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Venison Pie, Ob Pasty

A savory pie of venison with herbs, gravy, and a buttery crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Venison Pie, Ob Pasty

Oven, in the book's wordsA gentle oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a gentle oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the venison

  1. Remove bones from the venison breasts and flatten the meat.

  2. Season the flattened venison with pepper and salt.

  3. Roll the seasoned venison tightly and tie it with strong thread.

Make the stock and cook the venison

  1. In a pot, stew the bones and trimmings with carrots, onions, parsley, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns, and allspice until nearly dry.

  2. Add beef or mutton broth and water to the pot, and simmer gently until the venison trimmings are cooked.

  3. Remove the venison roll from the pot, cover it with paper, and stew it gently with heat from above and below.

  4. Let the cooked venison roll sit in the liquid until nearly cold.

Assemble and bake

  1. Make a dough with flour and butter, keeping it soft.

  2. Spread some dough around the edge of a dish, place the venison inside, and add some of the stewing gravy.

  3. Cover the venison with the remaining dough, trim the edges, make a hole in the top, glaze with egg, and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 3 to 4 hours.

  4. Reduce the remaining liquid until strong, then pour it into the pie and serve when thoroughly cold.

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. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Venison breasts
Provide the lean meat that becomes the pie's main filling.
Butter
Adds richness and tenderness to the dough, keeping it soft and flaky.
All-purpose flour
Forms the dough that encloses the venison and holds the gravy.
Beef or mutton broth
Adds savoury depth to the stewing gravy that later fills the pie.
Egg
Glazes the crust, promoting browning and a glossy finish.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and aroma to the stock.

The step that matters

Cooling the venison before assembling and reducing the gravy. Letting the meat sit in its liquid until nearly cold keeps it moist and firm enough to slice, while a well-reduced, thoroughly cold gravy sets to a jelly-like consistency that holds the pie together.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, pepper, carrot, parsley, clove, garlic, thyme):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against venison, pepper, carrot, parsley, clove, garlic, thyme. 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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