CHAPTER XV.

=Game.= TO CHOOSE GAME. [Illustration] BUCK venison, which is in season only from June to Michaelmas, is considered finer than doe venison, which comes into the market in October, and remains in season through November and December: neither should be cooked at any other part of the year. The greater the depth of fat upon the haunch the better the quality of the meat will be, provided it be clear and white, and the lean of a dark hue. If the cleft of the hoof, which is always left on the joint, be small and smooth, the animal is young; but it is old when the marks are the reverse of these.[91] Although the haunch is the prime and favourite joint of venison, the neck and shoulder are also excellent, dressed in various ways, and make much approved pies or _pasties_ as they are usually called. If kept to the proper point, and well dressed, this is the most tender of all meat; but care is necessary to bring it into a fitting state for table without its becoming offensive. A free current of air in a larder is always a great advantage, as it assists materially in preserving the sweetness of every thing which is kept in it, while a close damp atmosphere, on the contrary, is more destructive of animal food of all kinds even than positive heat. The fumes of creosote are said to be an admirable preservative against putrescence, but we have not ourselves yet had experience of the fact. All moisture should be wiped daily, or even more frequently, from the venison, with soft cloths, when any appears upon the surface; and every precaution must be taken to keep off the flies, when the joint is not hung in a wire-safe. Black pepper thickly powdered on it will generally answer the purpose: with common care, indeed, meat may always be protected from their attacks, and to leave it exposed to them in warm weather is altogether inexcusable in the cook. Footnote 91: It must be observed that venison is not in perfection when young: like mutton, it requires to be of a certain age before it is brought to table. The word _cleft_ applies also to the thickest part of the haunch, and it is the depth of the fat on this which decides the quality of the joint. Hares and rabbits are stiff when freshly killed, and if young, the ears tear easily, and the claws are smooth and sharp. A hare in cold weather will remain good from ten to fourteen days; care only must be taken to prevent the inside from becoming musty, which it will do if it has been emptied in the field. Pheasants, partridges, and other game may be chosen by nearly the same tests as poultry: by opening the bill, the staleness will be detected easily if they have been too long kept. With few exceptions, game depends almost entirely for the fine flavour and the tenderness of its flesh, on the time which it is allowed to hang before it is cooked, and it is never good when very fresh; but it does not follow that it should be sent to table in a really offensive state, for this is agreeable to few eaters and disgusting to many, and nothing should at any time be served of which the appearance or the odour may destroy the appetite of any person present. TO ROAST A HAUNCH OF VENISON. [Illustration] To give venison the flavour and the tenderness so much prized by epicures, it must be well kept; and by taking the necessary precautions, it will hang a considerable time without detriment. Wipe it with soft dry cloths wherever the slightest moisture appears on the surface, and dust it plentifully with freshly-ground pepper or powdered ginger, to preserve it from the flies. The application of the pyroligneous or acetic acid would effectually protect it from these, as well as from the effects of the weather; but the joint must then be, not only well washed, but _soaked_ for some considerable time, and this would be very detrimental. To prepare the venison for the spit, wash it slightly with tepid water or merely wipe it thoroughly with damp cloths, and dry it afterwards with clean ones; then lay over the fat side a large sheet of thickly-buttered paper, and next a paste of flour and water about three quarters of an inch thick; cover this again with two or three sheets of stout paper, secure the whole well with twine, and lay the haunch to a sound clear fire; baste the paper immediately with butter or clarified dripping, and roast the joint from three hours and a half to four and a half, according to its weight and quality. Doe venison will require half an hour less time than buck venison. Twenty minutes before the joint is done remove the paste and paper, baste the meat in every part with butter, and dredge it very lightly with flour; let it take a pale brown colour, and send it to table as hot as possible with gravy in a tureen, and good currant jelly. It is not now customary to serve any other sauces with it; but should the old-fashioned sharp or sweet sauce be ordered, the receipt for it will be found at page 100. 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours. _Obs._—The kind of gravy appropriate to venison is a matter on which individual taste must decide. When preparations of high savour are preferred to the pure flavour of the game, the _Espagnole_ (or Spanish sauce) of Chapter IV. can be sent to table with it; or either of the rich English gravies which precede it. When a simple unflavoured one is better liked, some mutton cutlets freed entirely from fat, then very slightly broiled over a quick fire, and stewed gently down in a light extract of mutton prepared by Liebeg’s directions, Chapter I., for about an hour, will produce an excellent plain gravy: it should be seasoned with salt and pepper (or fine cayenne) only. When venison abounds, it should be used for the gravy instead of mutton. TO STEW A SHOULDER OF VENISON. Bone the joint, by the directions given for a shoulder of veal or mutton (see Chapter XI.); flatten it on a table, season it well with cayenne, salt, and pounded mace, mixed with a very small proportion of allspice; lay over it thin slices of the fat of a loin of well-fed mutton, roll and bind it tightly, lay it into a vessel nearly of its size, and pour to it as much good stock made with equal parts of beef and mutton as will nearly cover it; stew it as slowly as possible from three hours to three and a half or longer, should it be very large, and turn it when it is half done. Dish and serve it with a good _Espagnole_, made with part of the gravy in which it has been stewed; or thicken this slightly with rice-flour, mixed with a glass or more of claret or of port wine, and as much salt and cayenne as will season the gravy properly. Some cooks soak the slices of mutton-fat in wine before they are laid upon the joint; but no process of the sort will ever give to any kind of meat the true flavour of the venison, which to most eaters is far finer than that of the wine, and should always be allowed to prevail over all the condiments with which it is dressed. Those, however, who care for it less than for a dish of high artificial savour can have eschalots, ham, and carrot, lightly browned in good butter added to the stew when it first begins to boil. 3-1/2 to 4 hours. TO HASH VENISON.[92] Footnote 92: Minced collops of venison may be prepared exactly like those of beef; and venison-cutlets like those of mutton: the neck may be taken for both of these. For a superior hash of venison, add to three quarters of a pint of strong thickened brown gravy, Christopher North’s sauce, in the proportion directed for it in the receipt of page 295.[93] Cut the venison in small thin slices of equal size, arrange them in a clean saucepan, pour the gravy on them, let them stand for ten minutes or more, then place them near the fire, and bring the whole very slowly to the _point_ of boiling only: serve the hash immediately in a hot-water dish. Footnote 93: Having been inadvertently omitted from its proper place, this receipt is transferred to the end of the present Chapter. For a plain dinner, when no gravy is at hand, break down the bones of the venison small, after the flesh has been cleared from them, and boil them with those of three or four undressed mutton-cutlets, a slice or two of carrot, or a few savoury herbs, and about a pint and a half of water or broth, until the liquid is reduced quite one third. Strain it off, let it cool, skim off all the fat, heat the gravy, thicken it when it boils with a dessertspoonful or rather more of arrow-root, or with the brown _roux_ of page 107, mix the same sauce with it, and finish it exactly as the richer hash above. It may be served on sippets of fried bread or not, at choice. TO ROAST A HARE. [In season from September to the 1st of March.] [Illustration: Hare trussed. ] After the hare has been skinned, or cased, as it is called, wash it very thoroughly in cold water, and afterwards in warm. If in any degree overkept, or musty in the inside, which it will sometimes be when emptied before it is hung up and neglected afterwards, use vinegar, or the pyroligneous acid, well diluted, to render it sweet; then again throw it into abundance of water, that it may retain no taste of the acid. Pierce with the point of a knife any parts in which the blood appears to have settled, and soak them in tepid water, that it may be well drawn out. Wipe the hare dry, fill it with the forcemeat No. 1,