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To Stew a Shoulder of Venison

A venison shoulder is seasoned, wrapped in mutton fat, stewed, and served with a wine‑thickened gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

To Stew a Shoulder of Venison

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the venison

  1. Flatten the boned shoulder of venison on a table.

  2. Season it well with cayenne, coarse sea salt, pounded mace, and a very small amount of allspice.

  3. Lay thin slices of mutton fat over the seasoned venison.

  4. Roll and bind the venison tightly.

Stew and serve

  1. Place it in a vessel nearly its size and pour in enough stock to nearly cover it.

  2. Stew slowly for 3 to 3.5 hours, turning it halfway through.

  3. Serve with a sauce made from the stewing gravy, thickened with rice flour and claret or port wine, seasoned with salt and cayenne.

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. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Mace + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Beef + ricetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,265 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

Venison shoulder
Forms the main body of the stew, becoming tender through long, slow cooking.
Mutton fat
Adds richness and moisture, basting the lean venison as it cooks.
Stock
Provides the cooking liquid that gently braises the meat and forms the gravy.
Rice flour
Thickens the stewing gravy into a smooth, body-rich sauce.
Claret or port wine
Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the finished sauce.

The step that matters

Stew slowly for 3 to 3.5 hours, turning it halfway through.. Long, gentle heat breaks down the tough connective tissue in the shoulder so the meat becomes tender. Turning it ensures even contact with the stock so no part dries or overcooks.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, pepper, allspice, mutton, beef, rice, flour):

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against venison, pepper, allspice, mutton, beef, rice, flour. 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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