Why it works: Cinnamon and cherry match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 551 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Haunch of Venison, a LA St. George
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the venison
Trim the haunch of venison as usual.
Make a circular incision about 8 inches in diameter below the knuckle, then remove the surface of the marked area to leave it bare for larding.
Prepare the venison for braising as previously described.
Braise and crust
Braise the venison gently for 5 to 6 hours, moistening frequently with its own braise.
Transfer the venison to a deep baking dish and add 1 pint of its broth underneath.
Mix the sifted bread, cinnamon, sugar, and enough port wine to form a thick paste.
Cover the haunch with the paste, smooth it with a knife, and dry in a hot oven.
Serve
Before serving, place the venison on a dish, pour Victoria cherry sauce around it, and garnish with prunes and potato quenelles.
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.
-
Cinnamon + cherrytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together551 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Venison + port winetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together239 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Port wine + winetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together128 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
-
Port wine + cherrytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).
Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender through long, gentle braising.
- Bread
- Baked and sifted, it forms a thick paste that coats and crisps on the surface.
- Port wine
- Moistens the bread mixture so it binds into a spreadable paste.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the paste brown in the oven.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma and flavour to the bread crust.
The step that matters
Drying the paste in a hot oven. The paste must be dried until it sets and browns without burning. Too little heat leaves it soggy, while too much can scorch the sugar before the crust is properly dry.
Swap the cherry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, bread, cinnamon, sugar, port wine, sauce, wine):
- Applefits better
- Figfits better
- Plumfits better
- Cherrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, bread, cinnamon, sugar, port wine, sauce, 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.
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.