The Glorious Twelfth: What it is and why it matters to chefs

Every August, one date on the calendar sends a ripple through kitchens and shooting estates alike: the Glorious Twelfth.

It is the moment red grouse, Britain's only truly wild game bird, becomes legal to shoot and sell, and chefs across the country start planning menus around it.

Below, The Staff Canteen looks at what the day actually is, how chefs are cooking grouse this season, and pulls together our own archive of grouse recipes, tips and videos built up over more than a decade.

What is the Glorious Twelfth?

The Glorious Twelfth falls on August 12 each year and marks the official start of the red grouse shooting season across England, Scotland and Wales, running through to December 10. In Northern Ireland the season runs from August 12 to November 30.

For chefs and restaurants across the UK, the date signals the arrival of the country's only truly wild game bird onto menus, and it remains one of the most talked-about dates in the British culinary calendar.

The tradition dates back to the Game Act 1773, which stated that red grouse could not be sold before August 12, and was later enshrined in the Game Act 1831, the legislation that still underpins England and Wales' shooting law today.

Because English law prohibits game shooting on a Sunday, the opening of the season moves to August 13 in any year when the twelfth falls on a Sunday.

Why grouse, and why the rush?

Red grouse live wild on heather moorland across Scotland and northern England, feeding almost exclusively on young heather shoots, which gives the meat its distinctive dark, gamey flavour.

Unlike pheasant or partridge, grouse cannot be reared and released, making it Britain's only genuinely wild game bird, and one that chefs and shooting estates alike treat with a certain reverence.

• Read more: August seasonal ingredient update

For decades, London's grand restaurants built a small piece of theatre around the twelfth: birds shot at dawn on Scottish and northern moors, driven or flown south, and on the plate in Mayfair and St James's by dinner service the same day.

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That same-day tradition has become harder to deliver in recent years amid breeding difficulties on the moors and rising costs, and coverage of the day now leans as much on chefs' technique with young grouse as it does on the old race-to-London story.

Either way, the twelfth still provides a seasonal dish that guests actively seek out.

How chefs are cooking it

Grouse is a lean, delicate bird best treated simply.

Young birds, generally shot early in the season, respond well to quick roasting and are traditionally served pink, while older birds later in the season suit slower, braised treatments such as a grouse pie or a rich ragu.

The Staff Canteen has covered chef technique on the bird for years, including:

• Tips on buying and preparing grouse;
• Lawrence Keogh's approach at New Street Grill;
• Juri Ravagli's tip from 1 Lombard Street; and
• Advice from D&D London's Paternoster Chop House, South Place Chop House and Butler's Wharf Chop House.

For a deeper dive, The Staff Canteen's Grouse Recipes hub has grown into a running archive of chef recipes, from grouse pie and grouse sausage rolls to Vivek Singh's tandoori grouse breast and a Yorkshire grouse with sweetcorn and black pudding, and is worth bookmarking as a reference through the season.

Watch: chef grouse recipes from The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen's YouTube channel holds one of the best video archives of chefs cooking grouse anywhere online, built up over more than a decade. Highlights include:

• Tom Kitchin preparing and cooking a grouse recipe;
• Tom Kitchin on how to select and prepare grouse;
• Alyn Williams' step-by-step guide to cooking the perfect grouse;
• Alyn Williams' earlier veal and grouse recipe;
• Rob Potter's seasonal grouse with blackberries and girolles;
• Vivek Singh's modern Indian-inspired halibut, grouse and poached pear recipes;

and, more recently,

• Mark Kempson at Kitchen W8 marking the start of game season with a roasted Yorkshire grouse dish.

The full run of grouse videos can be found by searching "grouse" on The Staff Canteen's YouTube channel.

More Glorious Twelfth coverage from The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen has marked the day in different ways over the years, from a celebration of grouse shooting to a round-up of chefs' own grouse pictures and recipes, coverage of The Freemasons celebrating the Glorious Twelfth, and a look back at our top grouse recipe videos.

Together with this year's piece, they form a running picture of how the industry treats the start of game season, and give chefs and readers a single place to come back to each August.

The Staff Canteen will continue to build on this Glorious Twelfth coverage each year, with new chef recipes, tips and video content added as the season opens.