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To Stew a Shoulder of Venison When Too Lean

A lean shoulder of venison is stewed with mutton fat, spices, and rich gravy, finished with pepper, cayenne, and claret or port.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Stew a Shoulder of Venison When Too Lean

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the venison

  1. Bone the venison and flatten it.

  2. Lay thin slices of mutton fat over the meat.

  3. Sprinkle with mixed spices and roll it up tightly.

Stew

  1. Stew in a close stewpan with rich beef or mutton gravy.

  2. Add pepper, cayenne, and claret or port when nearly finished.

  3. Stew for three hours, then remove the bandages.

Serve

  1. Dish the venison and pour strained gravy over it.

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. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  2. Mutton + beeftop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Venison + muttontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together279 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,442 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Venison + beeftop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together292 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Shoulder of venison
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender through long, slow stewing.
Thin slices of well-flavored mutton fat
Bastes the lean venison from outside, adding moisture and rich flavor as it melts.
Rich beef or mutton gravy
Provides the cooking liquid that moistens the meat and forms the sauce.
½ cup of claret or port
Adds acidity and fruity depth to the gravy, balancing the richness of the meat and fat.

The step that matters

Stew for three hours, then remove the bandages.. Venison is lean and tough, so it needs long, gentle stewing in liquid to break down connective tissue. Keeping the liquid at a low simmer prevents the meat from drying out and turning stringy.

“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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