Issue Thirteen · Page 146Autumn and Winter 2026–27 · page 146A Taste of the Highlands.
WordsJulia BrycePhotographyKimberley Grant & Aeon Creative
Jan Jacob Baak was told it couldn’t be done. Venison was simply too lean to make charcuterie without adding pork. But what they didn’t know was that Jan relishes a challenge.
He and his wife Anja moved from the Netherlands to the Scottish Highlands in 2000, where Jan helped manage the wild deer population on a small country estate. It was here that the couple fell in love with venison and began wondering how they could make the most of this abundant, leaner meat.
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Roasted Grapes, Burrata and Smoked Venison Crostini.
Few people think to roast grapes. Twenty minutes in a hot oven and the sugars concentrate, the skins split, and you get sweet juice running out over whatever sits underneath. Here that's burrata and a slice of smoked venison. Sweet against salt, with crisp bread to hold the lot together. We've put these out at drinks nights before and they never last long.
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