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 ↓
Roast Venison
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Hang the venison for several days before use, preferably in winter.
If frozen, use it as is.
Wash the meat all over with vinegar and rub it in well, then wipe the meat and rub it with butter or salad oil.
Roast and serve
Roast the venison for about 12 minutes per pound at 350°F (175°C).
Serve with currant jelly and mix 1 tablespoon of currant jelly and a glass of claret into the gravy when thickening.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
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).
-
Venison + curranttop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together443 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Vinegar + curranttop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together693 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
-
Currant + red winetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together113 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Venison
- Is the main meat; its lean, dense texture is what the roasting and resting shape.
- Butter or salad oil
- Adds fat to the surface, helping the meat brown and keeping it from drying out.
- Currant jelly
- Adds sweetness and fruity acidity that balances the rich, gamy meat.
- Red wine
- Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the gravy as it thickens.
The step that matters
Roasting time per pound. Venison is very lean, so overcooking dries it out quickly. Checking doneness with a thermometer, rather than relying only on the clock, helps keep it juicy.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, vinegar, butter, red wine):
- Currantthe original
- Plumfits about as well
- Red currantfits less well
- Grapefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, vinegar, butter, red wine. 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.
More roast venison recipes
You might also like
Venison Pasty7 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.