De Groot on Venison and Chocolate

De Groot also writes of venison with chocolate sauce, first involving a 3 day "proper marinade in aromatic wine." The whole or half leg of venison(about 10 lbs) is first larded w/ 10" x 3/8" salt pork which has been marinated in dark rum. Larding makes sense in a lean meat, tho' I have never done it - after all, what would ground meat(burger) be w/o the fat ground in?

At first reading the recipe appears extensive and labor intensive, but essentially de Groot is marinating the meat in red wine and in the classic French mirepoix which is with carrots, onions, celery and parsley w/ the addition of "aromatics" which include bay leaf, cloves, garlic, and sherry vinegar. You make the sauce w/ the marinade and fruits like raisins and currants, along w/ some rum and unsweetened chocolate and a half pound of butter. Wow. This is indeed a sauce, distinctly sweet and sour w/ chocolate. He roasts the venison to med rare( 130 degrees).

I will try this recipe and report back. De Groot was an absolute perfectionist; recipes being done and refined many times untill they were just right. That, along w/ his heightened sense of taste(smell) may assure success. We'll see.