Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Venison
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the venison
Bone the venison and remove all sinews.
Cut the venison into square collars of your desired size.
Lard the venison with bacon fat.
Cut the lard into pieces the size of your finger and 3-4 inches long.
Season the venison with pepper, salt, cloves, and nutmeg.
Roll up the collars.
Tie them tightly with coarse tape.
Pot and bake
Place the collars in deep pots with seasonings at the bottom, some fresh butter, and bay leaves.
Add the remaining seasoning and butter on top.
Cover with finely shredded beef suet.
Seal the pots with coarse paste.
Bake for 4-5 hours.
Remove from the oven and let stand briefly.
Clarify and preserve
Drain the venison from the gravy.
Add more butter to the fat and clarify it over gentle heat.
Skim off any impurities.
Clean the pots or have new ones ready.
Add a little seasoning and clarified butter at the bottom.
Place the venison in the pots and cover with clarified butter, ensuring it is 1 inch above the meat.
Seal with double paper.
Place a tile on top.
They will keep for 6-8 months.
Serve
To serve, briefly immerse the pot in boiling water to release the meat.
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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Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Venison + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together957 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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 that becomes tender during long slow cooking.
- Fat clear bacon
- Larding adds moisture and richness as the lean meat cooks.
- Beef suet
- Forms a fatty cover that seals the meat and helps keep it moist.
- Fresh butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and the clarified layer seals the meat for keeping.
- Cloves
- Adds aromatic spice flavour to the meat.
- Nutmeg
- Adds warm aromatic spice flavour to the meat.
The step that matters
Covering the meat with clarified butter. Clarified butter must fully cover the meat, about 1 inch above it, because it excludes air and prevents spoilage during long storage.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, pepper, nutmeg, butter, beef):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Allspicefits about as well
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, pepper, nutmeg, butter, beef. 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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