845. Any Remarks made on the Calf or the Lamb must naturally be in a measure supplementary to the more copious observations made on the parent stock of either. As the calf, at least as far as it is identified with veal, is destined to die young,—to be, indeed, cut off in its comparative infancy,—it may, at first sight, appear of little or no consequence to inquire to what particular variety, or breed of the general stock, his sire or dam may belong. The great art, however, in the modern science of husbandry has been to obtain an animal that shall not only have the utmost beauty of form of which the species is capable, but, at the same time, a constitution free from all taint, a frame that shall rapidly attain bulk and stature, and a disposition so kindly that every quantum of food it takes shall, without drawback or procrastination, be eliminated into fat and muscle. The breed, then, is of very considerable consequence in determining, not only the quality of the meat to the consumer, but its commercial value to the breeder and butcher.
846. Under the Artificial System adopted in the rearing of domestic cattle, and stock in general, to gratify the arbitrary mandates of luxury and fashion, we can have veal, like lamb, at all seasons in the market, though the usual time in the metropolis for veal to make its appearance is about the beginning of February.
402847. The Cow goes with Young for Nine Months, and the affection and solicitude she evinces for her offspring is more human in its tenderness and intensity than is displayed by any other animal; and her distress when she hears its bleating, and is not allowed to reach it with her distended udders, is often painful to witness, and when the calf has died, or been accidentally killed, her grief frequently makes her refuse to give down her milk. At such times, the breeder has adopted the expedient of flaying the dead carcase, and, distending the skin with hay, lays the effigy before her, and then taking advantage of her solicitude, milks her while she is caressing the skin with her tongue.
848. In a State of Nature, the cow, like the deer, hides her young in the tall ferns and brakes, and the most secret places; and only at stated times, twice or thrice a day, quits the herd, and, hastening to the secret cover, gives suck to her calf, and with the same circumspection returns to the community.
849. In some Countries, to please the epicurean taste of vitiated appetites, it is the custom to kill the calf for food almost immediately after birth, and any accident that forestalls that event, is considered to enhance its value. We are happy to say, however, that in this country, as far as England and Scotland are concerned, the taste for very young veal has entirely gone out, and “Staggering Bob,” as the poor little animal was called in the language of the shambles, is no longer to be met with in such a place.
850. The Weaning of Calves is a process that requires a great amount of care and judgment; for though they are in reality not weaned till between the eighth and the twelfth week, the process of rearing them by hand commences in fact from the birth, the calf never being allowed to suck its dam. As the rearing of calves for the market is a very important and lucrative business, the breeder generally arranges his stock so that ten or a dozen of his cows shall calve about the same time; and then, by setting aside one or two, to find food for the entire family, gets the remaining eight or ten with their full fountains of milk, to carry on the operations of his dairy. Some people have an idea that skimmed milk, if given in sufficient quantity, is good enough for the weaning period of calf-feeding; but this is a very serious mistake, for the cream, of which it has been deprived, contained nearly all the oleaginous principles, and the azote or nitrogen, on which the vivifying properties of that fluid depends. Indeed, so remarkably correct has this fact proved to be, that a calf reared on one part of new milk mixed with five of water, will thrive and look well; while another, treated with unlimited skimmed milk, will be poor, thin, and miserable.
851. It is sometimes a matter of considerable trouble to induce the blundering calf—whose instinct only teaches him to suck, and that he will do at anything, and with anything—to acquire the knowledge of imbibition, that 403 for the first few days it is often necessary to fill a bottle with milk, and, opening his mouth, pour the contents down his throat. The manner, however, by which he is finally educated into the mystery of suction, is by putting his allowance of milk into a large wooden bowl; the nurse then puts her hand into the milk, and, by bending her fingers upwards, makes a rude teat for the calf to grasp in his lips, when the vacuum caused by his suction of the fingers, causes the milk to rise along them into his mouth. In this manner one by one the whole family are to be fed three times a day; care being taken, that new-born calves are not, at first, fed on milk from a cow who has some days calved.
852. As the Calf progresses towards his tenth week, his diet requires to be increased in quantity and quality; for these objects, his milk can be thickened with flour or meal, and small pieces of softened oil-cake are to be slipped into his mouth after sucking, that they may dissolve there, till he grows familiar with, and to like the taste, when it may be softened and scraped down into his milk-and-water. After a time, sliced turnips softened by steam are to be given to him in tolerable quantities; then succulent grasses; and finally, hay may be added to the others. Some farmers, desirous of rendering their calves fat for the butcher in as short a time as possible, forget both the natural weakness of the digestive powers, and the contracted volume of the stomach, and allow the animals either to suck ad libitum, or give them, if brought up at the pail or by hand, a larger quantity of milk than they can digest. The idea of overloading the stomach never suggests itself to their minds. They suppose that the more food the young creature consumes, the sooner it will be fat, and they allow it no exercise whatever, for fear it should denude its very bones of their flesh. Under such circumstances, the stomach soon becomes deranged; its functions are no longer capable of acting; the milk, subjected to the acid of the stomach, coagulates, and forms a hardened mass of curd, when the muscles become affected with spasms, and death frequently ensues.
SIDE OF A CALF,
SHOWING THE SEVERAL JOINTS.
853. There was no species of Slaughtering practised in this country so inhuman and disgraceful as that, till very lately, employed in killing this poor animal; when, under the plea of making the flesh white, the calf was bled day by day, till, when the final hour came, the animal was unable to stand. This inhumanity is, we believe, now everywhere abolished, and the calf is at once killed, and with the least amount of pain; a sharp-pointed knife is run through the neck, severing all the large veins and arteries up to the vertebræ. The skin is then taken off to the knee, which is disjointed, and to the head, which is removed; it is then reflected backwards, and the carcase having been opened and dressed, is kept apart by stretchers, and the thin membrane, the caul, extended over the organs left in the carcase, as the kidneys and sweetbread; some melted fat is then scattered suddenly over the whole interior, giving that white and frosted appearance to the meat, that is thought to add to its beauty; the whole is then hung up to cool and harden.
404854. The manner of Cutting up Veal for the English market is to divide the carcase into four quarters, with eleven ribs to each fore quarter; which are again subdivided into joints as exemplified on the cut.
Hind quarter:—
1. The loin.
2. The chump, consisting of the rump and hock-bone.
3. The fillet.
4. The hock, or hind knuckle.
Fore quarter:—
5. The shoulder.
6. The neck.
7. The breast.
8. The fore knuckle.
855. The several parts of a moderately-sized well-fed Calf, about eight weeks old, are nearly of the following weights:—loin and chump 18 lbs., fillet 12½ lbs., hind knuckle 5½ lbs., shoulder 11 lbs., neck 11 lbs., breast 9 lbs., and fore knuckle 5 lbs.; making a total of 144 lbs. weight. The London mode of cutting the carcase is considered better than that pursued in Edinburgh, as giving three roasting joints, and one boiling, in each quarter; besides the pieces being more equally divided, as regards flesh, and the handsomer appearance they make on the table.
856. Ingredients.—½ lb. of cold roast veal, a few slices of bacon, 1 pint of bread crumbs, ½ pint of good veal gravy, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, 1 blade of pounded mace, cayenne and salt to taste, 4 eggs.
Mode.—Mince finely the veal and bacon; add the bread crumbs, gravy, and seasoning, and stir these ingredients well together. Beat up the eggs thoroughly; add these, mix the whole well together, put into a dish, and bake from ¾ to 1 hour. When liked, a little good gravy may be served in a tureen as an accompaniment.
Time.—From ¾ to 1 hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 6d.
Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
857. Ingredients.—Veal; a little flour.
BREAST OF VEAL.
Mode.—Wash the veal, well wipe it, and dredge it with flour; put it down to a bright fire, not too near, as it should not be scorched. Baste it plentifully until done; dish it, pour over the meat some good melted butter, and send to table with it a piece of boiled bacon and a cut lemon.
Time.—From 1½ to 2 hours.
Average cost, 8½d. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
406858. Ingredients.—Breast of veal, 2 oz. of butter, a bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley; 2 blades of pounded mace, 2 cloves, 5 or 6 young onions, 1 strip of lemon-peel, 6 allspice, ¼ teaspoonful of pepper, 1 teaspoonful of salt, thickening of butter and flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry, 2 tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, green peas.
Mode.—Cut the breast in half, after removing the bone underneath, and divide the meat into convenient-sized pieces. Put the butter into a frying-pan, lay in the pieces of veal, and fry until of a nice brown colour. Now place these in a stewpan with the herbs, mace, cloves, onions, lemon-peel, allspice, and seasoning; pour over them just sufficient boiling water to cover the meat; well close the lid, and let the whole simmer very gently for about 2 hours. Strain off as much gravy as is required, thicken it with butter and flour, add the remaining ingredients, skim well, let it simmer for about 10 minutes, then pour it over the meat. Have ready some green peas, boiled separately; sprinkle these over the veal, and serve, It may be garnished with forcemeat balls, or rashers of bacon curled and fried. Instead of cutting up the meat, many persons prefer it dressed whole;—in that case it should be half-roasted before the water, &c. are put to it.
Time.—2¼ hours.
Average cost, 8½d. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
Breeding of Calves.—The forwarding of calves to maturity, whether intended to be reared for stock, or brought to an early market as veal, is always a subject of great importance, and requires a considerable amount of intelligence in the selection of the best course, to adopt for either end. When meant to be reared as stock, the breeding should be so arranged that the cow shall calve about the middle of May. As our subject, however, has more immediate reference to the calf as meat than as stock, we shall confine our remarks to the mode of procedure adopted in the former case; and here, the first process adopted is that of weaning; which consists in separating the calf entirely from the cow, but, at the same time, rearing it on the mother’s milk. As the business of the dairy would be suspended if every cow were allowed to rear its young, and butter, cheese, and cream become desiderata,—things to be desired, but not possessed, a system of economical husbandry becomes necessary, so as to retain our dairy produce, and yet, for some weeks at least, nourish the calf on its mother’s milk, but without allowing the animal to draw that supply for itself: this, with the proper substituted food on which to rear the young animal, is called weaning.
859. Ingredients.—A few slices of cold roast veal, a few slices of cold ham, 2 hard-boiled eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced parsley, a little pepper, good gravy.
Mode.—Cut off all the brown outside from the veal, and cut the eggs into slices. Procure a pretty mould; lay veal, ham, eggs, and 407 parsley in layers, with a little pepper between each, and when the mould is full, get some strong stock, and fill up the shape. Bake for ½ hour, and when cold, turn it out.
Time.—½ hour.
Seasonable at any time.
860. Ingredients.—2 calf’s feet, 2 slices of bacon, 2 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, salt and whole pepper to taste, 1 onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, 4 cloves, 1 blade of mace, water, parsley and butter No. 493.
Mode.—Procure 2 white calf’s feet; bone them as far as the first joint, and put them into warm water to soak for 2 hours. Then put the bacon, butter, lemon-juice, onion, herbs, spices, and seasoning into a stewpan; lay in the feet, and pour in just sufficient water to cover the whole. Stew gently for about 3 hours; take out the feet, dish them, and cover with parsley and butter, made by recipe No. 493. The liquor they were boiled in should be strained and put by in a clean basin for use: it will be found very good as an addition to gravies, &c. &c.
Time.—Rather more than 3 hours.
Average cost, in full season, 9d. each.
Sufficient for 4 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
When a Calf should be Killed.—The age at which a calf ought to be killed should not be under four weeks: before that time the flesh is certainly not wholesome, wanting firmness, due development of muscular fibre, and those animal juices on which the flavour and nutritive properties of the flesh depend, whatever the unhealthy palate of epicures may deem to the contrary. In France, a law exists to prevent the slaughtering of calves under six weeks of age. The calf is considered in prime condition at ten weeks, when he will weigh from sixteen to eighteen stone, and sometimes even twenty.
861. Ingredients.—A set of calf’s feet; for the batter allow for each egg 1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 tablespoonful of bread crumbs, hot lard or clarified dripping, pepper and salt to taste.
Mode.—If the feet are purchased uncleaned, dip them into warm water repeatedly, and scrape off the hair, first one foot and then the other, until the skin looks perfectly clean, a saucepan of water being kept by the fire until they are finished. After washing and soaking in cold water, boil them in just sufficient water to cover them, until the bones come easily away. Then pick them out, and after straining the liquor into a clean vessel, put the meat into a pie-dish until the next day. Now cut it down in slices about ½ inch thick, lay on them a 408 stiff batter made of egg, flour, and bread crumbs in the above proportion; season with pepper and salt, and plunge them into a pan of boiling lard. Fry the slices a nice brown, dry them before the fire for a minute or two, dish them on a napkin, and garnish with tufts of parsley. This should be eaten with melted butter, mustard, and vinegar. Be careful to have the lard boiling to set the batter, or the pieces of feet will run about the pan. The liquor they were boiled in should be saved, and will be found useful for enriching gravies, making jellies, &c. &c.
Time.—About 3 hours to stew the feet, 10 or 15 minutes to fry them.
