Why it works: Vinegar and red wine work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 575 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
To Pot Venison
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the venison
Rub the venison with vinegar.
Let the venison sit for one hour.
Dry the venison with a cloth.
Rub the venison all over with red wine.
Season the venison with beaten mace, pepper, and salt.
Place the venison in an earthen dish.
Pour ½ cup of red wine over the venison.
Pour ½ pound of butter over the venison.
If using a shoulder, cover it with coarse rags.
Bake overnight
Bake the covered venison in a 300°F (150°C) oven overnight.
Make the potted meat
Remove the meat from the bones.
Beat the meat in a mortar with the fat from the gravy.
Add more seasoning and clarified butter if needed.
Continue beating until smooth.
Press the mixture into pots.
Pour clarified butter over the pressed mixture.
Store the pots in a dry place.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Vinegar + red winetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together575 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Venison + red winetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together167 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Red wine + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,599 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Red wine + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,075 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Venison
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender through long, slow baking.
- Vinegar
- Acidity helps tenderize the surface meat before cooking.
- Red wine
- Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the meat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and seals the pressed meat against air.
The step that matters
Baking the covered venison overnight at low heat. Long, gentle heat breaks down the tough connective tissue in venison so the meat becomes tender enough to pull from the bones and beat smooth. Too high a heat or too short a time leaves it dry and stringy.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, vinegar, red wine, pepper, butter):
- Thymefits better
- Rosemaryfits better
- Clovefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, vinegar, red wine, pepper, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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