As this sort of animal food can only be got at one season of the year,
I recommend any person who is fond of good eating at a moderate cost,
to get the two sides or flitches of a prime fat buck, and cure them in
the two different ways herein described, with full assurance that the
result will be perfectly satisfactory. Take a side and hang it up in a
free current of air as long as ever you can trust it, wiping it daily
with a coarse cloth, and dusting it over, particularly the fat parts,
with ground black pepper, to prevent the flies settling on it. With a
sharp knife take off the outer skin, and, removing all sinews, bone it
nicely; divide it next into pieces fit for collars, that is, so that
when rolled up the ends may be level and firm. Rub vinegar well over
the meat and leave it packed closely in a deep dish and covered up till
the next day. Make ready a mixture of
Mace, in fine powder 1 oz.
Cloves, in fine powder 2 oz.
Nutmeg, in fine powder 1 oz.
White pepper, in fine powder 2 oz.
Bay salt ¾ lb.
Common or rock salt ½ lb.
Bay leaves, shred 3 oz.
and with this rub the meat, which should have been dried with cloths
well, and pack them down to lie forty-eight hours. Then take them
up, and cutting slices of hard fat bacon, half an inch wide and six
or eight inches long, insert them in channels cut in the venison and
about two and a half inches apart; this should be done with consummate
nicety. Now roll up the meat into collars and bind tightly with broad
tape, and sew strong unbleached calico all round the length. Lay paper
shavings in the bottom of a deep straight-sided jar, and upon them six
or eight laurel leaves and twice as many bay leaves, and place the
collars lightly upon them, then pouring in half a pint of water, tie
doubled paper over the jar and bake slowly for three hours at least, or
until nicely cooked; then while warm pour off the gravy into a basin
to get cold, and taking out the collars set them to drain all night.
Next day, after wiping them dry, place the rolls of meat in a jar that
will just hold them without squeezing, and pour clarified mutton suet
with sweet lard in the proportion of a quarter of a pound of the latter
to twelve ounces of the former, and when cold covering the meat to the
thickness of two inches. Tie wet bladder over and put away in a cold
airy room. This should not be broached under two months, and then by
placing the jar in a pan of boiling water for twenty minutes you can
take out a collar and put away the jar, taking care that the meat is
totally covered by the suet and made safe from the air. Pop the collar
into a saucepan of boiling water and salt for fifteen minutes, then
take it out, wipe it dry, and when nearly cold take off the envelopes
and set it by till next day. Serve it garnished with fresh parsley and
slices of lemon or pickled red beetroot, which two latter may be eaten
with it, and then I think you will confess that this “common part of
venison” is very first-rate eating.