Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Venison or Game Sausages
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Carefully remove all skin and sinew from the meat.
Mince the meat with the bacon fat.
Season and shape
Season the mixture with salt, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and brandy.
Stuff the mixture into sausage skins or mix in an egg.
Roll the sausages in flour.
Dip them in melted butter and coat with bread crumbs.
Fry
Fry the sausages until golden brown.
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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Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 sausage and gives its meaty texture.
- Bacon fat
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the minced meat from drying out as it cooks.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and a warm, complex flavor to the seasoned mixture.
- Flour
- Gives the sausages a dry surface that helps the coating adhere and brown.
- Butter
- Promotes browning and adds nutty flavor during frying.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp outer crust that browns when the sausages are fried.
The step that matters
Fry the sausages until golden brown. The butter and crumb coating brown quickly at high heat, so moderate heat is needed to colour the outside while the minced meat cooks through evenly.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, pepper, nutmeg, brandy, flour, butter, bread):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, pepper, nutmeg, brandy, flour, butter, bread. 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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