Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Venison Pie or Pastry
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Cut the venison into pieces, combining fat and lean meat.
Place bones and trimmings in a pot with salt, pepper, and enough water or veal broth to cover.
Simmer until a good gravy forms, then strain it.
Assemble
Make a rich pastry and roll it out thick.
Line a deep dish with the pastry, then add the seasoned meat.
Pour the prepared gravy and port wine over the meat.
Dot the top with butter rolled in flour.
Cover with a thick lid of pastry and decorate with leaves and flowers using a cutter.
Bake
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for two or more hours, depending on size.
Brush the top with beaten egg before finishing to achieve a golden brown.
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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Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Venison + port winetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together239 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Provides the main meat, with fat and lean pieces giving flavor and a tender texture when slowly cooked.
- Pastry
- Forms a rich enclosing crust that holds the filling and browns in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, helping the top brown and the pie taste rounded.
- Port wine
- Adds sweetness and depth to the gravy, along with a fruity aroma.
- Nutmeg
- Contributes warm, aromatic spice that complements the rich meat and gravy.
- Mace
- Adds a delicate, warm aroma related to nutmeg, enhancing the savory filling.
The step that matters
Bake long and low until the venison is tender. Venison, especially lean cuts, has connective tissue and little fat, so it needs a long, moderate bake to soften and become tender without drying out.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, pepper, veal, nutmeg, port wine, butter, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, pepper, veal, nutmeg, port wine, 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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