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Extract of Game for Gravy

A liquid base made by simmering game remains with aromatics to produce a savory gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,476 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Extract of Game for Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop up any remains of game or bones.

  2. In a stewpan, melt the butter over medium heat.

  3. Add the chopped shallots, bay leaf, thyme, cloves, and peppercorns; fry until browned.

Simmer and strain

  1. Pour in the stock or water and bring to a boil.

  2. Boil for 15 minutes, then strain through a sieve for use.

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. Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Shallot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,677 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Butter + shallottop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Butter + thymetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,758 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Game remains or bones
Provide the core flavour and body that the gravy is built on.
Butter
Carries the aromatics and adds richness as they fry.
Shallots
Add savoury sweetness and depth as they brown in the fat.
Stock or water
Forms the liquid that extracts flavour from the bones and aromatics.

The step that matters

Frying the shallots and spices until browned. Browning builds deeper flavour through the Maillard reaction. Pale aromatics produce a flat gravy, while over-darkened shallots turn bitter, so watch the colour closely.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, shallot, thyme):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, shallot, thyme. 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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