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Venison Pasty

A pastry-crusted pie made with venison, with a stock made from the bones poured in after baking.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,800 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Venison Pasty

Oven, in the book's wordsA very quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the venison

  1. Wash the venison in warm milk and water for tenderness.

  2. Dry the venison.

  3. Rub the venison with vinegar.

  4. Hang the venison to air dry.

  5. Ensure there is no moisture; if there is, dry it and sprinkle with ginger for preservation.

  6. When ready to use, dip the venison in lukewarm water and dry it before baking.

Make the stock

  1. In the meantime, simmer the venison bones in 2 quarts of water with mace, onion, baked crust, and whole pepper until reduced by half.

  2. Strain the stock.

Assemble and bake

  1. Prepare a thick puff-paste crust for the sides, bottom, and top of the dish.

  2. Lay the venison in the dish with the breast and neck end first.

  3. Place the best end of the neck on top.

  4. Add the butter and water.

  5. If the venison is not fatty enough, soak mutton fat in rape vinegar and red wine for 24 hours.

  6. Place the soaked fat on top of the venison before closing the pasty.

  7. Close the pasty and bake for 2 hours at 400°F (200°C).

  8. Pour the stock into the pasty after baking.

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 + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

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

  2. Onion + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

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

  3. Vinegar + red winetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together575 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

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

  5. Mace + gingertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,152 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

What each ingredient does

Venison
Forms the main meat body, and its fat content determines how moist the finished pasty is.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, helping keep the meat moist during the long bake.
Mutton fat
Adds fat to lean venison, contributing moisture and flavour when used on top.
Mace
Contributes a warm aromatic flavour to the stock.

The step that matters

Dry the venison before baking. Surface moisture must be removed so the crust can brown and crisp rather than steam. Drying also helps the meat hold its texture during the long bake.

Swap the ginger

The recipe marks ginger as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, butter, mace, onion, pepper, vinegar, red wine):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Clovefits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Gingerthe original

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

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