Civet de chevreuil à l’alsacienne (Alsatian venison stew) is a grand autumn dish that unites the hunting traditions of the Vosges mountains with Alsace’s distinctive flavour palette of red wine, warm spices, and dried fruit. The Vosges forests harbour abundant roe deer (chevreuil), and the autumn hunting season (la chasse) is a cornerstone of Alsatian culture, with game cookery reaching levels of sophistication that rival anything in the classical French canon. The preparation begins with a marinade: venison haunch or shoulder is cut into 5cm cubes and marinated for 24-48 hours in a full bottle of Pinot Noir d’Alsace (the region’s sole red wine grape), sliced onions, carrots, celery, juniper berries, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, thyme, and crushed black peppercorns. The marinade both tenderises and flavours the lean game meat. After marinating, the meat is drained and patted dry (wet meat will not brown), the marinade strained and reserved. The venison is seared in small batches in very hot oil until deeply caramelised on all sides, then removed. The aromatic vegetables from the marinade are sautéed in the same pot, a tablespoon of flour is stirred in to form a roux, then the strained marinade is added and reduced by one-third. The meat is returned, stock is added to cover, and the civet braised at 150°C for 2-2.5 hours until the venison is tender but not falling apart. The Alsatian distinction: the sauce is finished with a purée of prunes (pruneaux d’Agen soaked in Armagnac or Marc d’Alsace) and a spoonful of redcurrant jelly — the fruit sweetness providing a counterpoint to the wine’s tannins and the game’s intensity. Some traditional versions add grated dark chocolate (a tablespoon, no more) to deepen the sauce’s colour and add a bitter complexity. The classical civet finish of thickening with the animal’s blood (liaison au sang) is increasingly rare but, when practised, transforms the sauce into a dark, glossy, intensely flavoured coating of remarkable depth.
Marinate 24-48 hours in Pinot Noir with warm spices. Dry meat thoroughly before searing. Sear in small batches for deep browning. Braise at 150°C for 2-2.5 hours. Finish with prune purée and redcurrant jelly. Optional: blood liaison or dark chocolate for depth.
Save the marinade vegetables and purée them into the sauce for body after braising. If using blood for liaison, never allow the sauce to boil after adding it — blood curdles above 80°C. The stew improves dramatically if made a day ahead and gently reheated. Serve with spätzle and braised red cabbage.
Insufficient marinating time (24 hours minimum). Not drying the meat, which steams instead of searing. Overcrowding the pan during browning. Overcooking until the meat is stringy. Using inferior wine — the Pinot Noir must be drinkable. Adding too much chocolate (it should be undetectable as an individual flavour).
La Cuisine Alsacienne (Simone Morgenthaler)