Average cost, in full season, 9d. each.
Sufficient for 8 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—This dish can be highly recommended to delicate persons.
Colour of Veal.—As whiteness of flesh is considered a great advantage in veal, butchers, in the selection of their calves, are in the habit of examining the inside of its mouth, and noting the colour of the calf’s eyes; alleging that, from the signs they there see, they can prognosticate whether the veal will be white or florid.
862. Ingredients.—A calf’s head, 4 tablespoonfuls of minced parsley, 4 blades of pounded mace, ½ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, white pepper to taste, a few thick slices of ham, the yolks of 6 eggs boiled hard.
Mode.—Scald the head for a few minutes; take it out of the water, and with a blunt knife scrape off all the hair. Clean it nicely, divide the head and remove the brains. Boil it tender enough to take out the bones, which will be in about 2 hours. When the head is boned, flatten it on the table, sprinkle over it a thick layer of parsley, then a layer of ham, and then the yolks of the eggs cut into thin rings, and put a seasoning of pounded mace, nutmeg, and white pepper between each layer; roll the head up in a cloth, and tie it up as tightly as possible. Boil it for 4 hours, and when it is taken out of the pot, place a heavy weight on the top, the same as for other collars. Let it remain till cold; then remove the cloth and binding, and it will be ready to serve.
Time.—Altogether 6 hours.
Average cost, 5s. to 7s. each.
Seasonable from March to October.
Feeding a Calf.—The amount of milk necessary for a calf for some time, will be about four quarts a day, though, after the first fortnight, that quantity should be gradually increased, according to its development of body, when, if fed exclusively on milk, as much as three gallons a day will be requisite for the due health and requirements of the animal. If the weather is fine and genial, it should be turned into an orchard or small paddock for a few hours each day, to give it an opportunity to acquire 409 a relish for the fresh pasture, which, by the tenth or twelfth week, it will begin to nibble and enjoy. After a certain time, the quantity of milk may be diminished, and its place supplied by water thickened with meal. Hay-tea and linseed-jelly are also highly nutritious substances, and may be used either as adjuncts or substitutes.
863. Ingredients.—The remains of a boiled calf’s head, 1½ pint of the liquor in which the head was boiled, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 onion minced, a bunch of savoury herbs, salt and white pepper to taste, thickening of butter and flour, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, forcemeat balls.
Mode.—Remove all the bones from the head, and cut the meat into nice square pieces. Put 1½ pint of the liquor it was boiled in into a saucepan, with mace, onion, herbs, and seasoning in the above proportion; let this simmer gently for ¾ hour, then strain it and put in the meat. When quite hot through, thicken the gravy with a little butter rolled in flour, and, just before dishing the fricassee, put in the beaten yolks of eggs and lemon-juice; but be particular, after these two latter ingredients are added, that the sauce does not boil, or it will curdle. Garnish with forcemeat balls and curled slices of broiled bacon. To insure the sauce being smooth, it is a good plan to dish the meat first, and then to add the eggs to the gravy: when these are set, the sauce may be poured over the meat.
Time.—Altogether, 1¼ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 6d.
864. Ingredients.—The remains of a cold calf’s head, rather more than ½ pint of Maître d’hôtel sauce No. 466.
Mode.—Make the sauce by recipe No. 466, and have it sufficiently thick that it may nicely cover the meat; remove the bones from the head, and cut the meat into neat slices. When the sauce is ready, lay in the meat; let it gradually warm through, and, after it boils up, let it simmer very gently for 5 minutes, and serve.
Time.—Rather more than 1½ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 1s. 2d.
Seasonable from March to October.
The Calf in America.—In America, the calf is left with the mother for three or four days, when it is removed, and at once fed on barley and oats ground together and made into a gruel, 1 quart of the meal being boiled for half an hour in 12 quarts of water. One quart of this certainly nutritious gruel, is to be given, lukewarm, morning and evening. In ten days, a bundle of soft hay is put beside the calf, which he soon begins to eat, and, at the same time, some of the dry meal is placed in his manger for him to lick. This process, gradually increasing the quantity of gruel twice a day, is continued for two months, till the calf is fit to go to grass, and, as it is said, with the best possible success. But, in this country, the mode pointed out in No. 862 has received the sanction of the best experience.
865. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast veal, 4 onions, 2 apples sliced, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, ½ pint of broth or water, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.
Mode.—Slice the onions and apples, and fry them in a little butter; then take them out, cut the meat into neat cutlets, and fry these of a pale brown; add the curry-powder and flour, put in the onion, apples, and a little broth or water, and stew gently till quite tender; add the lemon-juice, and serve with an edging of boiled rice. The curry may be ornamented with pickles, capsicums, and gherkins arranged prettily on the top.
Time.—¾ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 4d.
Seasonable from March to October.
866. Ingredients.—About 3 lbs. of the prime part of the leg of veal, egg and bread crumbs, 3 tablespoonfuls of minced savoury herbs, salt and pepper to taste, a small piece of butter.
VEAL CUTLETS.
Mode.—Have the veal cut into slices about ¾ of an inch in thickness, and, if not cut perfectly even, level the meat with a cutlet-bat or rolling-pin. Shape and trim the cutlets, and brush them over with egg. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, with which have been mixed minced herbs and a seasoning of pepper and salt, and press the crumbs down. Fry them of a delicate brown in fresh lard or butter, and be careful not to burn them. They should be very thoroughly done, but not dry. If the cutlets be thick, keep the pan covered for a few minutes at a good distance from the fire, after they have acquired a good colour: by this means, the meat will be done through. Lay the cutlets in a dish, keep them hot, and make a gravy in the pan as follows: Dredge in a little flour, add a piece of butter the size of a walnut, brown it, then pour as much boiling water as is required over it, season with pepper and salt, add a little lemon-juice, give one boil, and pour it over the cutlets. They should be garnished with slices of broiled bacon, and a few forcemeat balls will be found a very excellent addition to this dish.
Time.—For cutlets of a moderate thickness, about 12 minutes; if very thick, allow more time.
411Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient for 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—Veal cutlets may be merely floured and fried of a nice brown; the gravy and garnishing should be the same as in the preceding recipe. They may also be cut from the loin or neck, as shown in the engraving.
867. Ingredients.—Neck of veal, salt and pepper to taste, the yolk of 1 egg, bread crumbs, ½ pint of Italian sauce No. 453.
Mode.—Cut the veal into cutlets, flatten and trim them nicely; powder over them a little salt and pepper; brush them over with the yolk of an egg, dip them into bread crumbs, then into clarified butter, and, afterwards, in the bread crumbs again; broil or fry them over a clear fire, that they may acquire a good brown colour. Arrange them in the dish alternately with rashers of broiled ham, and pour the sauce, made by recipe No. 453, in the middle.
Time.—10 to 15 minutes, according to the thickness of the cutlets.
Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Seasonable from March to October.
The Calf’s-Head Club.—When the restoration of Charles II. took the strait waistcoat off the minds and morose religion of the Commonwealth period, and gave a loose rein to the long-compressed spirits of the people, there still remained a large section of society wedded to the former state of things. The elders of this party retired from public sight, where, unoffended by the reigning saturnalia, they might dream in seclusion over their departed Utopia. The young bloods of this school, however, who were compelled to mingle in the world, yet detesting the politics which had become the fashion, adopted a novel expedient to keep alive their republican sentiments, and mark their contempt of the reigning family. They accordingly met, in considerable numbers, at some convenient inn, on the 30th of January in each year,—the anniversary of Charles’s death, and dined together off a feast prepared from calves’ heads, dressed in every possible variety of way, and with an abundance of wine drank toasts of defiance and hatred to the house of Stuart, and glory to the memory of old Holl Cromwell; and having lighted a large bonfire in the yard, the club of fast young Puritans, with their white handkerchiefs stained red in wine, and one of the party in a mask, bearing an axe, followed by the chairman, carrying a calf’s head pinned up in a napkin, marched in mock procession to the bonfire, into which, with great shouts and uproar, they flung the enveloped head. This odd custom was continued for some time, and even down to the early part of this century it was customary for men of republican politics always to dine off calf’s head on the 30th of January.
868. Ingredients.—2 or 3 lbs. of veal cutlets, egg and bread crumbs, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced savoury herbs, salt and pepper to taste, a little grated nutmeg.
Mode.—Cut the cutlets about ¾ inch in thickness, flatten them, and brush them over with the yolk of an egg; dip them into bread crumbs and minced herbs, season with pepper and salt and grated nutmeg, and fold each cutlet in a piece of buttered paper. Broil them, and send them to table with melted butter or a good gravy.
412Time.—From 15 to 18 minutes.
Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
869. Ingredients.—2 to 3 lbs. of the loin or neck of veal, 10 or 12 young carrots, a bunch of green onions, 2 slices of lean bacon, 2 blades of pounded mace, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, pepper and salt to taste, a few new potatoes, 1 pint of green peas.
Mode.—Cut the veal into cutlets, trim them, and put the trimmings into a stewpan with a little butter; lay in the cutlets and fry them a nice brown colour on both sides. Add the bacon, carrots, onions, spice, herbs, and seasoning; pour in about a pint of boiling water, and stew gently for 2 hours on a very slow fire. When done, skim off the fat, take out the herbs, and flavour the gravy with a little tomato sauce and ketchup. Have ready the peas and potatoes, boiled separately; put them with the veal, and serve.
Time.—2 hours.
Average cost, 2s. 9d.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from June to August with peas;—rather earlier when these are omitted.
870. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast veal, a little butter, flour, ½ pint of water, 1 onion, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, ½ teaspoonful of finely-minced lemon-peel, 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup.
Mode.—Cut the veal the same thickness as for cutlets, rather larger than a crown-piece; flour the meat well, and fry a light brown in butter; dredge again with flour, and add ½ pint of water, pouring it in by degrees; set it on the fire, and when it boils, add the onion and mace, and let it simmer very gently about ¾ hour; flavour the gravy with lemon-juice, peel, wine, and ketchup, in the above proportion; give one boil, and serve.
Time.—¾ hour.
Seasonable from March to October.
871. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast veal, ½ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 2 blades of pounded mace, cayenne and salt to taste, 413 a little butter, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, ¼ pint of water, 1 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, ¼ teaspoonful of lemon-peel, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 3 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 tablespoonful of sherry.
Mode.—Cut the veal into thin slices about 3 inches in width; hack them with a knife, and grate on them the nutmeg, mace, cayenne, and salt, and fry them in a little butter. Dish them, and make a gravy in the pan by putting in the remaining ingredients. Give one boil, and pour it over the collops; garnish with lemon and slices of toasted bacon, rolled. Forcemeat balls may be added to this dish. If cream is not at hand, substitute the yolk of an egg beaten up well with a little milk.
Time.—About 5 or 7 minutes.
Seasonable from May to October.
Cooking Collops.—Dean Ramsay, who tells us, in his “Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character,” a number of famous stories of the strong-headed, warm-hearted, and plain-spoken old dames of the north, gives, amongst them, the following:—A strong-minded lady of this class was inquiring the character of a cook she was about to hire. The lady who was giving the character entered a little upon the cook’s moral qualifications, and described her as a very decent woman; to which the astounding reply—this was 60 years ago, and a Dean tells the story—“Oh, d——n her decency: can she make good collops?”
FILLET OF VEAL.
Mode.—Have the fillet cut according to the size required; take out the bone, and after raising the skin from the meat, put under the flap a nice forcemeat, made by recipe No. 417. Prepare sufficient of this, as there should be some left to eat cold, and to season and flavour a mince if required. Skewer and bind the veal up in a round form; dredge well with flour, put it down at some distance from the fire at first, and baste continually. About ½ hour before serving, draw it nearer the fire, that it may acquire more colour, as the outside should be of a rich brown, but not burnt. Dish it, remove the skewers, which replace by a silver one; pour over the joint some good melted butter, and serve with either boiled ham, bacon, or pickled pork. Never omit to send a cut lemon to table with roast veal.
Time.—A fillet of veal weighing 12 lbs., about 4 hours.
Average cost, 9d. per lb.
Sufficient for 9 or 10 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
414873. Ingredients.—A small fillet of veal, forcemeat No. 417, thickening of butter and flour, a few mushrooms, white pepper to taste, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, 2 blades of pounded mace, ½ glass of sherry.
Mode.—If the whole of the leg is purchased, take off the knuckle to stew, and also the square end, which will serve for cutlets or pies. Remove the bone, and fill the space with a forcemeat No. 417. Roll and skewer it up firmly; place a few skewers at the bottom of a stewpan to prevent the meat from sticking, and cover the veal with a little weak stock. Let it simmer very gently until tender, as the more slowly veal is stewed, the better. Strain and thicken the sauce, flavour it with lemon-juice, mace, sherry, and white pepper; give one boil, and pour it over the meat. The skewers should be removed, and replaced by a silver one, and the dish garnished with slices of cut lemon.
Time.—A fillet of veal weighing 6 lbs., 3 hours’ very gentle stewing.
