Name: To Stew a Shoulder of Venison
Ingredients: 1 shoulder of venison, boned; Cayenne pepper, to taste; Coarse sea salt, to taste; Pounded mace, to taste; Allspice, a very small amount; Thin slices of fat from a loin of well-fed mutton; Good stock (made with equal parts beef and mutton); Rice flour, for thickening; Claret or port wine, to taste

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

1 shoulder of venison, boned
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Coarse sea salt, to taste
Pounded mace, to taste
Allspice, a very small amount
Thin slices of fat from a loin of well-fed mutton
Good stock (made with equal parts beef and mutton)
Rice flour, for thickening
Claret or port wine, to taste

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

Flatten the boned shoulder of venison on a table.
Season it well with cayenne, salt, pounded mace, and a small amount of allspice.
Lay thin slices of mutton fat over the seasoned venison.
Roll and bind the venison tightly.

Stew and serve

Place it in a vessel nearly its size and pour in enough stock to nearly cover it.
Stew slowly for 3 to 3.5 hours, turning it halfway through.
Serve with a good Espagnole sauce made from the stewing gravy, thickened with rice flour and wine, seasoned to taste.

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.

Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,395 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Mace + allspicetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,189 recipes

Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mutton + beeftop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,373 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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 dish, becoming tender through slow stewing.
Mutton fat: Adds moisture and richness, basting the lean venison as it cooks.
Stock: Provides the cooking liquid that gently braises the meat and forms the base of the gravy.
Rice flour: Thickens the stewing gravy into a smooth 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. Gentle, long cooking breaks down the connective tissue in a tough cut like venison shoulder, making it tender. Boiling instead would toughen the meat and can leave it dry, so keep the liquid at a slow simmer.

Swap the mace

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

Turmericfits better
Nutmegfits better
Marjoramfits better
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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To Stew a Shoulder of Venison