baste well with hot butter until the joint acquires a good brown colour. Serve as hot as possible, as the fat quickly cools and hardens, and send the brown sauce or gravy and the red currant jelly to table separately. The best end of the neck of venison, boned and rolled, makes an excellent dish, but other parts are not often roasted, the neck and shoulder being considered better adapted for stews, pies, and pasties.
Average Cost.—1s. 6d. per lb. Seasonable—buck venison from June to the end of September; doe venison from October to January.
The Reindeer (Fr. renne).—This species of deer inhabits the northern and Arctic regions, and is thicker in the body and its legs are proportionately shorter than those of the red-deer. It is distinguished from other species by the circumstance that the female as well as the male possesses horns; those of the latter are, however, much larger and stronger. In colour the reindeer is of a dusky-brown hue, with greyish under parts; these change to lighter tints in the winter. The reindeer is very hardy, keen of sight and hearing, swift of foot, its pace averaging nine or ten miles an hour, at which speed it can draw with ease a sledge attached to it with a burden of some 200 lbs. Its strength and hardiness render the reindeer invaluable to the Laplander, to whom it is the substitute for the horse, sheep and goat. From its milk cheese is provided; from its skin clothing; from its tendons bowstrings and thread; from its horns glue; from its bones various articles of use, and its flesh furnishes food. Reindeer moss, a lichen which grows extensively in the sterile tracts of northern and arctic Europe and America, provides the reindeer with its chief supply of food during the winter season. A variety of the reindeer, the Caribou, inhabits northern America, and is hunted for the sake of its skin and flesh, the layer of fat, called depouille, on the back of the male, being esteemed a special delicacy.
1333.—VENISON IN A CHAFING-DISH.
Ingredients.—1 lb. of venison, the juice of 3 small onions, 1 egg, 1 oz. of butter, flour, 1 teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Method.—Pound the peeled, sliced and blanched onions in a mortar until reduced to a pulp, place this in muslin, and press out the juice with the back of a wooden spoon. Remove all skin, fat and gristle from the meat, chop it finely, and mix with it the onion-juice, parsley, and a pinch of nutmeg. Stir in the egg, season to taste, form into flat cakes the size and shape of a fillet, and coat them lightly with flour. Heat the butter in a chafing-dish, put in the steaks, and fry gently for 10 minutes, turning them once. Place the cover on the chafing-dish, continue to cook gently for 5 minutes longer, then serve.
Time.—To cook the steaks, about 15 minutes. Average Cost, 2s. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. Seasonable from June to January.
The Fallow Deer (Fr. daim).—This is the domestic or park-deer, is allied to the stag, but is smaller in size and differs in the shape of its horns. The colour of the fallow-deer is reddish-brown with white spots, and white inside the limbs and beneath the tail. Fallow deer are chiefly kept in parks, and roam in herds under the control of a "master deer." The male is termed a buck, the female a doe, and the young deer fawns. They are readily tamed and become very docile. Their flesh furnishes excellent venison, and a soft leather is manufactured from their skins. From the shavings of their horns ammonia is prepared, whence the popular name of "hartshorn."
1334.—VENISON, NECK OF, TO ROAST.
Method.—Let the neck remain attached to the shoulder until required for use, so as to preserve the appearance of both joints. In preparing, follow directions for Neck of Mutton, To Roast, No. 1054; and cook according to instructions given in Venison, Haunch of, Roasted, No. 1332.