Average cost, 9d. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
The Golden Calf.—We are told in the book of Genesis, that Aaron, in the lengthened absence of Moses, was constrained by the impatient people to make them an image to worship; and that Aaron, instead of using his delegated power to curb this sinful expression of the tribes, and appease the discontented Jews, at once complied with their demand, and, telling them to bring to him their rings and trinkets, fashioned out of their willing contributions a calf of gold, before which the multitude fell down and worshipped. Whether this image was a solid figure of gold, or a wooden effigy merely, coated with metal, is uncertain. To suppose the former,—knowing the size of the image made from such trifling articles as rings, we must presuppose the Israelites to have spoiled the Egyptians most unmercifully: the figure, however, is of more consequence than the weight or size of the idol. That the Israelites brought away more from Goshen than the plunder of the Egyptians, and that they were deeply imbued with Egyptian superstition, the golden calf is only one, out of many, instances of proof; for a gilded ox, covered with a pall, was in that country an emblem of Osiris, one of the gods of the Egyptian trinity. Besides having a sacred cow, and many varieties of the holy bull, this priest-ridden people worshipped the ox as a symbol of the sun, and offered to it divine honours, as the emblem of frugality, industry, and husbandry. It is therefore probable that, in borrowing so familiar a type, the Israelites, in their calf-worship, meant, under a well-understood cherubic symbol, to acknowledge the full force of those virtues, under an emblem of divine power and goodness. The prophet Hosea is full of denunciations against calf-worship in Israel, and alludes to the custom of kissing these idols, Hosea, viii. 4–6.
MODERN MODE OF SERVING DISHES.
T. Curried Rabbit or Fowl. U. Spinach and Poached Eggs. V. Fricandeau of Veal. W. Mutton Cutlets and Mashed Potatoes. X. Rissoles.
874. Ingredients.—A piece of the fat side of a leg of veal (about 3 lbs.), lardoons, 2 carrots, 2 large onions, a faggot of savoury herbs, 2 blades of pounded mace, 6 whole allspice, 2 bay-leaves, pepper to taste, a few slices of fat bacon, 1 pint of stock No. 107.
FRICANDEAU OF VEAL.
Mode.—The veal for a fricandeau should be of the best quality, or 415 it will not be good. It may be known by the meat being white and not thready. Take off the skin, flatten the veal on the table, then at one stroke of the knife, cut off as much as is required, for a fricandeau with an uneven surface never looks well. Trim it, and with a sharp knife make two or three slits in the middle, that it may taste more of the seasoning. Now lard it thickly with fat bacon, as lean gives a red colour to the fricandeau. Slice the vegetables, and put these, with the herbs and spices, in the middle of a stewpan, with a few slices of bacon at the top: these should form a sort of mound in the centre for the veal to rest upon. Lay the fricandeau over the bacon, sprinkle over it a little salt, and pour in just sufficient stock to cover the bacon, &c., without touching the veal. Let it gradually come to a boil; then put it over a slow and equal fire, and let it simmer very gently for about 2½ hours, or longer should it be very large. Baste it frequently with the liquor, and a short time before serving, put it into a brisk oven, to make the bacon firm, which otherwise would break when it was glazed. Dish the fricandeau, keep it hot, skim off the fat from the liquor, and reduce it quickly to a glaze, with which glaze the fricandeau, and serve with a purée of whatever vegetable happens to be in season—spinach, sorrel, asparagus, cucumbers, peas, &c.
Time.—2½ hours. If very large, allow more time.
Average cost, 3s. 6d.
Sufficient for an entrée.
Seasonable from March to October.
V. Fricandeau of Veal.
875. Ingredients.—The best end of a neck of veal (about 2½ lbs.), lardoons, 2 carrots, 2 onions, a faggot of savoury herbs, 2 blades of mace, 2 bay-leaves, a little whole white pepper, a few slices of fat bacon.
Mode.—Cut away the lean part of the best end of a neck of veal with a sharp knife, scooping it from the bones. Put the bones in with a little water, which will serve to moisten the fricandeau: they should stew about 1½ hour. Lard the veal, proceed in the same way as in the preceding recipe, and be careful that the gravy does not touch the 416 fricandeau. Stew very gently for 3 hours; glaze, and serve it on sorrel, spinach, or with a little gravy in the dish.
Time.—3 hours.
Average cost, 2s. 6d.
Sufficient for an entrée.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—When the prime part of the leg is cut off, it spoils the whole; consequently, to use this for a fricandeau is rather extravagant. The best end of the neck answers the purpose nearly or quite as well.
N. Boiled Calf’s Head.
876. Ingredients.—Calf’s head, boiling water, bread crumbs, 1 large bunch of parsley, butter, white pepper and salt to taste, 4 tablespoonfuls of melted butter, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 2 or 3 grains of cayenne.
Mode.—Put the head into boiling water, and let it remain by the side of the fire for 3 or 4 minutes; take it out, hold it by the ear, and with the back of a knife, scrape off the hair (should it not come off easily, dip the head again into boiling water). When perfectly clean, take the eyes out, cut off the ears, and remove the brain, which soak for an hour in warm water. Put the head into hot water to soak for a few minutes, to make it look white, and then have ready a stewpan, into which lay the head; cover, it with cold water, and bring it gradually to boil. Remove the scum, and add a little salt, which assists to throw it up. Simmer it very gently from 2½ to 3 hours, and when nearly done, boil the brains for ¼ hour; skin and chop them, not too finely, and add a tablespoonful of minced parsley which has been previously scalded. Season with pepper and salt, and stir the brains, parsley, &c., into about 4 tablespoonfuls of melted butter; add the lemon-juice and cayenne, and keep these hot by the side of the fire. Take up the head, cut out the tongue, skin it, put it on a small dish with the brains round it; sprinkle over the head a few bread crumbs mixed with a little minced parsley; brown these before the fire, and serve with a tureen of parsley and butter, and either boiled bacon, ham, or pickled pork as an accompaniment.
Time.—2½ to 3 hours.
Average cost, according to the season, from 3s. to 7s. 6d.
Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
877. Ingredients.—Calf’s head, water, a little salt, 4 tablespoonfuls of melted butter, 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, pepper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.
CALF’S HEAD.
HALF A CALF’S HEAD.
Mode.—After the head has been thoroughly cleaned, and the brains removed, soak it in warm water to blanch it. Lay the brains also into warm water to soak, and let them remain for about an hour. Put the head into a stewpan, with sufficient cold water to cover it, and when it boils, add a little salt; take off every particle of scum as it rises, and boil the head until perfectly tender. Boil the brains, chop them, and mix with them melted butter, minced parsley, pepper, salt, and lemon-juice in the above proportion. Take up the head, skin the tongue, and put it on a small dish with the brains round it. Have ready some parsley and butter, smother the head with it, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. Bacon, ham, pickled pork, or a pig’s cheek, are indispensable with calf’s head. The brains are sometimes chopped with hard-boiled eggs, and mixed with a little Béchamel or white sauce.
Time.—From 1½ to 2¼ hours.
Average cost, according to the season, from 3s. to 5s.
Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—The liquor in which the head was boiled should be saved: it makes excellent soup, and will be found a nice addition to gravies, &c. Half a calf’s head is as frequently served as a whole one, it being a more convenient-sized joint for a small family. It is cooked in the same manner, and served with the same sauces, as in the preceding recipe.
878. Ingredients.—The remains of a cold boiled calf’s head, 1 quart of the liquor in which it was boiled, a faggot of savoury herbs, 1 onion, 1 carrot, a strip of lemon-peel, 2 blades of pounded mace, salt and white pepper to taste, a very little cayenne, rather more than 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, forcemeat balls.
Mode.—Cut the meat into neat slices, and put the bones and trimmings into a stewpan with the above proportion of liquor that the head was boiled in. Add a bunch of savoury herbs, 1 onion, 1 carrot, a strip of lemon-peel, and 2 blades of pounded mace, and let these 418 boil for 1 hour, or until the gravy is reduced nearly half. Strain it into a clean stewpan, thicken it with a little butter and flour, and add a flavouring of sherry, lemon-juice, and ketchup, in the above proportion; season with pepper, salt, and a little cayenne; put in the meat, let it gradually warm through, but not boil more than two or three minutes. Garnish the dish with forcemeat balls and pieces of bacon rolled and toasted, placed alternately, and send it to table very hot.
Time.—Altogether 1½ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the remains of the head, 6d.
Seasonable from March to October.
879. Ingredients.—About 2 lbs. of the prime part of the leg of veal, a few slices of bacon, forcemeat No. 417, cayenne to taste, egg and bread crumbs, gravy.
Mode.—Cut the veal into long thin collops, flatten them, and lay on each a piece of thin bacon of the same size; have ready some forcemeat, made by recipe No. 417, which spread over the bacon, sprinkle over all a little cayenne, roll them up tightly, and do not let them be more than 2 inches long. Skewer each one firmly, egg and bread crumb them, and fry them a nice brown in a little butter, turning them occasionally, and shaking the pan about. When done, place them on a dish before the fire; put a small piece of butter in the pan, dredge in a little flour, add ¼ pint of water, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, a seasoning of salt, pepper, and pounded mace; let the whole boil up, and pour it over the collops.
Time.—From 10 to 15 minutes.
Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
880. Ingredients.—A calf’s liver, flour, a bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley; when liked, 2 minced shalots; 1 teaspoonful of flour, 1 tablespoonful of vinegar, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, pepper and salt to taste, ¼ pint water.
Mode.—Procure a calf’s liver as white as possible, and cut it into slices of a good and equal shape. Dip them in flour, and fry them of a good colour in a little butter. When they are done, put them on a dish, which keep hot before the fire. Mince the herbs very fine, put them in the frying-pan with a little more butter; add the remaining 419 ingredients, simmer gently until the herbs are done, and pour over the liver.
Time.—According to the thickness of the slices, from 5 to 10 minutes.
Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
881. Ingredients.—2 or 3 lbs. of liver, bacon, pepper and salt to taste, a small piece of butter, flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, ¼ pint of water.
Mode.—Cut the liver in thin slices, and cut as many slices of bacon as there are of liver; fry the bacon first, and put that on a hot dish before the fire. Fry the liver in the fat which comes from the bacon, after seasoning it with pepper and salt and dredging over it a very little flour. Turn the liver occasionally to prevent its burning, and when done, lay it round the dish with a piece of bacon between each. Pour away the bacon fat, put in a small piece of butter, dredge in a little flour, add the lemon-juice and water, give one boil, and pour it in the middle of the dish. It may be garnished with slices of cut lemon, or forcemeat balls.
Time.—According to the thickness of the slices, from 5 to 10 minutes.
Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
882. Ingredients.—A calf’s liver, vinegar, 1 onion, 3 or 4 sprigs of parsley and thyme, salt and pepper to taste, 1 bay-leaf, lardoons, brown gravy.
Mode.—Take a fine white liver, and lard it the same as a fricandeau; put it into vinegar with an onion cut in slices, parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, and seasoning in the above proportion. Let it remain in this pickle for 24 hours, then roast and baste it frequently with the vinegar, & c.; glaze it, serve under it a good brown gravy, or sauce piquante, and send it to table very hot.
Time.—Rather more than 1 hour.
Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—Calf’s liver stuffed with forcemeat No. 417, to which has been added a little fat bacon, will be found a very savoury dish. It should be larded or wrapped in buttered paper, and roasted before a clear fire. Brown gravy and currant jelly should be served with it.
420883. Ingredients.—A small fillet of veal, 1 pint of Béchamel sauce No. 367, a few bread crumbs, clarified butter.
Mode.—A fillet of veal that has been roasted the preceding day will answer very well for this dish. Cut the middle out rather deep, leaving a good margin round, from which to cut nice slices, and if there should be any cracks in the veal, fill them up with forcemeat. Mince finely the meat that was taken out, mixing with it a little of the forcemeat to flavour, and stir to it sufficient Béchamel to make it of a proper consistency. Warm the veal in the oven for about an hour, taking care to baste it well, that it may not be dry; put the mince in the place where the meat was taken out, sprinkle a few bread crumbs over it, and drop a little clarified butter on the bread crumbs; put it into the oven for ¼ hour to brown, and pour Béchamel round the sides of the dish.
Time.—Altogether 1½ hour.
Seasonable from March to October.
884. Ingredients.—Knuckle of veal, pepper and salt to taste, flour, 1 onion, 1 head of celery, or a little celery-seed, a faggot of savoury herbs, 2 blades of pounded mace, thickening of butter and flour, a few young carrots, 1 tablespoonful of ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of tomato sauce, 3 tablespoonfuls of sherry, the juice of ½ lemon.
Mode.—Cut the meat from a knuckle of veal into neat slices, season with pepper and salt, and dredge them with flour. Fry them in a little butter of a pale brown, and put them into a stewpan with the bone (which should be chopped in several places); add the celery, herbs, mace, and carrots; pour over all about 1 pint of hot water, and let it simmer very gently for 2 hours, over a slow but clear fire. Take out the slices of meat and carrots, strain and thicken the gravy with a little butter rolled in flour; add the remaining ingredients, give one boil, put back the meat and carrots, let these get hot through, and serve. When in season, a few green peas, boiled separately, and added to this dish at the moment of serving, would be found a very agreeable addition.
