A guide to modern cookery

Although these two kinds of venison are generally served as relevés, they belong more properly to the roasts, and I shall give their recipes a little later on. In any case, only half of the hind-quarters (that is to say, the leg together with that part of the saddle which reaches from it to the floating ribs) is served at high-class tables. I shall now, therefore, only give the various recipes dealing with roebuck, it being understood that these, if desired, may be applied to corresponding joints of the stag or deer, 1791—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL ET CUISSOT Saddles and legs of roebuck may be prepared after the same recipes, and allow of the same garnishes. The recipes for saddle which I give hereafter may therefore be applied equally well to legs. Whichever joint be selected, it must first be cleared of all tendons and then larded with larding bacon. The last operation is no more essential than is the marinading which in France has become customary with such pieces. It might even be said with justice that marinading is not only useless, but harmful, more particularly in the case of young animals whose meat has been well hung. Unlike many other specimens of game, roebuck has to be eaten fresh; it does not suit it to be in the least tainted. I should like to point out here that game shot in ambush is best, owing to the fact that animals killed after a chase decompose very quickly, and thereby lose a large proportion of their flavour. The saddle of the roebuck generally consists of the whole of the latter’s back, from the withers to the tail, in which case the bones of the ribs are cut very short, that the joint may lie steady at all points. At the croup-end, cut the joint on either side diagonally, from the point of the haunch to the root of the tail. Sometimes, however, the saddle only consists of the lumbar portion of the back, and, in this case, the ribs are cut up to be cooked as cutlets. 1792—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL A L’ALLEMANDE Marinade the saddle for two or three days in raw marinade No. 169, and roast it, on a narrow baking-tray, upon the vegetables of the marinade. As soon as the joint is cooked, withdraw it; swill the tray with a little marinade, and almost entirely reduce. Clear of grease; add two-thirds pint of cream and one powdered juniper berry; reduce by a third; complete with a few drops of melted glaze, and rub through tammy. Serve this sauce at the same time as the saddle, which set on a long dish. 1793—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL A LA BADEN-BADEN The saddle should be marinaded and well dried before being set to cook. Poéle it on the vegetables of the marinade. When it is cooked, put it on a long dish, and, at either end of it, set a garnish of stewed pears, unsugared, but flavoured with cinnamon and lemon-rind. Pour one-third pint of game stock into the tray in which the joint was cooked; cook for ten minutes; strain; clear of grease, and thicken with arrowroot. Serve this thickened stock separately, and send some redcurrant jelly to the table at the same time. 1794—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL AUX CERISES Keep the saddle for twelve hours in marinade (No. 169) made from verjuice instead of vinegar. Roast it on the spit, basting it with the marinade, and keep it slightly underdone. At the same time, serve a cherry sauce consisting of equal quantities of poivrade sauce and red-currant jelly, to each pint of which add three oz. of semi-candied cherries, set to soak in hot water thirty minutes beforehand. N.B.—This saddle need not be marinaded if it be desired plain. 1795—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL A LA CUMBERLAND Roast it like a haunch of venison, without marinading it. Send it to the table with a timbale of French beans, cohered with butter, and serve a Cumberland sauce (No. 134) separately. 1796—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL A LA CREOLE