Why it works: Venison and currant work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 443 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Broiled Venison Steak
Ingredients
Directions
Broil the venison steak quickly over a clear fire until cooked to your liking.
Melt the currant jelly with the butter in a small saucepan.
Pour the melted mixture over the steak.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Serve very hot.
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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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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Currant + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Venison + peppertop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together955 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 steak
- Is the main protein, cooked by quick broiling to set its surface and texture.
- Currant jelly
- Adds sweetness and acidity, and its melted glaze gives the steak a sticky, glossy finish.
- Butter
- Melts with the jelly to add richness and carry flavour over the meat.
The step that matters
Broil the steak quickly over a clear fire. Lean venison dries out and toughens when overcooked, so a fast, hot sear browns the outside while keeping the inside tender. Cooking only to the wanted doneness matters, as the meat keeps cooking briefly after it leaves the heat.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, butter, pepper):
- Lemonfits better
- Red currantfits better
- Grapefits about as well
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, butter, pepper. 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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