Time.—2 hours.
Average cost, 5d. to 6d. per lb.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
885. Ingredients.—Knuckle of veal, 1 onion, 2 blades of mace, 1 teaspoonful of salt, ½ lb. of rice.
421
KNUCKLE OF VEAL.
Mode.—Have the knuckle cut small, or cut some cutlets from it, that it may be just large enough to be eaten the same day it is dressed, as cold boiled veal is not a particularly tempting dish. Break the shank-bone, wash it clean, and put the meat into a stewpan with sufficient water to cover it. Let it gradually come to a boil, put in the salt, and remove the scum as fast as it rises. When it has simmered gently for about ¾ hour, add the remaining ingredients, and stew the whole gently for 2¼ hours. Put the meat into a deep dish, pour over it the rice, &c., and send boiled bacon, and a tureen of parsley and butter to table with it.
Time.—A knuckle of veal weighing 6 lbs., 3 hours’ gentle stewing.
Average cost, 5d. to 6d. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—Macaroni, instead of rice, boiled with the veal, will be found good; or the rice and macaroni may be omitted, and the veal sent to table smothered in parsley and butter.
886. Ingredients.—Veal; melted butter.
LOIN OF VEAL.
Mode.—Paper the kidney fat; roll in and skewer the flap, which makes the joint a good shape; dredge it well with flour, and put it down to a bright fire. Should the loin be very large, skewer the kidney back for a time to roast thoroughly. Keep it well basted, and a short time before serving, remove the paper from the kidney, and allow it to acquire a nice brown colour, but it should not be burnt. Have ready some melted butter, put it into the dripping-pan after it is emptied of its contents, pour it over the veal, and serve. Garnish the dish with slices of lemon and forcemeat balls, and send to table with it, boiled bacon, ham, pickled pork, or pig’s cheek.
Time.—A large loin, 3 hours.
Average cost, 9½d. per lb.
Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—A piece of toast should be placed under the kidney when the veal is dished.
422887. Ingredients.—Loin of veal, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, rather more than ½ pint of Béchamel or white sauce.
Mode.—A loin of veal which has come from table with very little taken off, answers very well for this dish. Cut off the meat from the inside, mince it, and mix with it some minced lemon-peel; put it into sufficient Béchamel to warm through. In the mean time, wrap the joint in buttered paper, and place it in the oven to warm. When thoroughly hot, dish the mince, place the loin above it, and pour over the remainder of the Béchamel.
Time.—1½ hour to warm the meat in the oven.
Seasonable from March to October.
888. Ingredients.—The chump end of a loin of veal, forcemeat No. 417, a few slices of bacon, a bunch of savoury herbs, 2 blades of mace, ½ teaspoonful of whole white pepper, 1 pint of veal stock or water, 5 or 6 green onions.
Mode.—Cut off the chump from a loin of veal, and take out the bone; fill the cavity with forcemeat No. 417, tie it up tightly, and lay it in a stewpan with the bones and trimmings, and cover the veal with a few slices of bacon. Add the herbs, mace, pepper, and onions, and stock or water; cover the pan with a closely-fitting lid, and simmer for 2 hours, shaking the stewpan occasionally. Take out the bacon, herbs, and onions; reduce the gravy, if not already thick enough, to a glaze, with which glaze the meat, and serve with tomato, mushroom, or sorrel sauce.
Time.—2 hours.
Average cost, 9d. per lb.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
889. Ingredients.—The remains of a fillet of veal, 1 pint of Béchamel sauce No. 367, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, forcemeat balls.
Mode.—Cut—but do not chop—a few slices of cold roast veal as finely as possible, sufficient to make rather more than 1 lb., weighed after being minced. Make the above proportion of Béchamel, by recipe No. 367; add the lemon-peel, put in the veal, and let the 423 whole gradually warm through. When it is at the point of simmering, dish it, and garnish with forcemeat balls and fried sippets of bread.
Time.—To simmer 1 minute.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 1s. 4d.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
890. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fillet or loin of veal, rather more than 1 pint of water, 1 onion, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, salt and white pepper to taste, 1 blade of pounded mace, 2 or 3 young carrots, a faggot of sweet herbs, thickening of butter and flour, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 3 tablespoonfuls of cream or milk.
Mode.—Take about 1 lb. of veal, and should there be any bones, dredge them with flour, and put them into a stewpan with the brown outside, and a few meat trimmings; add rather more than a pint of water, the onion cut in slices, lemon-peel, seasoning, mace, carrots, and herbs; simmer these well for rather more than 1 hour, and strain the liquor. Rub a little flour into some butter; add this to the gravy, set it on the fire, and, when it boils, skim well. Mince the veal finely by cutting, and not chopping it; put it in the gravy; let it get warmed through gradually; add the lemon-juice and cream, and, when it is on the point of boiling, serve. Garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread and slices of bacon rolled and toasted. Forcemeat balls may also be added. If more lemon-peel is liked than is stated above, put a little very finely minced to the veal, after it is warmed in the gravy.
Time.—1 hour to make the gravy.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 6d.
Seasonable from March to October.
The Calf a Symbol of Divine Power.—A singular symbolical ceremony existed among the Hebrews, in which the calf performed a most important part. The calf being a type or symbol of Divine power, or what was called the Elohim,—the Almighty intelligence that brought them out of Egypt,—was looked upon much in the same light by the Jews, as the cross subsequently was by the Christians, a mystical emblem of the Divine passion and goodness. Consequently, an oath taken on either the calf or the cross was considered equally solemn and sacred by Jew or Nazarene, and the breaking of it a soul-staining perjury on themselves, and an insult and profanation directly offered to the Almighty. To render the oath more impressive and solemn, it was customary to slaughter a dedicated calf in the temple, when, the priests having divided the carcase into a certain number of parts, and with intervening spaces, arranged the severed limbs on the marble pavement, the one, or all the party, if there were many individuals, to be bound by the oath, repeating the words of the compact, threaded their way in and out through the different spaces, till they had taken the circuit of each portion of the divided calf, when the ceremony was concluded. To 424 avert the anger of the Lord, when Jerusalem was threatened by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian host, the Jews had made a solemn vow to God, ratified by the ceremony of the calf, if He released them from their dreaded foe, to cancel the servitude of their Hebrew brethren. After investing the city for some time, and reducing the inhabitants to dreadful suffering and privation, the Babylonians, hearing that Pharaoh, whom the Jews had solicited for aid, was rapidly approaching with a powerful array, hastily raised the siege, and, removing to a distance, took up a position where they could intercept the Egyptians, and still cover the city. No sooner did the Jews behold the retreat of the enemy, than they believed all danger was past, and, with their usual turpitude, they repudiated their oath, and refused to liberate their oppressed countrymen. For this violation of their covenant with the Lord, they were given over to all the horrors of the sword, pestilence, and famine.—Jeremiah, xxxiv. 15–17.
891. Ingredients.—¾ lb. of minced cold roast veal, 3 oz. of ham, 1 tablespoonful of gravy, pepper and salt to taste, ¼ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, ¼ lb. of bread crumbs, ¼ lb. of macaroni, 1 or 2 eggs to bind, a small piece of butter.
Mode.—Cut some nice slices from a cold fillet of veal, trim off the brown outside, and mince the meat finely with the above proportion of ham: should the meat be very dry, add a spoonful of good gravy. Season highly with pepper and salt, add the grated nutmeg and bread crumbs, and mix these ingredients with 1 or 2 eggs well beaten, which should bind the mixture and make it like forcemeat. In the mean time, boil the macaroni in salt and water, and drain it; butter a mould, put some of the macaroni at the bottom and sides of it, in whatever form is liked; mix the remainder with the forcemeat, fill the mould up to the top, put a plate or small dish on it, and steam for ½ hour. Turn it out carefully, and serve with good gravy poured round, but not over, the meat.
Time.—½ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 10d.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—To make a variety, boil some carrots and turnips separately in a little salt and water; when done, cut them into pieces about ⅛ inch in thickness; butter an oval mould, and place these in it, in white and red stripes alternately, at the bottom and sides. Proceed as in the foregoing recipe, and be very careful in turning it out of the mould.
892. Ingredients.—¾ lb. of cold roast veal, a small slice of bacon, ⅓ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, ½ onion chopped fine, salt, pepper, and pounded mace to taste, a slice of toast soaked in milk, 1 egg.
Mode.—Mince the meat very fine, after removing from it all skin and outside pieces, and chop the bacon; mix these well together, adding the lemon-peel, onion, seasoning, mace, and toast. When all 425 the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, beat up an egg, with which bind the mixture. Butter a shape, put in the meat, and bake for ¾ hour; turn it out of the mould carefully, and pour round it a good brown gravy. A sheep’s head dressed in this manner is an economical and savoury dish.
Time.—¾ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 6d.
Seasonable from March to October.
893. Ingredients.—The best end of the neck of veal (from 3 to 4 lbs.), bacon, 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste; 1 onion, 2 carrots, a little celery (when this is not obtainable, use the seed), ½ glass of sherry, thickening of butter and flour, lemon-juice, 1 blade of pounded mace.
Mode.—Prepare the bacon for larding, and roll it in minced parsley, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg; lard the veal, put it into a stewpan with a few slices of lean bacon or ham, an onion, carrots, and celery; and do not quite cover it with water. Stew it gently for 2 hours, or until it is quite tender; strain off the liquor; stir together over the fire, in a stewpan, a little flour and butter until brown; lay the veal in this, the upper side to the bottom of the pan, and let it remain till of a nice brown colour. Place it in the dish; pour into the stewpan as much gravy as is required, boil it up, skim well, add the wine, pounded mace, and lemon-juice; simmer for 3 minutes, pour it over the meat, and serve.
Time.—Rather more than 2 hours.
Average cost, 8d. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
Birth of Calves.—The cow seldom produces more than a single calf; sometimes, twins, and, very rarely, three. A French newspaper, however,—the “Nouveau Bulletin des Sciences,”—gave a trustworthy but extraordinary account of a cow which produced nine calves in all, at three successive births, in three successive years. The first year four cow calves; the second year, three calves, two of them females; the third year, two calves, both females. With the exception of two belonging to the first birth, all were suckled by the mother.
894. Ingredients.—Veal, melted butter, forcemeat balls.
Mode.—Have the veal cut from the best end of the neck; dredge it with flour, and put it down to a bright clear fire; keep it well basted; dish it, pour over it some melted butter, and garnish the dish with fried forcemeat balls; send to table with a cut lemon. The scrag 426 may be boiled or stewed in various ways, with rice, onion-sauce, or parsley and butter.
Time.—About 2 hours.
Average cost, 8d. per lb.
Sufficient.—4 or 5 lbs. for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
895. Ingredients.—A few thin slices of cold fillet of veal, a few thin slices of bacon, forcemeat No. 417, a cupful of gravy, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, puff-crust.
Mode.—Cut thin slices from a fillet of veal, place on them thin slices of bacon, and over them a layer of forcemeat, made by recipe No. 417, with an additional seasoning of shalot and cayenne; roll them tightly, and fill up a pie-dish with them; add the gravy and cream, cover with a puff-crust, and bake for 1 to 1½ hour: should the pie be very large, allow 2 hours. The pieces of rolled veal should be about 3 inches in length, and about 3 inches round.
Time.—Moderate-sized pie, 1 to 1½ hour.
Seasonable from March to October.
896. Ingredients.—Cold roast veal, a few slices of cold ham, 1 egg boiled hard, pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, gravy, cream, 1 teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, good puff-paste.
Mode.—Mince a little cold veal and ham, allowing one-third ham to two-thirds veal; add an egg boiled hard and chopped, and a seasoning of pounded mace, salt, pepper, and lemon-peel; moisten with a little gravy and cream. Make a good puff-paste; roll rather thin, and cut it into round or square pieces; put the mince between two of them, pinch the edges to keep in the gravy, and fry a light brown. They may be also baked in patty-pans: in that case, they should be brushed over with the yolk of an egg before they are put in the oven. To make a variety, oysters may be substituted for the ham.
Time.—15 minutes to fry the patties.
Seasonable from March to October.
897. Ingredients.—2 lbs. of veal cutlets, 1 or 2 slices of lean bacon or ham, pepper and salt to taste, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced savoury herbs, 2 blades of pounded mace, crust, 1 teacupful of gravy.
427Mode.—Cut the cutlets into square pieces, and season them with pepper, salt, and pounded mace; put them in a pie-dish with the savoury herbs sprinkled over, and 1 or 2 slices of lean bacon or ham placed at the top: if possible, this should be previously cooked, as undressed bacon makes the veal red, and spoils its appearance. Pour in a little water, cover with crust, ornament it in any way that is approved; brush it over with the yolk of an egg, and bake in a well-heated oven for about 1½ hour. Pour in a good gravy after baking, which is done by removing the top ornament, and replacing it after the gravy is added.
Time.—About 1½ hour.
