The concept of the Deer Park was introduced to Britain by the Normans with the earliest reference at Woburn dating back to 1661. Herds of nine species of deer graze today in the 3000-acres surrounding Woburn Abbey.

There are a wide variety of cuisines in Indonesia and over 1,300 ethnic groups on the thousands of islands that make up the world’s largest archipelago. Javanese cuisine is one of my favourites and mostly indigenous with a hint of Chinese influence which I think works well with the earthy richness of venison.

Deer have been hunted for centuries in this area. Inscriptions found depict a dish made from knas (deer) that date back to the Mataram Kingdom, a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries.

Wild venison is very lean and ideal to stir fry so I have combined it with a sauce based on Indonesian flavours which are savoury, hot and spicy and a combination of sweet, salty, sour and bitter and used the Indonesian staple, Ketjap manis, which is similar to soy sauce but sweeter with a thick, molasses-like consistency. Ketjap manis was invented in the mid-19th century when Chinese migrants settled on the island of Java. Javanese have a sweet tooth so the Chinese added palm sugar to soy to create this lovely ketchup.

The venison is marinated in Shaoxing wine and soy sauce then stir fried with onion, carrot, ginger and pak choi then a sauce is added made from garlic, chilli, palm sugar, sesame oil, stock and ketjap manis.