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Haunch of Red Deer, a LA Kinnaird

A braised haunch of red deer cooked with carrots, onions, celery, parsley, cloves, mace, Madeira, and broth, served with fried potatoes, potato croquettes, and sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Deer and onion work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and 16 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Marinate

  1. Marinate the haunch of red deer for several days, turning it over twice a day.

Braise

  1. In a large braising pan, place the marinated venison and garnish with carrots, onions, celery, parsley, cloves, and mace.

  2. Moisten with Madeira and broth, cover with buttered brown paper, and bring to a boil.

  3. Cover with a lid and place on a moderate stove-fire to braise gently for 7 hours, moistening frequently with its own juices.

Finish and serve

  1. Once done, transfer to a baking sheet and place in the oven for a few minutes to dry the larding.

  2. Glaze the venison and serve it on a platter, garnished with fried potatoes and potato croquettes, with sweet sauce on the side.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Deer + oniontop 12% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together16 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together10,172 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Celery + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together6,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Clove + macetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together8,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

What each ingredient does

Red deer haunch
Lean, dense meat that becomes tender through long, slow braising.
Madeira
Adds aromatic sweetness and acidity to the braising liquid, flavouring the meat as it cooks.
Broth
Provides moisture and savoury body to the braising liquid, keeping the meat from drying out.
Carrots
Release sweetness and aromatic depth into the braising liquid as they cook.
Onions
Contribute savoury sweetness and aroma to the braising liquid.
Celery
Adds aromatic, savoury flavour to the braising liquid.

The step that matters

Slow braising with frequent basting. Venison is lean, so it can dry out if the liquid evaporates or the heat is too high. Keeping a gentle simmer and moistening the meat with its own juices over the long cook keeps the fibres tender and moist.

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (deer, carrot, celery, parsley, clove, mace, butter):

  1. Potatobetter flavor fit
  2. Parsnipabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Capsicumabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against deer, carrot, celery, parsley, clove, mace, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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