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Venison, Haunch Of
Take a well-hung haunch of venison weighing from eighteen to twenty-five pounds. If it weigh less it will not be fully flavoured. Be sure that it is in good condition. To ensure this it should be hung, as soon as it is brought in, in a cool, airy situation. The kernel of the fat should be at once removed, the part from which it is taken wiped dry, and this, as well as the entire haunch, should be dusted with pepper and powdered ginger. The haunch should be examined twice a day, and if any moisture appears it should be wiped with a dry cloth; and the meat should be kept as long as it can be preserved sweet and untainted. In order to ascertain whether or not it is ready for cooking, run a skewer into the flesh close to the bone, and from this judge the state of the meat. When it is to be roasted, saw off the shank-bone, remove the sinews, scrape away the dark dry skin from the skirt, and also the dried surface of the under part. Wipe the haunch thoroughly with damp cloths which have been wrung out of lukewarm water, then dry it perfectly. It should be remembered that the more fat there is on the joint the better it will be, and that in roasting the main object is to preserve the fat. Therefore, first cover the haunch with a large sheet of well-greased, thick, white cartridge paper, then with a stiff paste of flour and water rolled out to the thickness of three-quarters of an inch, and tie securely over this with string or tape two additional sheets of greased paper. Put the haunch down to a clear, sound fire, quite near at first, to harden the paste. Draw it back after a minute or two, then bring it gradually nearer. Baste the venison the moment it is put down, to prevent the outer paper and the string from burning, and continue to baste frequently and liberally till done enough. Half an hour before the meat is done remove the paper and the paste from it, and a few minutes after take away the last paper. Sprinkle a little salt over the meat, dredge the surface lightly with flour, and then baste with butter dissolved in a spoon. Pour the fat from the dripping-tin, keeping back any brown gravy there may be. Add half a tea-cupful of boiling water to this gravy, pour it into a saucepan, and skim off the fat. Boil it, and add a little salt to it. Put the haunch on a very hot dish, and pour the boiling gravy through a strainer upon it. Pin a frill of white paper round the knuckle-bone. Send venison gravy (see VENISON, GRAVY FOR) and venison sauce to table in a tureen, and let red currant jelly be served on a separate dish. The gravy should be prepared the day before it is wanted, to ensure its being free from fat. French beans plainly boiled are a suitable accompaniment to haunch of venison. Venison fat hardens so quickly that especial care should be taken that the plates are very hot; indeed, hot-water plates ought to be used. Time to roast the venison, from four to five hours, or about thirteen minutes to the pound when the haunch is weighed with the paste on. Although the omission is by no means recommended, some cooks omit the flour-and-water paste; then the haunch will not need to be down so long. Doe venison will be done before buck venison. Venison is preferred underdone rather than overdone. Probable cost of venison, very uncertain. Sufficient for twenty persons.
A joint on this scale assumes an open fire, a spit and a household of twenty. The method translates to an oven, but the two things that decide the outcome are the internal temperature and the meat's leanness.
- Start with the thermometer, not the clockThirteen minutes to the pound with a jacket of paste on will overshoot badly in a modern oven. Venison leg is lean and dries out past medium rare: pull it at 125-130F at the thickest part near the bone and rest it 30 minutes. The book's own preference for underdone rather than overdone is the instruction to follow.
- The hangingAgeing a haunch in a "cool, airy situation" until it is as ripe as it will bear, judged by running a skewer into the flesh close to the bone, was normal when larders were cold and game came in whole. Do not attempt it in a modern house at room temperature. Buy venison already hung and aged under refrigeration by a butcher or game dealer.
- Paste and paperThe flour-and-water crust and the greased cartridge paper are a heat shield for spit roasting, meant to keep the thin fat covering from rendering away. In an oven, cover the haunch loosely with foil, or bard it with sheets of pork back fat or thin-sliced fatty bacon tied on, removing the covering for the last 20-30 minutes to colour the surface.
- Oven settingThe book puts the joint quite near the fire at first to harden the paste, draws it back after a minute or two, then brings it gradually nearer again; it gives no oven temperatures. In an oven, a short hot start followed by steady moderate heat is a reasonable equivalent -- say 450F for 15 minutes, then 325F for the remainder, basting every 20 minutes with the fat in the tin.
- Kernel of the fatThe "kernel" is the lymph gland embedded in the fat at the top of the haunch; it sours first and is still removed by butchers today. The pepper-and-ginger dusting was a preservative measure against flies and surface spoilage, not a seasoning.
- MeasuresA Victorian tea-cupful is usually reckoned at about 5 to 6 fluid ounces, so half a tea-cupful of boiling water is roughly 2½ to 3 fluid ounces. Venison gravy made the day before, so the fat can be lifted off cold, is worth doing exactly as written.
- Scale and yieldEighteen to twenty-five pounds serves the twenty stated. A whole haunch of farmed red or fallow deer today is more often 8-12 lb, which will serve eight to twelve; reduce the timing accordingly and check temperature early.
- Hot platesNot a flourish. Venison fat has a high melting point and sets on a warm plate, giving a tallowy mouthfeel. Heat the plates properly and serve straight from the carving.
Cassell's note that the "probable cost of venison" is "very uncertain" is the most revealing line on the page: through the nineteenth century English venison is generally said to have stood largely apart from the ordinary meat trade, coming from private deer parks and forests as a gift or a perquisite rather than over a butcher's counter, though it was traded to some degree, particularly from Scottish deer forests later in the century. That is also why the instructions dwell so long on receiving, hanging and judging a whole haunch: the cook was handed an unbutchered joint of unknown history and had to bring it into condition herself. The accompaniments are the long-standing English set for deer, red currant jelly and a sharp-sweet venison sauce answering the meat's leanness and gamey flavour, and the frill of white paper round the knuckle is the standard Victorian finish for any bone left projecting for carving. Roasting under a flour-and-water paste, sometimes called a huff paste, was a familiar way of protecting lean joints, and was used the same way for hams.