Venison saddle or pigeon breast in a broth of exotic spices with caramelized red cabbage

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 600 g saddle of venison, boned
• 4 pigeon(s), whole breasts without bones and skin, preferably from Bresse pigeons
• 500 ml water
• 200 ml soy sauce, sweet (Ketjap Manis)
• 100 ml soy sauce
• 3 star anise
• 3 stalk(s) cinnamon
• 1 tsp five-spice powder
• 50 g sugar
• 2 tbsp pepper (Szechuan pepper)
• ½ head of red cabbage, 50 g finely sliced ​​raw, keep back
• 3 cloves
• 4 juniper berries, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 stalk(s) cinnamon, small
• ½ vanilla pod(s)
• 250 ml red wine
• 100 ml port wine
• 50 ml blackcurrant
• 150 ml orange juice, freshly squeezed
• 50 ml vinegar (red wine vinegar)
• 50 g butter, salted
• 75 g sugar, brown
• 100 g goose fat

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest period approx. 5 days; Total time approx. 5 days 30 minutes

For me, venison saddle or pigeon breast, not wild pigeon, are among the finest and most delicate meats you can get. Therefore, this recipe can be prepared with either. Venison saddle is easier and cheaper to obtain in our latitudes, while pigeon breast is a truly unique delicacy. First, however, prepare the red cabbage, as it takes five whole days to cook. Remove the outer leaves from half the red cabbage, halve the cabbage, remove the stalk, and cut the cabbage into fine strips. Mix the red wine, port wine, cassis, orange juice, and red wine vinegar with the cabbage. Place the cloves, juniper berries, bay leaf, cinnamon, and vanilla in a bag or spiced egg and add them. Marinate the cabbage in the mixture in the refrigerator for three days. Then caramelize the butter and sugar, add the drained red cabbage, stir well, add the goose fat, heat, and deglaze with the marinade. Add the spice bag again, bring the cabbage to a boil, and simmer over low heat for about 4 hours. Season with salt and let it marinate in the refrigerator for another 2 days. Only then do the mixture heat up and mix with the 50g of raw, very finely chopped red cabbage. Serve with the meat without much liquid. Cook the meat as follows: trim the venison saddle and cut into 4 equal pieces, or halve the pigeon breasts. Bring all the ingredients for the stock to a boil and let it cool to 75°C. Maintain this temperature and check with a thermometer, stir well, and completely submerge the meat in a sieve. After 10-12 minutes, remove the meat so that the spices floating in the stock remain. For the sauce, skim off no more than 100ml of the stock 3 minutes before cooking, strain it, and quickly reduce by half. Serve the meat, red cabbage, and sauce with homemade gnocchi and accompany with a large red wine.