Why it works: Venison and cream share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 90 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
The recipe
6 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Put the chopped onions, carrots, and portobello mushrooms in the bottom of a large slow cooker.
Rub the venison rump roast all over with the crushed garlic, ground black pepper, and salt if using.
In a bowl, whisk the cream of mushroom soup, beef broth, 1/4 cup water, and dry onion gravy mix until smooth.
Set the roast on the vegetables and pour the gravy mixture over it. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, until the meat is very tender.
Check the thickest part of the roast with a meat thermometer; it should reach at least 145°F (63°C). Let it rest 3 minutes before slicing.
Slice or pull the meat, then spoon the sauce and vegetables over it to serve.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Venison + creamtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together90 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Mushroom + beeftop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,231 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Onion + beeftop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,091 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, mushroom, venison, garlic, pepper, cream, beef):
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Spinachabout as good a flavor fit
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, mushroom, venison, garlic, pepper, cream, beef. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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