Average cost, 2s. 6d.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
A very Veal Dinner.—At a dinner given by Lord Polkemmet, a Scotch nobleman and judge, his guests saw, when the covers were removed, that the fare consisted of veal broth, a roasted fillet of veal, veal cutlets, a veal pie, a calf’s head, and calf’s-foot jelly. The judge, observing the surprise of his guests, volunteered an explanation.—“Ou, ay, it’s a’ cauf; when we kill a beast, we just eat up ae side, and doun the tither.”
898. Ingredients.—2 lbs. of veal cutlets, ½ lb. of boiled ham, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced savoury herbs, ¼ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 2 blades of pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, a strip of lemon-peel finely minced, the yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs, ½ pint of water, nearly ½ pint of good strong gravy, puff-crust.
Mode.—Cut the veal into nice square pieces, and put a layer of them at the bottom of a pie-dish; sprinkle over these a portion of the herbs, spices, seasoning, lemon-peel, and the yolks of the eggs cut in slices; cut the ham very thin, and put a layer of this in. Proceed in this manner until the dish is full, so arranging it that the ham comes at the top. Lay a puff-paste on the edge of the dish, and pour in about ½ pint of water; cover with crust, ornament it with leaves, brush it over with the yolk of an egg, and bake in a well-heated oven for 1 to 1½ hour, or longer, should the pie be very large. When it is taken out of the oven, pour in at the top, through a funnel, nearly ½ pint of strong gravy: this should be made sufficiently good that, when cold, it may cut in a firm jelly. This pie may be very much enriched by adding a few mushrooms, oysters, or sweetbreads; but it will be found very good without any of the last-named additions.
Time.—1½ hour, or longer, should the pie be very large.
Average cost, 3s.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
428899. Ingredients.—To every lb. of veal allow ¼ lb. of ham, cayenne and pounded mace to taste, 6 oz. of fresh butter; clarified butter.
Mode.—Mince the veal and ham together as finely as possible, and pound well in a mortar, with cayenne, pounded mace, and fresh butter in the above proportion. When reduced to a perfectly smooth paste, press it into potting-pots, and cover with clarified butter. If kept in a cool place, it will remain good some days.
Seasonable from March to October.
Names of Calves, &c.—During the time the young male calf is suckled by his mother, he is called a bull- or ox-calf; when turned a year old, he is called a stirk, stot, or yearling; on the completion of his second year, he is called a two-year-old bull or steer (and in some counties a twinter); then, a three-year-old steer; and at four, an ox or a bullock, which latter names are retained till death. It may be here remarked, that the term ox is used as a general or common appellation for neat cattle, in a specific sense, and irrespective of sex; as the British ox, the Indian ox. The female is termed cow, but while sucking the mother, a cow-calf; at the age of a year, she is called a yearling quey; in another year, a heifer, or twinter; then, a three-year-old quey or twinter; and, at four years old, a cow. Other names, to be regarded as provincialisms, may exist in different districts.
900. Ingredients.—The remains of cold veal, 1 oz. of butter, ½ pint of gravy, thickening of butter and flour, pepper and salt to taste, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of sherry, 1 dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, forcemeat balls.
Mode.—Any part of veal will make this dish. Cut the meat into nice-looking pieces, put them in a stewpan with 1 oz. of butter, and fry a light brown; add the gravy (hot water may be substituted for this), thicken with a little butter and flour, and stew gently about ¼ hour; season with pepper, salt, and pounded mace; add the ketchup, sherry, and lemon-juice; give one boil, and serve. Garnish the dish with forcemeat balls and fried rashers of bacon.
Time.—Altogether ½ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold meat, 6d.
Seasonable from March to October.
Note.—The above recipe may be varied, by adding vegetables, such as peas, cucumbers, lettuces, green onions cut in slices, a dozen or two of green gooseberries (not seedy), all of which should be fried a little with the meat, and then stewed in the gravy.
X. Rissoles.
901. Ingredients.—A few slices of cold roast veal, a few slices of 429 ham or bacon, 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, 1 tablespoonful of minced savoury herbs, 1 blade of pounded mace, a very little grated nutmeg, cayenne and salt to taste, 2 eggs well beaten, bread crumbs.
Mode.—Mince the veal very finely with a little ham or bacon; add the parsley, herbs, spices, and seasoning; mix into a paste with an egg; form into balls or cones; brush these over with egg, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and fry a rich brown. Serve with brown gravy, and garnish the dish with fried parsley.
Time.—About 10 minutes to fry the rissoles.
Seasonable from March to October.
902. Ingredients.—The remains of a cold fillet of veal, egg and bread crumbs, a few slices of fat bacon, forcemeat No. 417.
Mode.—Cut a few slices from a cold fillet of veal ½ inch thick; rub them over with egg; lay a thin slice of fat bacon over each piece of veal; brush these with the egg, and over this spread the forcemeat thinly; roll up each piece tightly, egg and bread crumb them, and fry them a rich brown. Serve with mushroom sauce or brown gravy.
Time.—10 to 15 minutes to fry the rolls.
Seasonable from March to October.
903. Ingredients.—A shoulder of veal, a few slices of ham or bacon, forcemeat No. 417, 3 carrots, 2 onions, salt and pepper to taste, a faggot of savoury herbs, 3 blades of pounded mace, water, thickening of butter and flour.
Mode.—Bone the joint by carefully detaching the meat from the blade-bone on one side, and then on the other, being particular not to pierce the skin; then cut the bone from the knuckle, and take it out. Fill the cavity whence the bone was taken with a forcemeat made by recipe No. 417. Roll and bind the veal up tightly; put it into a stewpan with the carrots, onions, seasoning, herbs, and mace; pour in just sufficient water to cover it, and let it stew very gently for about 5 hours. Before taking it up, try if it is properly done by thrusting a larding-needle in it: if it penetrates easily, it is sufficiently cooked. Strain and skim the gravy, thicken with butter and flour, give one boil, and pour it round the meat. A few young carrots may be boiled and placed round the dish as a garnish, and, when in season, green peas should always be served with this dish.
Time.—5 hours.
Average cost, 7d. per lb.
Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons.
Seasonable from March to October.
430The Fattening of Calves.—The fattening of calves for the market is an important business in Lanarkshire or Clydesdale, and numbers of newly-dropped calves are regularly carried there from the farmers of the adjacent districts, in order to be prepared for the butcher. The mode of feeding them is very simple; milk is the chief article of their diet, and of this the calves require a sufficient supply from first to last. Added to this, they must be kept in a well-aired place, neither too hot nor too cold, and freely supplied with dry litter. It is usual to exclude the light,—at all events to a great degree, and to put within their reach a lump of chalk, which they are very fond of licking. Thus fed, calves, at the end of 8 or 9 weeks, often attain a very large size; viz., 18 to 20 stone, exclusive of the offal. Far heavier weights have occurred, and without any deterioration in the delicacy and richness of the flesh. This mode of feeding upon milk alone at first appears to be very expensive, but it is not so, when all things are taken into consideration; for at the age of 9 or 10 weeks a calf, originally purchased for 8 shillings, will realize nearly the same number of pounds. For 4, or even 6 weeks, the milk of one cow is sufficient,—indeed half that quantity is enough for the first fortnight; but after the 5th or 6th week it will consume the greater portion of the milk of two moderate cows; but then it requires neither oil-cake nor linseed, nor any other food. Usually, however, the calves are not kept beyond the age of 6 weeks, and will then sell for 5 or 6 pounds each: the milk of the cow is then ready for a successor. In this manner a relay of calves may be prepared for the markets from early spring to the end of summer, a plan more advantageous than that of overfeeding one to a useless degree of corpulency.
904. Ingredients.—Equal quantities of fat bacon and lean veal; to every lb. of meat, allow 1 teaspoonful of minced sage, salt and pepper to taste.
Mode.—Chop the meat and bacon finely, and to every lb. allow the above proportion of very finely-minced sage; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, mix the whole well together, make it into flat cakes, and fry a nice brown.
Seasonable from March to October.
905. Ingredients.—3 or 4 lbs. of the loin or neck of veal, 15 young carrots, a few green onions, 1 pint of green peas, 12 new potatoes, a bunch of savoury herbs, pepper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup.
Mode.—Dredge the meat with flour, and roast or bake it for about ¾ hour: it should acquire a nice brown colour. Put the meat into a stewpan with the carrots, onions, potatoes, herbs, pepper, and salt; pour over it sufficient boiling water to cover it, and stew gently for 2 hours. Take out the meat and herbs, put it in a deep dish, skim off all the fat from the gravy, and flavour it with lemon-juice, tomato sauce, and mushroom ketchup in the above proportion. Have ready a pint of green peas boiled separately; put these with the meat, pour over it the gravy, and serve. The dish may be garnished with a few forcemeat balls. The meat, when preferred, may be cut into chops, 431 and floured and fried instead of being roasted; and any part of veal dressed in this way will be found extremely savoury and good.
Time.—3 hours.
Average cost, 9d. per lb.
Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
Seasonable, with peas, from June to August.
906. Ingredients.—3 sweetbreads, egg and bread crumbs, oiled butter, 3 slices of toast, brown gravy.
SWEETBREADS.
Mode.—Choose large white sweetbreads; put them into warm water to draw out the blood, and to improve their colour; let them remain for rather more than 1 hour; then put them into boiling water, and allow them to simmer for about 10 minutes, which renders them firm. Take them up, drain them, brush over with egg, sprinkle with bread crumbs; dip them in egg again, and then into more bread crumbs. Drop on them a little oiled butter, and put the sweetbreads into a moderately-heated oven, and let them bake for nearly ¾ hour. Make 3 pieces of toast; place the sweetbreads on the toast, and pour round, but not over them, a good brown gravy.
Time.—To soak 1 hour, to be boiled 10 minutes, baked 40 minutes.
Average cost, 1s. to 5s.
Sufficient for an entrée.
Seasonable.—In full season from May to August.
907. Ingredients.—3 sweetbreads, egg and bread crumbs, ¼ lb. of butter, salt and pepper to taste, rather more than ½ pint of Maître d’hôtel sauce No. 466.
Mode.—Soak the sweetbreads in warm water for an hour; then boil them for 10 minutes; cut them in slices, egg and bread crumb them, season with pepper and salt, and put them into a frying-pan, with the above proportion of butter. Keep turning them until done, which will be in about 10 minutes; dish them, and pour over them a Maître d’hôtel sauce, made by recipe No. 406. The dish may be garnished with slices of cut lemon.
Time.—To soak 1 hour, to be broiled 10 minutes, to be fried about 10 minutes.
Average cost. 1s. to 5s., according to the season.
Sufficient for an entrée.
Seasonable.—In full season from May to August.
432Note.—The egg and bread crumb may be omitted, and the slices of sweetbread dredged with a little flour instead, and a good gravy may be substituted for the maître d’hôtel sauce. This is a very simple method of dressing them.
908. Ingredients.—3 sweetbreads, 1 pint of white stock No. 107, thickening of butter and flour, 6 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 blade of pounded mace, white pepper and salt to taste.
Mode.—Soak the sweetbreads in warm water for 1 hour, and boil them for 10 minutes; take them out, put them into cold water for a few minutes; lay them in a stewpan with the stock, and simmer them gently for rather more than 1 hour. Dish them; thicken the gravy with a little butter and flour; let it boil up, add the remaining ingredients, allow the sauce to get quite hot, but not boil, and pour it over the sweetbreads.
Time.—To soak 1 hour, to be boiled 10 minutes, stewed rather more than ½ hour.
Average cost, from 1s. to 5s., according to the season.
Sufficient for an entrée.
Seasonable.—In full season from May to August.
Note.—A few mushrooms added to this dish, and stewed with the sweetbreads, will be found an improvement.
Season and Choice of Veal.—Veal, like all other meats, has its season of plenty. The best veal, and the largest supply, are to be had from March to the end of July. It comes principally from the western counties, and is generally of the Alderney breed. In purchasing veal, its whiteness and fineness of grain should be considered, the colour being especially of the utmost consequence. Veal may be bought at all times of the year, and of excellent quality, but is generally very dear, except in the months of plenty.
909. Ingredients.—The gristles from 2 breasts of veal, stock No. 107, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, 2 blades of pounded mace, 4 cloves, 2 carrots, 2 onions, a strip of lemon-peel.
Mode.—The tendrons or gristles, which are found round the front of a breast of veal, are now very frequently served as an entrée, and when well dressed, make a nice and favourite dish. Detach the gristles from the bone, and cut them neatly out, so as not to spoil the joint for roasting or stewing. Put them into a stewpan, with sufficient stock, No. 107, to cover them; add the herbs, mace, cloves, carrots, onions, and lemon, and simmer these for nearly, or quite, 4 hours. They should be stewed until a fork will enter the meat easily. Take them up, drain them, strain the gravy, boil it down to a glaze, with 433 2F which glaze the meat. Dish the tendrons in a circle, with croûtons fried of a nice colour placed between each; and put mushroom sauce, or a purée of green peas or tomatoes, in the middle.
Time.—4 hours.
Sufficient for one entrée.
Seasonable.—With peas, from June to August.
