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 ↓
Roast Haunch of Venison
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the haunch
Choose a haunch with clear, bright, and thick fat.
Wash the haunch in warm water.
Dry the haunch well with a cloth.
Butter a sheet of white paper and place it over the fat.
Roast
Place the venison in a deep baking dish with a little boiling water.
Cover the venison with a coarse paste made of flour and water, about ½ inch thick.
Lay a thickness of coarse paper over the paste.
Cook in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for four hours or less, depending on the size.
Twenty minutes before it's done, increase the heat to 400°F (200°C).
Remove the paste and paper.
Dredge the joint with flour.
Baste the joint well with butter until nicely browned.
Serve
Garnish the knuckle-bone with a frill of white paper.
Serve the joint with gravy made from its own drippings, 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 + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,077 recipes
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
- Lean, dense meat that becomes tender and juicy with slow roasting.
- Fat (in the method)
- Thick fat protects the meat and bastes it, adding moisture and flavor as it renders.
- Flour
- Forms the coarse paste casing that shields the meat and helps hold in moisture.
- Butter
- Basting butter adds richness and promotes browning on the surface of the joint.
- Currant jelly
- Its sweet-tart flavor balances the rich, gamey taste of the venison.
The step that matters
Covering with the paste and paper. The flour paste and paper shield the lean meat from drying out during long roasting. Removing them later lets the surface brown when basted.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, butter, flour):
- Raisinfits about as well
- Currantthe original
- Red currantfits about as well
- Lemonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, butter, flour. 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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