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To Roast a Haunch of Venison

A method for roasting a haunch of venison with a flour paste and butter coating.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

To Roast a Haunch of Venison

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the venison

  1. Wipe the venison with soft, dry cloths to remove moisture.

  2. Dust the surface with freshly ground pepper or powdered ginger.

  3. Wash the venison slightly with tepid water. Wipe it with damp cloths. Dry it with clean cloths.

Wrap and roast

  1. Cover the fat side with a large sheet of thickly buttered paper.

  2. Make a paste of flour and water about ¾ inch thick and spread the paste over the paper.

  3. Cover with two or three sheets of stout paper and secure the paper with twine.

  4. Place the haunch over a clear fire.

  5. Baste the paper with butter or clarified dripping.

  6. Roast for 3.5 to 4.5 hours, depending on weight and quality; doe venison requires 30 minutes less.

Finish and brown

  1. Twenty minutes before done, remove the paste and paper.

  2. Baste the meat with butter.

  3. Lightly dredge the meat with flour.

  4. Allow the meat to brown lightly.

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. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Venison + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together957 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together50,459 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

  5. Venison + peppertop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together955 recipes

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

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
Is the main cut of meat that gives the dish its body and flavour.
Flour
Forms a protective paste and a light dredge that helps the surface brown.
Butter or clarified dripping
Adds fat that bastes the meat, keeping it moist and promoting browning.

The step that matters

Removing the paste and paper twenty minutes before done. The paper and paste shield the meat while it roasts slowly. Removing them late lets the surface dry and brown, so timing matters to avoid overcooking or pale meat.

“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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