Cow-Pox, or Variola.—It is to Dr. Jenner, of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, who died in 1823, that we owe the practice of vaccination, as a preservative from the attack of that destructive scourge of the human race, the small-pox. The experiments of this philosophic man were begun in 1797, and published the next year. He had observed that cows were subject to a certain infectious eruption of the teats, and that those persons who became affected by it, while milking the cattle, escaped the small-pox raging around them. This fact, known to farmers from time immemorial, led him to a course of experiments, the result of which all are acquainted with.
910. Ingredients.—The gristles from 2 breasts of veal, stock No. 107, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, 1 blade of pounded mace, 4 cloves, 2 carrots, 2 onions, a strip of lemon-peel, egg and bread crumbs, 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste, 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry, the yolk of 1 egg, 3 tablespoonfuls of cream.
Mode.—After removing the gristles from a breast of veal, stew them for 4 hours, as in the preceding recipe, with stock, herbs, mace, cloves, carrots, onions, and lemon-peel. When perfectly tender, lift them out and remove any bones or hard parts remaining. Put them between two dishes, with a weight on the top, and when cold, cut them into slices. Brush these over with egg, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and fry a pale brown. Take ½ pint of the gravy they were boiled in, add 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped mushrooms, a seasoning of salt and pepper, the sherry, and the yolk of an egg beaten with 3 tablespoonfuls of cream. Stir the sauce over the fire until it thickens; when it is on the point of boiling, dish the tendrons in a circle, and pour the sauce in the middle. Tendrons are dressed in a variety of ways,—with sauce à l’Espagnole, vegetables of all kinds: when they are served with a purée, they should always be glazed.
Time.—4½ hours.
Average cost.—Usually bought with breast of veal.
Sufficient for an entrée.
Seasonable from March to October.
911. Ingredients.—Half a calf’s head, or the remains of a cold boiled one; rather more than 1 pint of good white stock, No. 107, 1 glass of sherry or Madeira, cayenne and salt to taste, about 12 mushroom-buttons 434 (when obtainable), 6 hard-boiled eggs, 4 gherkins, 8 quenelles or forcemeat balls, No. 422 or 423, 12 crayfish, 12 croûtons.
Mode.—Half a calf’s head is sufficient to make a good entrée, and if there are any remains of a cold one left from the preceding day, it will answer very well for this dish. After boiling the head until tender, remove the bones, and cut the meat into neat pieces; put the stock into a stewpan, add the wine, and a seasoning of salt and cayenne; fry the mushrooms in butter for 2 or 3 minutes, and add these to the gravy. Boil this quickly until somewhat reduced; then put in the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs whole, the whites cut in small pieces, and the gherkins chopped. Have ready a few veal quenelles, made by recipe No. 422 or 423; add these, with the slices of head, to the other ingredients, and let the whole get thoroughly hot, without boiling. Arrange the pieces of head as high in the centre of the dish as possible; pour over them the ragoût, and garnish with the crayfish and croûtons placed alternately. A little of the gravy should also be served in a tureen.
Time.—About ½ hour to reduce the stock.
Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
Average cost, exclusive of the calf’s head, 2s. 9d.
Seasonable from March to October.
A Frenchman’s Opinion of Veal.—A great authority in his native Paris tells us, that veal, as a meat, is but little nourishing, is relaxing, and sufficiently difficult of digestion. Lending itself, as it does, he says, in all the flowery imagery of the French tongue and manner, “to so many metamorphoses, it may be called, without exaggeration, the chameleon of the kitchen. Who has not eaten calf’s head au naturel, simply boiled with the skin on, its flavour heightened by sauce just a little sharp? It is a dish as wholesome as it is agreeable, and one that the most inexperienced cook may serve with success. Calf’s feet à la poulette, au gratin, fried, &c.; les cervelles, served in the same manner, and under the same names; sweetbreads en fricandeau, piqués enfin,—all these offer most satisfactory entrées, which the art of the cook, more or less, varies for the gratification of his glory and the well-being of our appetites. We have not spoken, in the above catalogue, either of the liver, or of the fraise, or of the ears, which also share the honour of appearing at our tables. Where is the man not acquainted with calf’s liver à la bourgeoise, the most frequent and convenient dish at unpretentious tables? The fraise, cooked in water, and eaten with vinegar, is a wholesome and agreeable dish, and contains a mucilage well adapted for delicate persons. Calf’s ears have, in common with the feet and cervelles, the advantage of being able to be eaten either fried or à la poulette; and besides, can be made into a farce, with the addition of peas, onions, cheese, &c. Neither is it confined to the calf’s tongue, or even the eyes, that these shall dispute alone the glory of awakening the taste of man; thus, the fressure (which, as is known, comprises the heart, the mou, and the rate), although not a very recherché dish, lends itself to all the caprices of an expert artist, and may, under various marvellous disguises, deceive, and please, and even awaken our appetite.”—Verily, we might say, after this rhapsody of our neighbour, that his country’s weal will not suffer in him as an able and eloquent exponent and admirer.
BREAST OF VEAL.
912. The carving of a breast of veal is not dissimilar to that of a fore-quarter of lamb, when the shoulder has been taken off. The breast of veal consists of two parts,—the rib-bones and the gristly brisket. These two parts should first be separated by sharply passing the knife in the direction of the lines 1, 2; when they are entirely divided, the rib-bones should be carved in the direction of the lines 5 to 6; and the brisket can be helped by cutting pieces in the direction 3 to 4. The carver should ask the guests whether they have a preference for the brisket or ribs; and if there be a sweetbread served with the dish, as it often is with roast breast of veal, each person should receive a piece.
CALF’S HEAD.
913. This is not altogether the most easy-looking dish to cut when it is put before a carver for the first time; there is not much real difficulty in the operation, however, when the head has been attentively examined, and, after the manner of a phrenologist, you get to know its bumps, good and bad. In the first place, inserting the knife quite down to the bone, cut slices in the direction of the line 1 to 2; with each of these should be helped a piece of what is called the throat sweetbread, cut in the direction of from 3 to 4. The eye, and the flesh round, are favourite morsels with many, and should be given to those at the table who are known to be the greatest connoisseurs. The jawbone being removed, there will then be found some nice lean; and the palate, which is reckoned by some a tit-bit, lies under the head. On a separate dish there is always served the tongue and brains, and each guest should be asked to take some of these.
436
FILLET OF VEAL.
914. The carving of this joint is similar to that of a round of beef. Slices, not too thick, in the direction of the line 1 to 2 are cut; and the only point to be careful about is, that the veal be evenly carved. Between the flap and the meat the stuffing is inserted, and a small portion of this should be served to every guest. The persons whom the host wishes most to honour should be asked if they like the delicious brown outside slice, as this, by many, is exceedingly relished.
KNUCKLE OF VEAL.
915. The engraving, showing the dotted line from 1 to 2, sufficiently indicates the direction which should be given to the knife in carving this dish. The best slices are those from the thickest part of the knuckle, that is, outside the line 1 to 2.
LOIN OF VEAL.
916. As is the case with a loin of mutton, the careful jointing of a loin of veal is more than half the battle in carving it. If the butcher be negligent in this matter, he should be admonished; for there is nothing more annoying or irritating to an inexperienced carver than to be obliged to turn his knife in all directions to find the exact place where it should be inserted in order to divide the bones. When the jointing is properly performed, there is little difficulty in carrying the knife down in the direction of the line 1 to 2. To each guest should be given a piece of the kidney and kidney fat, which lie underneath, and are considered great delicacies.
“Birds, the free tenants of land, air, and ocean,
Their forms all symmetry, their motions grace;
In plumage delicate and beautiful;
Thick without burthen, close as fishes’ scales,
Or loose as full-blown poppies to the breeze.”
917. The Divisions of Birds are founded principally on their habits with pepper and salt, and stir the brains, parsley, &c., into about 4 of life, and the natural resemblance which their external parts, especially their bills, bear to each other. According to Mr. Vigors, there are five orders, each of which occupies its peculiar place on the surface of the globe; so that the air, the forest, the land, the marsh, and the water, has each its appropriate kind of inhabitants. These are respectively designated as Birds of Prey, Perchers, Walkers, Waders, and Swimmers; and, in contemplating their variety, lightness, beauty, and wonderful adaptation to the regions they severally inhabit, and the functions they are destined to perform in the grand scheme of creation, our hearts are lifted with admiration at the exhaustless ingenuity, power, and wisdom of Him who has, in producing them, so strikingly “manifested His handiwork.” Not only these, however, but all classes of animals, have their peculiar ends to fulfil; and, in order that this may be effectually performed, they are constructed in such a manner as will enable them to carry out their conditions. Thus the quadrupeds, that are formed to 438 tread the earth in common with man, are muscular and vigorous; and, whether they have passed into the servitude of man, or are permitted to range the forest or the field, they still retain, in a high degree, the energies with which they were originally endowed. Birds, on the contrary, are generally feeble, and, therefore, timid. Accordingly, wings have been given them to enable them to fly through the air, and thus elude the force which, by nature, they are unable to resist. Notwithstanding the natural tendency of all bodies towards the centre of the earth, birds, when raised in the atmosphere, glide through it with the greatest ease, rapidity, and vigour. There, they are in their natural element, and can vary their course with the greatest promptitude—can mount or descend with the utmost facility, and can light on any spot with the most perfect exactness, and without the slightest injury to themselves.
918. The Mechanism which enables Birds to wing their course through the air, is both singular and instructive. Their bodies are covered with feathers, which are much lighter than coverings of hair, with which quadrupeds are usually clothed. The feathers are so placed as to overlap each other, like the slates or the tiles on the roof of a house. They are also arranged from the fore-part backwards; by which the animals are enabled the more conveniently to cut their way through the air. Their bones are tubular or hollow, and extremely light compared with those of terrestrial animals. This greatly facilitates their rising from the earth, whilst their heads, being comparatively small, their bills shaped like a wedge, their bodies slender, sharp below, and round above,—all these present a union of conditions, favourable, in the last degree, to cutting their way through the aërial element to which they are considered as more peculiarly to belong. With all these conditions, however, birds could not fly without wings. These, therefore, are the instruments by which they have the power of rapid locomotion, and are constructed in such a manner as to be capable of great expansion when struck in a downward direction. If we except, in this action, the slight hollow which takes place on the under-side, they become almost two planes. In order that the downward action may be accomplished to the necessary extent, the muscles which move the wings have been made exceedingly large; so large, indeed, that, in some instances, they have been estimated at not less than a sixth of the weight of the whole body. Therefore, when a bird is on the ground and intends to fly, it takes a leap, and immediately stretching its wings, strikes them out with great force. By this act these are brought into an oblique direction, being turned partly upwards and partly horizontally forwards. That part of the force which has the upward tendency is neutralized by the weight of the bird, whilst the horizontal force serves to carry it forward. The stroke being completed, it moves upon its wings, which, being contracted and having their edges turned upwards, obviate, in a great measure, the resistance of the air. When it is sufficiently elevated, it makes a second stroke downwards, and the impulse of the air again moves it forward. These successive strokes may be regarded as so many leaps taken in the air. When 439 the bird desires to direct its course to the right or the left, it strikes strongly with the opposite wing, which impels it to the proper side. In the motions of the animal, too, the tail takes a prominent part, and acts like the rudder of a ship, except that, instead of sideways, it moves upwards and downwards. If the bird wishes to rise, it raises its tail; and if to fall, it depresses it; and, whilst in a horizontal position, it keeps it steady. There are few who have not observed a pigeon or a crow preserve, for some time, a horizontal flight without any apparent motion of the wings. This is accomplished by the bird having already acquired sufficient velocity, and its wings being parallel to the horizon, meeting with but small resistance from the atmosphere. If it begins to fall, it can easily steer itself upward by means of its tail, till the motion it had acquired is nearly spent, when it must be renewed by a few more strokes of the wings. On alighting, a bird expands its wings and tail fully against the air, as a ship, in tacking round, backs her sails, in order that they may meet with all the resistance possible.
919. In the Construction of the Eyes of birds, there is a peculiarity necessary to their condition. As they pass a great portion of their lives among thickets and hedges, they are provided for the defence of their eyes from external injuries, as well as from the effects of the light, when flying in opposition to the rays of the sun, with a nictating or winking membrane, which can, at pleasure, be drawn over the whole eye like a curtain. This covering is neither opaque nor wholly pellucid, but is somewhat transparent; and it is by its means that the eagle is said to be able to gaze at the sun. “In birds,” says a writer on this subject, “we find that the sight is much more piercing, extensive, and exact, than in the other orders of animals. The eye is much larger in proportion to the bulk of the head, than in any of these. This is a superiority conferred upon them not without a corresponding utility: it seems even indispensable to their safety and subsistence. Were this organ in birds dull, or in the least degree opaque, they would be in danger, from the rapidity of their motion, of striking against various objects in their flight. In this case their celerity, instead of being an advantage, would become an evil, and their flight be restrained by the danger resulting from it. Indeed we may consider the velocity with which an animal moves, as a sure indication of the perfection of its vision. Among the quadrupeds, the sloth has its sight greatly limited; whilst the hawk, as it hovers in the air, can espy a lark sitting on a clod, perhaps at twenty times the distance at which a man or a dog could perceive it.”
