Maker · Game
Pieter van Meel
Game that starts outdoors and ages in its own game chamber before being boned. At Pieter van Meel the entire chain stays in one hand, from the hunt to the panel-ready cut on your cutting board.
The story
Who's behind it
Pieter van Meel started in 1984 as a poultry butcher on the Centrale Groothandelsmarkt in Amsterdam, in the polder north of the city which has long been known for its poultry suppliers. Since 2012, his three sons run the business: Thomas, Maurits and Wijnand. Over forty years later, there's a specialized game merchant that exclusively supplies catering, restaurants and professional kitchens. No retail shop, no consumer, only professionals.
Where much game trade runs through multiple channels, Van Meel keeps the entire chain in own management. They collect shot game themselves, age it and process it in house.
What really makes it different
The difference lies in the aging and traceability. Shot game is collected and first goes into a conditioned game chamber. Only then is it boned into steaks, loins, stew meat and the rest. That aging determines the tenderness and depth of flavor, and it happens here under own control rather than somewhere in the chain.
The assortment follows the season. Venison and hare belong to fall, wild duck and pheasant to winter. Because most game comes from the Netherlands and origin is traceable per piece, you know at table where it came from. Van Meel also supplies not just the expensive cuts. Alongside venison loin and hare fillet are also legs, shoulders and carcasses on the list, so you can use the whole animal.
How to set yourself apart with this
Put the origin on the menu. Dutch game, collected from the hunt and aged in own game chamber, is a concrete story you can tell without exaggeration. Name the animal and the season, the plate sells itself.
Play the whole animal across multiple courses. The loin pink as a main course, the leg and shoulder as a braise or stew, the carcasses for a fond that carries your sauce. That way you get margin from one delivery and keep your waste low. Order in time: the game comes by season and with two-day delivery, you plan your menu a week ahead.
Chef’s tip
Ask for the noble cuts too, the carcasses and shoulders. The venison carcasses and duck carcasses pull a dark, concentrated fond that carries your whole game menu. That way you profit from the whole animal, not just the loin.
How to use it
Ideas for your menu
Venison loin, brief searing
The boneless loin seared pink, let it rest, slice thin. Little work, big effect as signature on the fall menu.
Rabbit pepper from the leg
Leg and shoulder slowly braised in red wine and game stock. Keep the loin fillet separate for a second, lighter course.
Wild duck, whole
Whole roasted or breast alone pink, carcass along for the sauce. From the hunt or the decoy, depending on what you're after.
Roasted wood pigeon
Whole and oven-ready. Brief and hot, breast pink, on a plate with winter vegetables and a splash of your own jus.
For your menu
“Dutch seasonal game from Pieter van Meel, collected from the hunt and aged in the own game chamber in Amsterdam.”
Products from Pieter van Meel
What we carry from this maker
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Taste it in your own kitchen
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