go in until caramelised. Next the meat goes back in, along with the marinade juice, some veal stock, a bouquet garni, more wine, and probably some other stuff I am forgetting now and gets simmered for ages then the liquid gets seperated from the meat and carrots, and everything else is strained out and never makes it to the table. At this stage it is apparent what a properly complicated French style affair this is as a pile of bowls and sieves begin to stack up.


At the last minute the meat is once again set aside and the (now very rich) sauce is boiled for a wee bit with bitter chocolate and
red wine vinegar then spooned over the meat. The flavours work perfectly. This recipe impressed me as much as the whole roasted fish basquaise did, and my guests agreed.

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