Rather deer for a tinned ready meal

The A&B Roll wasn't the only tin I brought back from Scotland, or indeed the only interesting Grant's product I found up there. The company portfolio is larger than I initially thought; in addition its various tinned haggis products, it has a 'traditional' range of meat-based ready meals (stews, casseroles, curries and so on), a 'catering' range featuring much larger tins, and a 'gourmet' range of fancier versions of some of the above - "delicious meals produced with the finest quality, locally sourced ingredients", which won 'Top Product Launch' in The Grocer Awards 2011.

The tins retail for around £3, which is certainly high-end pricing for a tinned ready meal. I was lucky enough to find a tin of Venison Casserole reduced to clear down to £1.49 in a Tesco in Edinburgh, which was a little more reasonable. I wondered whether they were trying to get rid of the tins as they weren't selling well; it was only when I got home that I realised that in fact the tin had already passed its best before date by a few months, so shouldn't have been on sale at all.

Still, such a trivial matter as a historical date has never put me off trying tins before, and the idea of a luxury item like venison in a tin appealed to me so much that it there was no question of it doing so this time.

So - to the kitchen! "Lean chunks of venison in a delicious meaty gravy with vegetables", the label promised. Opening the tin, it certainly looked like a rich, unctuous sauce, so I had high hopes as I waited for it to heat through in the pan.