Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Haunch Op Venison Roasted
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Wash the haunch in warm water and dry it well with a cloth.
Butter a sheet of white paper and place it over the fat of the haunch.
Lay the haunch in a deep roasting pan with a small amount of boiling water.
Cook
Cover with a close-fitting lid or a thick paste made of flour and water, adding brown paper over the paste if used.
Cook in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 2 to 3 hours, depending on the size.
Before it is done, increase the heat, remove the cover, dredge the joint with flour, and baste with butter until browned.
Serve
Garnish the knuckle with a frill of white paper and serve with gravy made from the drippings, after removing the fat.
Serve on hot dishes with currant jelly.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Venison + curranttop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together443 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Venison + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together957 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Venison haunch
- Is the main cut of meat that is slow-roasted until tender.
- Flour
- Forms a sealing paste over the joint and, dredged on the surface, helps it brown.
- Butter
- Adds fat to the surface during basting, promoting browning and a golden finish.
The step that matters
Increasing the heat and removing the cover. Lowering the cover near the end lets the surface brown. Opening the lid too early dries the meat, while leaving it covered too long keeps the surface pale and steamed.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, butter, flour, pepper):
- Lemonfits better
- Red currantfits better
- Limefits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, butter, flour, pepper. 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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