Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Venison Shoulder

Analysing hundreds of thousands of recipes uncovers venison shoulder's optimal flavour pairings.

Venison shoulder immediately conjures the evocative embrace of game and the bracing kiss of resin. But look beneath its obvious umaminess and you'll discover a captivating symphony of softer notes, a whisper of glutamate, a hint of iron, and subtle accents reminiscent of char, giving it remarkable depth. The key to a beautiful combination lies in appreciating how these accents harmonise and interact.

To map these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, breaking each one down across 150 flavour dimensions, identifying which notes complement and contrast. Our exploration reveals, for instance, how the fresh, green cis-3-hexenal in tomato can carry venison shoulder, and how mace's safranal notes forge a beautiful synergy with its wild meatiness.

An ingredient's flavour comes from its core characteristics, like earthy, carnal, and woody, combined with its unique aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim to include a broad variety of core characteristics for a balanced dish. And choose aroma notes that complement each other for a harmonious combination.

Flavour Pairing Method

To understand exactly which flavours harmonise, we compiled a database of over 50,000 ingredient pairings commonly used in cooking. We then analysed these pairings, identifying the specific flavour notes that frequently appear together.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Gamey Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of game is strongly associated with the flavour of saffron. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a saffron flavour, such as mace, when pairing with the gamey notes of venison shoulder.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing venison shoulder with mace.

Harmonious Flavours Of Venison Shoulder

Just as our ingredient analysis revealed that game and violic notes combine harmoniously, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour notes present in venison shoulder. Similarly, the resinous notes of venison shoulder frequently pair with glutamic and fatty accents.

The aromas associated with the various aromas of venison shoulder can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of tomato offers many of the aromas complementary to venison shoulder, including tomato and glutamic aromas. Because the flavour profile of tomato has many of the of the features that are complementary to venison shoulder, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of tomato across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with venison shoulder.

Recipes That Pair Venison Shoulder With Tomato

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the aroma notes that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of venison shoulder, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of venison shoulder, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the notes complementary to venison shoulder.

What To Drink With Venison Shoulder

The violet notes in margaux (bordeaux) make it a perfect pairing with venison shoulder. Likewise, the violet flavours in crème de violette create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of venison shoulder below.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Venison shoulder), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.