Roast venison with juniper, Burgundy wine sauce
A haunch of venison larded with bacon, rubbed with crushed juniper, roasted on the spit, then coated with a dark sauce made with French red wine, game stock, and a touch of gingerbread to bind it — the ultimate prestige dish of a roast service.
A haunch of venison larded with bacon, rubbed with crushed juniper, roasted on the spit, then coated with a dark sauce made with French red wine, game stock, and a touch of gingerbread to bind it — the ultimate prestige dish of a roast service.
Approach, Sir, and see what my hunt has brought me this morning: a deer taken to the sound of the horn in my Oder woods. My cook lards it with bacon, rubs it with juniper berries that my people gather on the heath, and turns it slowly on the spit until the skin sings. The sauce I want bound with Burgundy wine and sharpened with a little of my gingerbread — that's the whole secret. At my table, one eats as one should rule: with measure, but without yielding any brilliance.
- •Haunch or leg of venison — a fine piece (game meat, heart of the service)
- •Fat bacon — a few strips (to lard and moisten the lean meat)
- •Juniper berries — a handful, crushed (signature Northern flavor)
- •Burgundy red wine — a good pitcher (sauce base)
- •Game stock — as needed (sauce foundation)
- •Stale gingerbread — a few slices (binding and depth)
- •Butter, salt, pepper, clove — to taste (court seasoning)
Roast venison with juniper, Burgundy wine sauce
A haunch of venison larded with bacon, rubbed with crushed juniper, roasted on the spit, then coated with a dark sauce made with French red wine, game stock, and a touch of gingerbread to bind it — the ultimate prestige dish of a roast service.
Why this dish? Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt owned his own game-rich forests along the Oder; the hunt was both an aristocratic pastime and a supplier of the princely table. His hunting horn (cor da caccia) — the very instrument that Bach makes sound in the first of the Brandenburg Concertos — announced the kill from which this roast came.
Approach, Sir, and see what my hunt has brought me this morning: a deer taken to the sound of the horn in my Oder woods. My cook lards it with bacon, rubs it with juniper berries that my people gather on the heath, and turns it slowly on the spit until the skin sings. The sauce I want bound with Burgundy wine and sharpened with a little of my gingerbread — that's the whole secret. At my table, one eats as one should rule: with measure, but without yielding any brilliance.
Ingredients (period version)
- Haunch or leg of venison — a fine piece (game meat, heart of the service)
- Fat bacon — a few strips (to lard and moisten the lean meat)
- Juniper berries — a handful, crushed (signature Northern flavor)
- Burgundy red wine — a good pitcher (sauce base)
- Game stock — as needed (sauce foundation)
- Stale gingerbread — a few slices (binding and depth)
- Butter, salt, pepper, clove — to taste (court seasoning)
Ingredients
- Venison roast (haunch) — 1.2 kg (main meat)
- Smoked bacon lardons — 100 g (for larding or browning)
- Juniper berries — 1 tbsp crushed (signature flavor)
- Full-bodied red wine (pinot noir) — 40 cl (sauce)
- Game or veal stock — 30 cl (sauce)
- Gingerbread — 2 slices (binding)
- Butter — 40 g (cooking and finishing)
- Salt, pepper, 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Take the meat out in advance, rub with salt, pepper, and crushed juniper; lard with bacon strips or wrap with bacon.
- Sear the roast in butter on all sides in a casserole, then set aside.
- Brown the lardons, deglaze with red wine, add stock, bay leaf, and cloves.
- Return the meat, cover, and cook in the oven at 150°C until pink at the center (45 min to 1 hour depending on thickness).
- Remove the meat, let rest. Crumble the gingerbread into the sauce, blend, and reduce until it coats a spoon.
- Slice the roast, coat with sauce, and serve hot.
How it was made : In early 18th-century German court kitchens, game was turned on the spit before the hearth; sauces were thickened not with flour but with grated gingerbread or toasted breadcrumbs, a medieval technique still alive. Juniper and imported wine marked the master's rank.
The contemporary twist : Serve the sliced haunch fanned out on the plate with a celeriac mousseline, and plant a small fresh juniper sprig as a nod to the hunting horn.
Sources : Marx Rumpolt, Ein new Kochbuch, 1581 · Maria Sophia Schellhammer, Das Brandenburgische Koch-Buch, 1723
Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg · Charactorium
