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Gravy for Roast Venison
Take three shank-bones of mutton, and put them into a stewpan with a pint of water and six or eight peppercorns, and, after bringing them to a boil, let them simmer gently for two hours. Skim and strain, add a pinch of salt, a table-spoonful of red currant jelly, and a glass of port or claret. Boil up once, and the gravy is ready to serve. If preferred, a table-spoonful of walnut ketchup may be substituted for the jelly and wine. Probable cost, about 8d., exclusive of the wine. Sufficient for nearly a pint of gravy.
A thin bone stock sharpened with fruit and wine — the standard Victorian accompaniment to roast venison, and still the right idea. A few of the measures and ingredients need translating.
- Mutton shanksThree shank-bones from mutton are hard to buy now; lamb shanks, or the sawn shin bones a butcher will usually part with, do the same job. Brown them in the oven at 425F for 25 minutes first if you want more colour and depth than the original plain simmer gives.
- "A glass" of wineVictorian cookery books are not consistent here; a wineglassful is usually reckoned at about 2 fl oz, though some sources allow considerably more, up to a quarter-pint. Start at 2 fl oz of port or claret and add more to taste; port will read sweeter than claret against the jelly.
- Walnut ketchupThe substitution is a savoury one, not sweet: walnut ketchup was a dark, salty, spiced condiment closer to Worcestershire sauce than to anything tomato. If you cannot find a bottle, a teaspoon of mushroom ketchup or Worcestershire gives a comparable note, though neither is identical.
- Skim properlyThis is the hinge. A pint of water on bare bones for two hours yields a weak liquor, and any fat or scum left on it will be the dominant flavour. Skim during the simmer and again after straining, and let the fat rise and be lifted off before the jelly and wine go in.
- Don't boil it awayTwo hours of gentle simmering with a lid ajar will reduce a pint noticeably. Top up with hot water if it drops much below the target, or you will finish with a salty, over-concentrated few tablespoons rather than the near-pint promised.
- Final boil"Boil up once" means bring it briefly to a full boil after the wine goes in, to take off the raw alcohol edge. Longer boiling drives off the wine's aroma entirely, which is the point of adding it.
- SeasoningA pinch of salt assumes an unsalted bone liquor and a well-salted roast. Taste after the jelly and wine are in and adjust; the sweetness of the currant jelly will mask under-salting until the gravy is on the plate.
- YieldJust under a pint, as the recipe says, which is a modest amount of gravy for a roast haunch or saddle. It thickens slightly on cooling but is meant to be served thin, not floured.
Venison has been served with a sweet-sharp fruit accompaniment in English cookery for centuries, long before red currant jelly became the fixed partner it is today — medieval and early modern kitchens reached for verjuice, vinegar and dried fruit to cut the dryness of a lean wild meat. What is notable about this entry is that the gravy is built from mutton bones rather than from the deer itself, mutton being a cheap and plentiful source of stock in the period. The pricing of each recipe — 8d. here, wine excluded — belongs to a genre of cookery writing aimed at households running to a budget, and the walnut ketchup is offered as the alternative for anyone who would rather not open a bottle of port for a sauce.