This dish turns up in The Door Into Sunset as one of a number of Autumn-season specialties making their appearance as part of the “Lady’s Table” offering at the Darthene Embassy in Prydon.

The best known versions of the recipe are routinely attributed to the Brightwood region—mostly due to popular-culture images of the Wood at the Principality’s heart being inhabited primarily by stereotypical “carefree rustic woodsmen” who spend their time roaming the woodland glades and subsisting on the Princes’ red deer.

As usual, though, the truth of the matter has more to do with agricultural and economic realities than bard-fueled fables. During the early-Autumn vintaging period, and after it as well, the herds of deer migrating northwards ahead of the cooling weather in Steldin can do tremendous amounts of damage to the vineyards in the wine-growing regions on either side of the Darst if allowed to browse on the vines uncontrolled. For this reason, as with wild boar, there is no “closed season” on deer in the Principality, and in vineyard country they are considered, literally, fair game. (The only exceptions to the rule would naturally be does with fawns still at heel. But few enough of these are around during the vintaging season to present an issue for the hunters who patrol the vineyards until the migrations subside.)

Freshly-shot game is quickly butchered and mostly put down in brine to store against the coming winter. Significant amounts of this meat are also processed into venison ham, hot-smoked sausage, and other easily stored forms. Another shorter-term storage method—pickling in distilled vinegars—was regionally popular centuries back. These days, however, that approach has shifted to lighter and more flavorsome pickles augmented with herbs and wine. These don’t have preservative qualities except in the very short term—days, rather than weeks. But they yield a tastier and tenderer product that doesn’t require desalting a brined cut of meat, and can be eaten in a much shorter time.

Venison done this way is as likely to appear sliced and cold on a morning or evening sideboard as it is as a whole rolled roast, hot and ready to carve for dinner. The venison’s tenderness is augmented by its marination in locally-sourced wine vinegar, and the flavor enriched by the inevitable presence of one of the Brightwood’s robust (and somehow surprisingly little-known) reds. 

Our example is plated up with another seasonal favorite, roast cabbage dusted with spicy “red whitefruit” flakes and drizzled with butter oil (usually a blend of clarified butter and pumpkin oil).

A minor note: Though it appears in the recipe (as cornstarch/cornflour) for the convenience of our this-Earth-based readers, please note that maize / sweet corn is not present in the Middle Kingdoms. Instead, the locals thicken the sauce in this dish with arrowroot. If you would like to do this too, please feel free.

The ingredients:

• 1 kg / 2.2 pounds of leg of venison (boneless, topside) or rolled venison roast
  
• 1.5 liters of red wine
• 1 liter of red wine vinegar
• 5 onions, about 120 g
• 2 carrots, about 80 g
  
• 1 slice of celeriac, about 160 g
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 juniper berries
• Additional whole spices if available: long pepper (3 small pieces) and allspice (3 berries)
• Salt (for pre-seasoning the roast): a big pinch (or big sprinkle if using a coarse salt like Maldon)
  
• Pepper, also for pre-seasoning: about 0.25 teaspoon
• 5 tablespoons clarified butter
• 60 grams of honey
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or arrowroot, if you prefer)
  
• some kitchen twine

About 1 week before: Prepare the venison by trimming away any excess fat.

Depending on the shape of the cut, roll it tightly together and tie it securely into the rolled shape with kitchen string. (Or if you can, get your game butcher to do this for you. Ours came  already packaged that way.)

Peel the onions, carrots, celeriac and garlic, and cut into evenly sized pieces.

Place the leg of venison in a nonreactive saucepan (or a nonreactive bowl as we did) with the vegetables and spices. Mix together the red wine and the wine vinegar. Then add the wine-and-vinegar mixture to the marinade bowl or pot until the meat is covered.

Place a piece of plastic wrap/clingfilm on the meat and press down lightly. Close the pot (or cover the bowl) with a suitable lid and put it in the fridge at 2-4 degrees for 5-7 days, depending on the size of the piece of venison.

When the marination process is complete, remove the venison from the marinade bowl or pot and pat dry.

Strain the marinade into a pot (if it hasn’t been in one already; if it has, use a slotted spoon or skimmer to remove the vegetables and whole spices). Simmer the strained marinade for about 30 minutes until the liquid volume is reduced by about two thirds.

Meanwhile, salt and pepper the venison roast, and preheat the roasting oven to 120C / 250F. Then choose a roomy, lidded pot for the next stage—enameled cast iron is perfect—and on the stovetop, use it to heat the clarified butter. When it comes up to heat, brown the marinated roast of venison well on all sides.

When this has been done, lid the roasting pot and put it on a shelf in the middle of the oven. Allow it to cook there for an hour, turning the venison three or four times.

While this is going on, bring the marinade up to a simmer. Mix the cornstarch with a few tablespoons of cold water or wine. Stir this mixture into the the sauce and bring it to a boil until it thickens.

Take the roast out of the oven briefly and use a turkey baster, or a spoon, to remove the meat juices from the roasting pot. Pour these into the marinade-based sauce, season it with salt, pepper and honey to taste, and pour this sauce over the roast in the pot. 

Return the roast to the oven, covering the pot again, and cook for another thirty minutes. Remove the lid for the final ten minutes.

At the end of this time, remove the roast from the oven. Take it out of the pot and allow it to rest on a serving plate for at least fifteen minutes before carving.

At this point you might like to whisk a tablespoon or so of butter to the sauce in the pot to thicken it slightly and make it glossier. Then spoon or pour it into a sauce boat or other serving vessel.

When the roast has finished resting, slice it and serve it with roasted cabbage. (Noodles might be nice with this too.)

Enjoy!