920. Amongst the many peculiarities in the Construction of Birds, not the least is the mode by which their respiration is accomplished. This is effected by means of air-vessels, which extend throughout the body, and adhere to the under-surface of the bones. These, by their motion, force the air through the true lungs, which are very small, and placed in the uppermost part of the chest, and closely braced down to the back and ribs. The lungs, which are never expanded by air, are destined to the sole purpose of oxidizing 440 the blood. In the experiments made by Mr. John Hunter, to discover the use of this general diffusion of air through the bodies of birds, he found that it prevents their respiration from being stopped or interrupted by the rapidity of their motion through a resisting medium. It is well known that, in proportion to celerity of motion, the air becomes resistive; and were it possible for a man to move with the swiftness of a swallow, as he is not provided with an internal construction similar to that of birds, the resistance of the air would soon suffocate him.
921. Birds are Distributed over every part of the Globe, being found in the coldest as well as the hottest regions, although some species are restricted to particular countries, whilst others are widely dispersed. At certain seasons of the year, many of them change their abodes, and migrate to climates better adapted to their temperaments or modes of life, for a time, than those which they leave. Many of the birds of Britain, directed by an unerring instinct, take their departure from the island before the commencement of winter, and proceed to the more congenial warmth of Africa, to return with the next spring. The causes assigned by naturalists for this peculiarity are, either a deficiency of food, or the want of a secure asylum for the incubation and nourishment of their young. Their migrations are generally performed in large companies, and, in the day, they follow a leader, which is occasionally changed. During the night, many of the tribes send forth a continual cry, to keep themselves together; although one would think that the noise which must accompany their flight would be sufficient for that purpose. The flight of birds across the Mediterranean was noticed three thousand years ago, as we find it said in the book of Numbers, in the Scriptures, that “There went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall upon the camp, and a day’s journey round about it, to the height of two cubits above the earth.”
922. If the Beauty of Birds were not a recommendation to their being universally admired, their general liveliness, gaiety, and song would endear them to mankind. It appears, however, from accurate observations founded upon experiment, that the notes peculiar to different kinds of birds are altogether acquired, and that they are not innate, any more than language is to man. The attempt of a nestling bird to sing has been compared to the endeavour of a child to talk. The first attempts do not seem to possess the slightest rudiments of the future song; but, as the bird grows older and becomes stronger, it is easily perceived to be aiming at acquiring the art of giving utterance to song. Whilst the scholar is thus endeavouring to form his notes, when he is once sure of a passage, he usually raises his tone, but drops it again when he finds himself unequal to the voluntary task he has undertaken. “Many well-authenticated facts,” says an ingenious writer, “seem decisively to prove that birds have no innate notes, but that, like mankind, the language of those to whose care they have boon committed at their birth, will be their language in after-life.” It would appear, however, 441 somewhat unaccountable why, in a wild state, they adhere so steadily to the song of their own species only, when the notes of so many others are to be heard around them. This is said to arise from the attention paid by the nestling bird to the instructions of its own parent only, generally disregarding the notes of all the rest. Persons, however, who have an accurate ear, and who have given their attention to the songs of birds, can frequently distinguish some which have their notes mixed with those of another species; but this is in general so trifling, that it can hardly be considered as more than the mere varieties of provincial dialects.
923. In Reference to the Food of Birds, we find that it varies, as it does in quadrupeds, according to the species. Some are altogether carnivorous; others, as so many of the web-footed tribes, subsist on fish; others, again, on insects and worms; and others on grain and fruit. The extraordinary powers of the gizzard of the granivorous tribes, in comminuting their food so as to prepare it for digestion, would, were they not supported by incontrovertible facts founded on experiment, appear to exceed all credibility. Tin tubes, full of grain, have been forced into the stomachs of turkeys, and in twenty-four hours have been found broken, compressed, and distorted into every shape. Twelve small lancets, very sharp both at the point and edges, have been fixed in a ball of lead, covered with a case of paper, and given to a turkey-cock, and left in its stomach for eight horns. After that time the stomach was opened, when nothing appeared except the naked ball. The twelve lancets were broken to pieces, whilst the stomach remained perfectly sound and entire. From these facts, it is concluded that the stones, so frequently found in the stomachs of the feathered tribes, are highly useful in assisting the gastric juices to grind down the grain and other hard substances which constitute their food. The stones, themselves, being also ground down and separated by the powerful action of the gizzard, are mixed with the food, and, no doubt, contribute very greatly to the health, as well as to the nourishment of the animals.
924. All Birds being Oviparous, the eggs which they produce after the process of incubation, or sitting for a certain length of time, are, in the various species, different both in figure and colour, as well as in point of number. They contain the elements of the future young, for the perfecting of which in the incubation a bubble of air is always placed at the large end, between the shell and the inside skin. It is supposed that from the heat communicated by the sitting bird to this confined air, its spring is increased beyond its natural tenor, and, at the same time, its parts are put into motion by the gentle rarefaction. By this means, pressure and motion are communicated to the parts of the egg, which, in some inscrutable way, gradually promote the formation and growth of the young, till the time comes for its escaping from the shell. To preserve an egg perfectly fresh, and even fit for incubation, for 5 or 6 months after it has been laid, Réaumur, the French naturalist, has shown that it is only necessary to stop up its pores with a slight coating of varnish or mutton-suet.
442925. Birds, however, do not lay eggs before they have some place to put them; accordingly, they construct nests for themselves with astonishing art. As builders, they exhibit a degree of architectural skill, niceness, and propriety, that would seem even to mock the imitative talents of man, however greatly those are marked by his own high intelligence and ingenuity.
“Each circumstance
Most artfully contrived to favour warmth.
Here read the reason of the vaulted roof;
How Providence compensates, ever kind,
The enormous disproportion that subsists
Between the mother and the numerous brood
Which her small bulk must quicken into life.”
In building their nests, the male and female generally assist each other, and they contrive to make the outside of their tenement bear as great a resemblance as possible to the surrounding foliage or branches; so that it cannot very easily be discovered even by those who are in search of it. This art of nidification is one of the most wonderful contrivances which the wide field of Nature can show, and which, of itself, ought to be sufficient to compel mankind to the belief, that they and every other part of the creation, are constantly under the protecting power of a superintending Being, whose benign dispensations seem as exhaustless as they are unlimited.
926. Ingredients.—2 chickens; seasoning to taste of salt, white pepper, and cayenne; 2 blades of pounded mace, egg and bread crumbs, clarified butter, 1 strip of lemon-rind, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, thickening of butter and flour, 1 egg.
Mode.—Remove the breast and leg bones of the chickens; cut the meat into neat pieces after having skinned it, and season the cutlets with pepper, salt, pounded mace, and cayenne. Put the bones, trimmings, &c., into a stewpan with 1 pint of water, adding carrots, onions, and lemon-peel in the above proportion; stew gently for 1½ hour, and strain the gravy. Thicken it with butter and flour, add the ketchup and 1 egg well beaten; stir it over the fire, and bring it to the simmering-point, but do not allow it to boil. In the mean time, egg and bread-crumb the cutlets, and give them a few drops of clarified butter; fry them a delicate brown, occasionally turning them; arrange them pyramidically on the dish, and pour over them the sauce.
Time.—10 minutes to fry the cutlets.
Average cost, 2s. each.
Sufficient for an entrée.
Seasonable from April to July.
Fowls as Food.—Brillat Savarin, pre-eminent in gastronomic taste, says that he believes the whole gallinaceous family was made to enrich our larders and furnish our tables; for, from the quail to the turkey, he avers their flesh is a light aliment, full of flavour, and fitted equally well for the invalid as for the man of robust health. The fine flavour, however, which Nature has given to all birds coming under the definition of poultry, man has not been satisfied with, and has used many means—such as keeping them in solitude and darkness, and forcing them to eat—to give them an unnatural state of fatness or fat. This fat, thus artificially produced, is doubtless delicious, and the taste and succulence of the boiled and roasted bird draw forth the praise of the 444 guests around the table. Well-fattened and tender, a fowl is to the cook what the canvas is to the painter; for do we not see it served boiled, roasted, fried, fricasseed, hashed, hot, cold, whole, dismembered, boned, broiled, stuffed, on dishes, and in pies,—always handy and ever acceptable?
The Common or Domestic Fowl.—From time immemorial, the common or domestic fowl has been domesticated in England, and is supposed to be originally the offspring of some wild species which abound in the forests of India. It is divided into a variety of breeds, but the most esteemed are, the Poland or Black, the Dorking, the Bantam, the Game Fowl, and the Malay or Chittagong. The common, or barn-door fowl, is one of the most delicate of the varieties; and at Dorking, in Surrey, the breed is brought to great perfection. Till they are four months old, the term chicken is applied to the young female; after that age they are called pullets, till they begin to lay, when they are called hens. The English counties most productive in poultry are Surrey, Sussex, Norfolk, Herts, Devon, and Somerset.
927. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast or boiled fowl, fried bread, clarified butter, the yolk of 1 egg, bread crumbs, ½ teaspoonful of finely-minced lemon-peel; salt, cayenne, and mace to taste. For sauce,—1 oz. of butter, 2 minced shalots, a few slices of carrot, a small bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley, 1 blade of pounded mace, 6 peppercorns, ½ pint of gravy.
Mode.—Cut the fowls into as many nice cutlets as possible; take a corresponding number of sippets about the same size, all cut one shape; fry them a pale brown, put them before the fire, then dip the cutlets into clarified butter mixed with the yolk of an egg, cover with bread crumbs seasoned in the above proportion, with lemon-peel, mace, salt, and cayenne; fry them for about 5 minutes, put each piece on one of the sippets, pile them high in the dish, and serve with the following sauce, which should be made ready for the cutlets. Put the butter into a stewpan, add the shalots, carrot, herbs, mace, and peppercorns; fry for 10 minutes or rather longer; pour in ½ pint of good gravy, made of the chicken bones, stew gently for 20 minutes, strain it, and serve.
Time.—5 minutes to fry the cutlets; 35 minutes to make the gravy.
Average cost, exclusive of the chicken, 9d.
Seasonable from April to July.
Eggs for Hatching.—Eggs intended for hatching should be removed as soon as laid, and placed in bran in a dry, cool place. Choose those that are near of a size; and, as a rule, avoid those that are equally thick at both ends,—such, probably, contain a double yolk, and will come to no good. Eggs intended for hatching should never be stored longer than a month, as much less the better. Nine eggs may be placed under a Bantam hen, and as many as fifteen under a Dorking. The odd number is considered preferable, as more easily packed. It will be as well to mark the eggs you give the hen to sit on, so that you may know if she lays any more: if she does, you must remove them; for, if hatched at all, they would be too late for the brood. If during incubation an egg should be broken, remove it, and take out the remainder, and cleanse them in luke-warm water, or it is probable the sticky nature of the contents of the broken egg will make the others cling to the hen’s feathers; and they, too, may be fractured.
Hens Sitting.—Some hens are very capricious as regards sitting; they will make a great fuss, and keep pining for the nest, and, when they are permitted to take to it, they 445 will sit just long enough to addle the eggs, and then they’re off again. The safest way to guard against such annoyance, is to supply the hen with some hard-boiled eggs; if she sits on them a reasonable time, and seems steadily inclined, like a good matron, you may then give her proper eggs, and let her set about the business in earnest.
MODERN MODE OF SERVING DISHES.
Y. Boiled Fowl with Cauliflower. Z. Roast Fowl with Watercress. A1. Roast Turkey. B1. Couple of Roast Ducks.
928. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast chicken or fowl; to every ¼ lb. of meat allow 2 oz. of ham, 3 tablespoonfuls of cream, 2 tablespoonfuls of veal gravy, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel; cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste; 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 oz. of butter rolled in flour; puff paste.
Mode.—Mince very small the white meat from a cold roast fowl, after removing all the skin; weigh it, and to every ¼ lb. of meat allow the above proportion of minced ham. Put these into a stewpan with the remaining ingredients, stir over the fire for 10 minutes or ¼ hour, taking care that the mixture does not burn. Roll out some puff paste about ¼ inch in thickness; line the patty-pans with this, put upon each a small piece of bread, and cover with another layer of paste; brush over with the yolk of an egg, and bake in a brisk oven for about ¼ hour. When done, cut a round piece out of the top, and, with a small spoon, take out the bread (be particular in not breaking the outside border of the crust), and fill the patties with the mixture.
Time.—¼ hour to prepare the meat; not quite ¼ hour to bake the crust.
Seasonable at any time.
