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Haunch of Venison Braised
Trim and remove the spine bone from a small haunch of venison; place in a braising pan with four carrots, four onions, two heads of celery, a garnished fagot of parsley, six cloves and two blades of mace; moisten with a bottle of red wine and enough broth to cover the surface of the ven- [138] `ison; after allowing it to bon over a brisk fire, place it in the oven on a moderate fire to continue braising very gently for about five to six hourstaking care to moisten the surface frequently with its own braise. When the venison is done, take it up on a deep baking dish; put about a pint of its own broth under it, trim it neatly, and mask it all over with a thick coating of the following preparation : Bake some slices of bread of a light brown color, and afterward pound and sift them; put one pound of this into a basin, and add thereto half an ounce of powdered cinnamon, four ounces of fine sugar, and as much port wine as will moisten the whole into a thick paste; use this to cover the haunch of venison, smooth it over with the blade of a knife, and put it into the hot closet to dry the surface of the crust. When about to send to the table, place the venison on a dish, pour over it some cherry sauce, garnish with alternate layers of prunes stewed in wine, and potato quenelles.
A long wine braise finished with a sweet spiced bread crust — a treatment that looks Victorian but reaches back much further. Nearly everything here works today; the language is the obstacle.
- "Bon over a brisk fire"A typesetting error for boil. Bring the pan to a boil on the stovetop first, then transfer it to the oven; that initial boil is what sets the braise going evenly.
- Oven temperature"A moderate fire" is not defined in degrees anywhere in the book; for a five- to six-hour braise held at a bare tremble, something in the region of 300-325F suits the intent. The liquid should never do more than shiver.
- The haunch itselfThe hind leg, bone in; the recipe removes only the spine bone. A "small" park-deer haunch would have been a good deal heavier than most farmed venison legs sold today, which are smaller and may well be tender before the stated five to six hours. Judge by a fork sliding out with no resistance rather than by the clock.
- Garnished fagotA bouquet garni: parsley stalks tied with thyme and bay, often bound inside a strip of leek or celery. "Garnished" simply means the herbs are bundled with aromatics rather than loose.
- Blades of maceThe dried lacy aril of the nutmeg, sold whole as "blades" or ground. Equivalents for a blade vary; if substituting ground mace use a small pinch or two, though whole is better here since it comes out with the vegetables.
- The masking pasteBread "baked light brown, pounded and sifted" is what older books call raspings — dry, sieved, toasted crumbs, not fresh breadcrumbs. A pound of them is a large quantity; scale to what will actually coat the joint, keeping the proportion of four parts crumb to one part sugar, with cinnamon and port to bind.
- "The hot closet"The warming compartment of a range, kept gently warm rather than hot. A domestic oven at its lowest setting for 20-30 minutes will dry and set the crust without colouring it further.
- Potato quenellesDuchesse-style potato — riced potato bound with egg yolk and butter — shaped between two spoons and poached or baked. They are a garnish, not a side dish.
- ServingA joint of this size will serve a large table. Carve so that each portion carries some of the crust.
Venison dressed with sweet spice, sugar and fruit is one of the oldest continuous English meat traditions: medieval and Tudor cooks paired it with cinnamon, prunes and wine, and the pairing survived in country-house cookery long after sugar had left most other savoury dishes. The bread-crumb crust is often said to descend from the flour-and-water paste in which a haunch was traditionally wrapped for roasting to keep the lean meat from drying — on that reading the protective coat has been made edible and turned into a spiced confection. Deer were not market meat in Britain for most of this period; a haunch arrived as a gift from an estate, which is why cookbooks treat it as a ceremonial joint deserving a full bottle of wine and six hours of attention.