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My brother-in-law, who is much younger than me, always had a sophisticated palette. At the age of twelve, when I first met him, he declared that ‘bavette is much the best cut of beef.’ Of course, he’s embarrassed about his pretension now – for a start, these days he would call it ‘skirt’ not ‘bavette’; and furthermore, he wouldn’t assume to tell his butcher brother-in-law which bit of beef is best.

I was reminded this week of two favourite offal dishes from my childhood when a neighbour leant me a book called ‘Odd Bits – How to Cook the Rest of the Animal’. The first was my mum’s stuffed lambs hearts with mashed potato – so comforting – and the second was second was sizzling sweetbreads, cooked by one of the Turkish customers at my dad’s old butcher’s shop in north London...

Now there’s a question! Although I’m rather evangelical about mutton I can understand why it might not appeal - my mother-in-law remembers vats of grey, unappetising mutton stew at school and its taken quite a lot of convincing to get her to give it another try. However, if properly hung, mutton is full of the most delicious flavour and can be roasted and served pink...

I love to mark the passage of the year with seasonal meat. So that, as the frantic buzz of Christmas fades like the blossom on a winter cherry, my thoughts turn – led by an internal compass – to mutton. Because for me, February is mutton...

What a treat to have a joint of ham in the fridge over the Christmas holidays. It’s my favourite for Boxing Day, but also makes a perfect stand-by when you can’t cook another thing - or for putting in a pie or soup when your energy returns. Not to mention the guilty pleasure to be had in picking away at it when no-one’s looking…

Pheasant is a real treat - there’s something about the distinctive flavour that suits the cold winter months; and there’s great pleasure to be taken from anticipating the season and then making the most of it while it lasts (til about mid-February)...

As I write, I notice that the brambles on the hedge in our garden have at last ripened and it brings to mind a recipe using two wonderful local ingredients, blackberries and venison...