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Venison, Shoulder Of, Braised

A braised venison shoulder marinated in vinegar and water, cooked with bacon, onion, herbs, and spices, finished with cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Venison, Shoulder Of, Braised

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Marinate

  1. Marinate the venison shoulder in equal parts vinegar and water with savory herbs for 3-4 days.

Braise

  1. In a pan, layer slices of bacon and minced onion.

  2. Add the marinated meat, season with pepper and salt, and add cloves, lemon slice, and butter.

  3. Cover the pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 2 hours, or cook slowly in a covered stewpan.

Finish and serve

  1. Strain the cooking liquid, stir in the cream, and serve hot with red currant jelly.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Clove + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Venison shoulder
Main cut that becomes tender and moist during long, covered cooking.
Vinegar
Acidity in the marinade helps tenderise the meat and adds a tangy note.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the meat and the cooking liquid.
Cream
Stirred into the strained liquid to add richness and smooth the sauce.
Fat bacon
Fat from the bacon bastes the meat and adds savoury flavour as it cooks.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aromatic depth to the braising liquid.

The step that matters

Covered slow cooking. Long, gentle, covered cooking breaks down connective tissue in the tough shoulder while keeping it moist. Cooking too hot or uncovered can dry the meat and leave it chewy.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, vinegar, onion, pepper, clove, butter, cream):

  1. Plumfits about as well
  2. Cherryfits about as well
  3. Lemonthe original
  4. Limefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against venison, vinegar, onion, pepper, clove, butter, cream. 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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