Good Game was first conceived when the three founders Pete, Jim and Steve were on a road trip from Topsham to Morocco in a £100 Ford Cavalier. Now, “with years of practice and trials, Good Game is ready to share its fine produce. Everything Topsham based ‘Good Game’ do is by hand, like true artisans. They cure using only salt and natural Exe estuary air. They use no Nitrates, saltpetre or curing agents.” They don’t even use drying chambers – they just hang them in the wind.
Jim, Steve and Pete
I met them in the Route 2 Café Bar in Topsham and was impressed by their passion for traditional meat curing. Not using nitrate preservatives is virtually unheard of in this line of work in Britain. Steve Williams, beams when he talks of using simple old fashioned methods and local produce. “The pork comes from two miles down the road, the chilli in our Chorizo is grown in Devon chilli farms, we like to use everything around us, as it used to be.” 
I’ve had a go at home curing myself but my success was patchy and the ability to get good flavour without tongue curling over–saltiness was surprisingly hard to achieve. Apparently, says Steve, the trick is to be meticulous about cleanliness (against bad bacteria but of course, there’s vital good bacteria in salami, so it’s not that easy) and use the right amount of salt.
These boys have the touch; their cured meats really are fine. They still have day jobs when not championing British salami – Steve is a recruiter for the Telecom industry, Pete’s a commercial yacht skipper and Jim runs a wine business, though with charcuterie this good, I wonder if they’ll have those other jobs for long.
Come and meet them and other producers giving talks and demos at the Powderham Castle Food Festival 2013 on Saturday 5th October:
The Charcuterie Duel – Pipers Farm and Good Game
Peter Greig, of multi-award winning, Pipers Farm Butchers and Steve Williams of ‘Good Game’ British charcuterie will be examining the preservation of meat through smoking, salting, and spicing. They will be duelling over who makes the best coppa and salamis at the Powderham Food Festival.
Devonium & Kitchenalia 