Why it works: Flour and butter 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 ↓
Haunch of Venison
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Make a paste of flour and water to cover the haunch.
Wipe the haunch with a dry cloth.
Grease a large sheet of paper with butter and cover the venison with it.
Roll out the paste to about ¾ inch thick and cover the fat side of the haunch.
Cover with 3-4 sheets of strong white paper and tie securely with packthread.
Roast
Roast in a strong, close fire, basting frequently to prevent burning.
A 20-25 pound haunch takes about 4.5 hours to roast; a 12-18 pound haunch takes 3-3.5 hours.
A quarter hour before done, cut the string and carefully remove the paste.
Baste with butter and lightly dredge with flour.
When froth rises and it turns light brown, garnish the knuckle-bone with cut writing paper.
Serve
Serve with unseasoned gravy and 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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Flour + buttertop 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
Flour and butter 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 when slow-roasted under a protective paste.
- Flour
- Forms a protective paste and, dredged on at the end, helps the surface brown.
- Butter
- Adds fat and moisture to the surface, promoting browning and flavor during basting.
- Strong white paper
- Shields the meat from direct heat so it cooks gently without scorching.
- Currant jelly
- Adds sweetness and acidity that balances the rich, gamey flavor of the meat.
The step that matters
Basting and removing the paste at the right time. Frequent basting keeps the surface moist and prevents scorching in a hot fire. Removing the paste a quarter hour before done lets the surface dry and brown evenly.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, flour, butter):
- Raisinfits about as well
- Currantthe original
- Red currantfits about as well
- Lemonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, flour, butter. 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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