Part 124 (1/2)

They are only fit to be eaten when the blood begins to run from the bill, which is commonly six days or a week after they have been killed. The flesh is white, tender, and has a good flavour, if you keep it long enough; if not, it is not much different from that of a common fowl or hen.”

BRILLAT SAVARIN'S RECIPE FOR ROAST PHEASANT, a la Sainte Alliance.

1042. When the pheasant is in good condition to be cooked (_see_ No.

1041), it should be plucked, and not before. The bird should then be stuffed in the following manner:--Take two snipes, and draw them, putting the bodies on one plate, and the livers, &c., on another. Take off the flesh, and mince it finely with a little beef, lard, a few truffles, pepper and salt to taste, and stuff the pheasant carefully with this. Cut a slice of bread, larger considerably than the bird, and cover it with the liver, &c., and a few truffles: an anchovy and a little fresh b.u.t.ter added to these will do no harm. Put the bread, &c., into the dripping-pan, and, when the bird is roasted, place it on the preparation, and surround it with Florida oranges.

Do not be uneasy, Savarin adds, about your dinner; for a pheasant served in this way is fit for beings better than men. The pheasant itself is a very good bird; and, imbibing the dressing and the flavour of the truffle and snipe, it becomes thrice better.

BROILED PHEASANT (a Breakfast or Luncheon Dish).

1043. INGREDIENTS.--1 pheasant, a little lard, egg and bread crumbs, salt and cayenne to taste.

_Mode_.--Cut the legs off at the first joint, and the remainder of the bird into neat pieces; put them into a fryingpan with a little lard, and when browned on both sides, and about half done, take them out and drain them; brush the pieces over with egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs with which has been mixed a good seasoning of cayenne and salt. Broil them over a moderate fire for about 10 minutes, or rather longer, and serve with mushroom-sauce, sauce piquante, or brown gravy, in which a few game-bones and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs have been stewed.

_Time_.--Altogether 1/2 hour. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ from the 1st of October to the beginning of February.

THE HEIGHT OF EXCELLENCE IN A PHEASANT.--Things edible have their degrees of excellence under various circ.u.mstances: thus, asparagus, capers, peas, and partridges are best when young.

Perfection in others is only reached when they attain maturity: let us say, for example, melons and nearly all fruits (we must except, perhaps, the medlar), with the majority of those animals whose flesh we eat. But others, again, are not good until decomposition is about to set in; and here we may mention particularly the snipe and the pheasant. If the latter bird be eaten so soon as three days after it has been killed, it then has no peculiarity of flavour; a pullet would be more relished, and a quail would surpa.s.s it in aroma. Kept, however, a proper length of time,--and this can be ascertained by a slight smell and change of colour,--then it becomes a highly, flavoured dish, occupying, so to speak, the middle distance between chicken and venison. It is difficult to define any exact time to ”hang” a pheasant; but any one possessed of the instincts of gastronomical science, can at once detect the right moment when a pheasant should be taken down, in the same way as a good cook knows whether a bird should be removed from the spit, or have a turn or two more.

TO DRESS PLOVERS.

1044. INGREDIENTS.--3 plovers, b.u.t.ter, flour, toasted bread.

_Choosing and Trussing_.--Choose those that feel hard at the vent, as that shows their fatness. There are three sorts,--the grey, green, and b.a.s.t.a.r.d plover, or lapwing. They will keep good for some time, but if very stale, the feet will be very dry. Plovers are scarcely fit for anything but roasting; they are, however, sometimes stewed, or made into a ragot, but this mode of cooking is not to be recommended.

_Mode_.--Pluck off the feathers, wipe the outside of the birds with a damp cloth, and do not draw them; truss with the head under the wing, put them down to a clear fire, and lay slices of moistened toast in the dripping-pan, to catch the trail. Keep them _well basted_, dredge them lightly with flour a few minutes before they are done, and let them be nicely frothed. Dish them on the toasts, over which the _trail_ should be equally spread. Pour round the toast a little good gravy, and send some to table in a tureen.

_Time_.--10 minutes to 1/4 hour.

_Average cost_, 1s. 6d. the brace, if plentiful.

_Sufficient_ for 2 persons.

_Seasonable_.--In perfection from the beginning of September to the end of January.

THE PLOVER.--There are two species of this bird, the grey and the green, the former being larger than the other, and somewhat less than the woodc.o.c.k. It has generally been cla.s.sed with those birds which chiefly live in the water; but it would seem only to seek its food there, for many of the species breed upon the loftiest mountains. Immense flights of these birds are to be seen in the Hebrides, and other parts of Scotland; and, in the winter, large numbers are sent to the London market, which is sometimes so much glutted with them that they are sold very cheap. Previous to dressing, they are kept till they have a game flavour; and although their flesh is a favourite with many, it is not universally relished. The green is preferred to the grey, but both are inferior to the woodc.o.c.k. Their eggs are esteemed as a great delicacy. Birds of this kind are migratory. They arrive in England in April, live with us all the spring and summer, and at the beginning of autumn prepare to take leave by getting together in flocks. It is supposed that they then retire to Spain, and frequent the sheep-walks with which that country abounds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PLOVER.]

TO DRESS THE PTARMIGAN.

1045. INGREDIENTS.--2 or 3 birds; b.u.t.ter, flour, fried bread crumbs.

_Mode_.--The ptarmigan, or white grouse, when young and tender, are exceedingly fine eating, and should be kept as long as possible, to be good. Pluck, draw, and truss them in the same manner as grouse, No.

1025, and roast them before a brisk fire. Flour and froth them nicely, and serve on b.u.t.tered toast, with a tureen of brown gravy. Bread sauce, when liked, may be sent to table with them, and fried bread crumbs subst.i.tuted for the toasted bread.

_Time_.--About 1/2 hour. _Sufficient_,--2 for a dish.