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 ↓
Roast Haunch of Venison
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the haunch of venison in tepid water.
Dry it thoroughly with a clean, soft cloth.
Cover the fat side with a large sheet of thickly buttered paper.
Make a paste of flour and water about ¾ inch thick.
Spread the paste over the paper.
Cover with two or three sheets of stout paper.
Secure everything with twine.
Place in a roasting pan with a little water.
Roast
Roast in a clear, strong fire.
Baste the paper with butter or clarified drippings.
Roast for 3 to 4 hours, depending on weight and quality; doe venison requires 30 minutes less.
About 20 minutes before done, remove the paste and paper.
Baste the meat with butter.
Lightly dredge the meat with flour.
Let it brown lightly.
Serve
Serve hot with unflavored gravy and currant jelly.
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.
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Venison + curranttop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together443 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Venison + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together957 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Flour + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,077 recipes
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 that is roasted slowly to become tender and cooked through.
- Butter
- Basting fat that keeps the paper and meat moist and promotes gentle browning.
- Flour
- Forms the protective paste crust and is lightly dredged on the meat to help it brown.
- Currant jelly
- Adds sweetness and acidity that balances the rich, gamey flavour of the venison.
The step that matters
Removing the paste and paper about 20 minutes before done. Taking off the protective paste and paper late lets the surface dry and brown; removing it too early leaves the meat pale and exposed to drying in the oven heat.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, butter, flour):
- Raisinfits about as well
- Currantthe original
- Red currantfits about as well
- Lemonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, butter, 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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