Hatching.—Sometimes the chick within the shell is unable to break away from its prison; for the white of the egg will occasionally harden in the air to the consistence of joiners’ glue, when the poor chick is in a terrible fix. An able writer says, “Assistance in hatching must not be rendered prematurely, and thence unnecessarily, but only in the case of the chick being plainly unable to release itself; then, indeed, an addition may probably be made to the brood, as great numbers are always lost in this way. The chick makes a circular fracture at the big end of the egg, and a section of about one-third of the length of the shell being separated, delivers the prisoner, provided there is no obstruction from adhesion of the body to the membrane which lines the shell. Between the body of the chick and the membrane of the shell there exists a viscous fluid, the white of the egg thickened with the intense heat of incubation, until it becomes a positive glue. When this happens, the feathers stick fast to the shell, and the chicks remain confined, and must perish, if not released.”
The method of assistance to be rendered to chicks which have a difficulty in releasing themselves from the shell, is to take the egg in the hand, and dipping the finger or a piece of linen rag in warm water, to apply it to the fastened parts until they are loosened by the gluey substance becoming dissolved and separated from the feathers. The chick, then, being returned to the nest, will extricate itself,—a mode generally to be observed, since, if violence were used, it would prove fatal. Nevertheless, breaking the shell may sometimes be necessary; and separating with the fingers, as gently as may be, the membrane from the feathers, which are still to be moistened as mentioned above, to facilitate the operation. The points of small scissors may be useful, and when there is much resistance, as also apparent pain to the bird, the process must be conducted in the gentlest manner, and the shell separated into a number of small pieces. The signs of a need of assistance are the egg being partly pecked and chipped, and the chick discontinuing its efforts for five or six hours. Weakness from cold may disable the chicken from commencing the operation of pecking the shell, which must then be artificially performed with a circular fracture, such as is made by the bird itself.
929. Ingredients.—2 small fowls or 1 large one, white pepper and salt to taste, ½ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, ½ teaspoonful of pounded mace, forcemeat No. 417, a few slices of ham, 3 hard-boiled eggs, ½ pint of water, puff crust.
Mode.—Skin and cut up the fowls into joints, and put the neck, leg, and backbones in a stewpan, with a little water, an onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, and a blade of mace; let these stew for about an hour, and, when done, strain off the liquor: this is for gravy. Put a layer of fowl at the bottom of a pie-dish, then a layer of ham, then one of forcemeat and hard-boiled eggs cut in rings; between the layers put a seasoning of pounded mace, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Proceed in this manner until the dish is full, and pour in about ½ pint of water; border the edge of the dish with puff crust, put on the cover, ornament the top, and glaze it by brushing over it the yolk of an egg. Bake from 1¼ to 1½ hour, should the pie be very large, and, when done, pour in, at the top, the gravy made from the bones. If to be eaten cold, and wished particularly nice, the joints of the fowls should be boned, and placed in the dish with alternate layers of forcemeat; sausage-meat may also be substituted for the forcemeat, and is now very much used. When the chickens are boned, and mixed with sausage-meat, the pie will take about 2 hours to bake. It should be covered with a piece of paper when about half-done, to prevent the paste from being dried up or scorched.
Time.—For a pie with unboned meat, 1¼ to 1½ hour; with boned meat and sausage or forcemeat, 1½ to 2 hours.
Average cost, with 2 fowls, 6s. 6d.
Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
Seasonable at any time.
The Young Chicks.—The chicks that are hatched first should be taken from underneath the hen, lest she might think her task at an end, and leave the remaining eggs to spoil. As soon as the young birds are taken from the mother, they must be placed in a casket lined with soft wool, flannel, or hay, and stood in the sunlight if it be summer time or by the fire if the weather be cold. It is a common practice to cram young chicks with food as soon as they are born. This is quite unnecessary. They will, so long as they are kept warm, come to no harm if they take no food for twenty-four hours following their birth. Should the whole of the brood not be hatched by that time, those that are born may be fed with bread soaked in milk, and the yolk of a hard-boiled egg.
930. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast chicken; to every lb. of meat allow ¼ lb. of fresh butter, salt and cayenne to taste, 1 teaspoonful of pounded mace, ½ small nutmeg.
Mode.—Strip the meat from the bones of cold roast fowl; when it is freed from gristle and skin, weigh it, and, to every lb. of meat, allow 447 the above proportion of butter, seasoning, and spices. Cut the meat into small pieces, pound it well with the fresh butter, sprinkle in the spices gradually, and keep pounding until reduced to a perfectly smooth paste. Put it into potting-pots for use, and cover it with clarified butter, about ¼ inch in thickness, and, if to be kept for some time, tie over a bladder: 2 or 3 slices of ham, minced and pounded with the above ingredients, will be found an improvement. It should be kept in a dry place.
Seasonable at any time.
Feeding and Cooping the Chicks.—When all the chicks are hatched, they should be placed along with the mother under a coop in a warm dry spot. If two hens happen to have their broods at the same time, their respective chicks should be carefully kept separate; as, if they get mixed, and so go under the wrong coop, the hens will probably maim and destroy those who have mistaken their dwelling. After being kept snug beneath the coop for a week (the coop should be placed under cover at nightfall), the chicks may be turned loose for an hour or so in the warmest part of the day. They should be gradually weaned from the soaked bread and chopped egg, instead of which grits or boiled barley should be given; in 8 or 10 days their stomachs will be strong enough to receive bruised barley, and at the end of 3 weeks, if your chicks be healthy, they will be able to take care of themselves. It will be well, however, to keep your eye on them a week or so longer, as the elder chickens may drive them from their food. Great care should be taken that the very young chicks do not run about the wet ground or on damp grass, as this is the most prominent and fatal cause of disease. While under the coop with their mother, a shallow pan or plate of water should be supplied to the chicks, as in a deeper vessel they are liable to drench themselves and take cold, or possibly to get drowned.
931. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast or boiled chicken, 2 lettuces, a little endive, 1 cucumber, a few slices of boiled beetroot, salad-dressing No. 506.
Mode.—Trim neatly the remains of the chicken; wash, dry, and slice the lettuces, and place in the middle of a dish; put the pieces of fowl on the top, and pour the salad-dressing over them. Garnish the edge of the salad with hard-boiled eggs cut in rings, sliced cucumber, and boiled beetroot cut in slices. Instead of cutting the eggs in rings, the yolks may be rubbed through a hair sieve, and the whites chopped very finely, and arranged on the salad in small bunches, yellow and white alternately. This should not be made long before it is wanted for table.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold chicken, 8d.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable at any time.
Age and Flavour of Chickens.—It has been the opinion of the medical faculty of all ages and all countries, that the flesh of the young chicken is the most delicate and easy to digest of all animal food. It is less alkalescent than the flesh of any other animal, and its entire freedom from any irritating quality renders it a fit dish for the ailing, or those whose stomachs are naturally weak. In no animal, however, does age work such a change, in regard to the quality of its flesh, as it does in domestic fowls. In their infancy, cocks and hens are equally tender and toothsome; but as time overtakes them, it is the cock whose flesh toughens first. A year-old cock, indeed, is fit 448 for little else than to be converted into soup, while a hen at the same age, although sufficiently substantial, is not callous to the insinuations of a carving-knife. As regards capons, however, the rule respecting age does not hold good. There is scarcely to be found a more delicious animal than a well-fed, well-dressed capon. Age does not dry up his juices; indeed, like wine, he seems but to mellow. At three years old, even, he is as tender as a chick, with the additional advantage of his proper chicken flavour being fully developed. The above remarks, however, concerning the capon, only apply to such as are naturally fed, and not crammed. The latter process may produce a handsome-looking bird, and it may weigh enough to satisfy the whim or avarice of its stuffer; but, when before the fire, it will reveal the cruel treatment to which it has been subjected, and will weep a drippingpan-ful of fat tears. You will never find heart enough to place such a grief-worn guest at the head of your table. It should be borne in mind as a rule, that small-boned and short-legged poultry are likely to excel the contrary sort in delicacy of colour, flavour, and fineness of flesh.
932. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast duck, rather more than 1 pint of weak stock or water, 1 onion, 1 oz. of butter, thickening of butter and flour, salt and cayenne to taste, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, 1 dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, ½ glass of port wine.
Mode.—Cut the duck into nice joints, and put the trimmings into a stewpan; slice and fry the onion in a little butter; add these to the trimmings, pour in the above proportion of weak stock or water, and stew gently for 1 hour. Strain the liquor, thicken it with butter and flour, season with salt and cayenne, and add the remaining ingredients; boil it up and skim well; lay in the pieces of duck, and let them get thoroughly hot through by the side of the fire, but do not allow them to boil: they should soak in the gravy for about ½ hour. Garnish with sippets of toasted bread. The hash may be made richer by using a stronger and more highly-flavoured gravy; a little spice or pounded mace may also be added, when their flavour is liked.
Time.—1½ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold duck, 4d.
Seasonable from November to February; ducklings from May to August.
The Duck.—This bird belongs to the order of Natatores, or Swimmers; the most familiar tribes of which are ducks, swans, geese, auks, penguins, petrels, pelicans, guillemots, gulls, and terns. They mostly live in the water, feeding on fish, worms, and aquatic plants. They are generally polygamous, and make their nests among reeds, or in moist places. The flesh of many of the species is eatable, but that of some is extremely rank and oily. The duck is a native of Britain, but is found on the margins of most of the European lakes. It is excessively greedy, and by no means a nice feeder. It requires a mixture of vegetable and animal food; but aquatic insects, corn, and vegetables, are its proper food. Its flesh, however, is savoury, being not so gross as that of the goose, and of easier digestion. In the green-pea season it is usually found on an English table; but, according to Ude, “November is its proper season, when it is plump and fat.”
933. Ingredients.—1 large duck, pepper and salt to taste, good beef gravy, 2 onions sliced, 4 sage-leaves, a few leaves of lemon thyme, thickening of butter and flour.
Mode.—After having emptied and singed the duck, season it inside with pepper and salt, and truss it. Roast it before a clear fire for 449 2G about 20 minutes, and let it acquire a nice brown colour. Put it into a stewpan with sufficient well-seasoned beef gravy to cover it; slice and fry the onions, and add these, with the sage-leaves and lemon thyme, both of which should be finely minced, to the stock. Simmer gently until the duck is tender; strain, skim, and thicken the gravy with a little butter and flour; boil it up, pour over the duck, and serve. When in season, about 1½ pint of young green peas, boiled separately, and put in the ragoût, very much improve this dish.
Time.—20 minutes to roast the duck; 20 minutes to stew it.
Average cost, from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from November to February; ducklings from April to August.
BUENOS AYRES DUCKS.
The Buenos Ayres Duck.—The Buenos Ayres duck is of East-Indian birth, and is chiefly valuable as an ornament; for we suppose one would as soon think of picking a Chinese teal for luncheon, or a gold fish for breakfast, as to consign the handsome Buenos Ayres to the spit. The prevailing colour of this bird is black, with a metallic lustre, and a gleaming of blue steel about its breast and wings.
Varieties of Ducks.—Naturalists count nearly a hundred different species of ducks; and there is no doubt that the intending keeper of these harmless and profitable birds may easily take his choice from amongst twenty different sorts. There is, however, so little difference in the various members of the family, either as regards hardiness, laying, or hatching, that the most incompetent fancier or breeder may indulge his taste without danger of making a bad bargain. In connection with their value for table, light-coloured ducks are always of milder flavour than those that are dark-coloured, the white Aylesbury’s being general favourites. Ducks reared exclusively on vegetable diet will have a whiter and more delicate flesh than those allowed to feed on animal offal; while the flesh of birds fattened on the latter food, will be firmer than that of those which have only partaken of food of a vegetable nature.
B1. Couple of Roast Ducks.
934. Ingredients.—A couple of ducks; sage-and-onion stuffing No. 504; a little flour.
Choosing and Trussing.—Choose ducks with plump bellies, and with thick and yellowish feet. They should be trussed with the feet on, which should be scalded, and the skin peeled off, and then turned up close to the legs. Run a skewer through the middle of each leg, after having drawn them as close as possible to the body, to plump up the breast, passing the same quite through the body. Cut off the heads and necks, and the pinions at the first joint; bring these close to the sides, twist the feet round, and truss them at the back of the bird. After the duck is stuffed, both ends should be secured with string, so as to keep in the seasoning.
ROAST DUCK.
Mode.—To insure ducks being tender, never dress them the same 450 day they are killed; and if the weather permits, they should hang a day or two. Make a stuffing of sage and onion sufficient for one duck, and leave the other unseasoned, as the flavour is not liked by everybody. Put them down to a brisk clear fire, and keep them well basted the whole of the time they are cooking. A few minutes before serving, dredge them lightly with flour, to make them froth and look plump; and when the steam draws towards the fire, send them to table hot and quickly, with a good brown gravy poured round, but not over the ducks, and a little of the same in a tureen. When in season, green peas should invariably accompany this dish.
Time.—Full-grown ducks from ¾ to 1 hour; ducklings from 25 to 35 minutes.
Average cost, from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. each.
Sufficient.—A couple of ducks for 6 or 7 persons.
Seasonable.—Ducklings from April to August; ducks from November to February.
Note.—Ducklings are trussed and roasted in the same manner, and served with the same sauces and accompaniments. When in season, serve apple sauce.
ROUEN DUCKS.
The Rouen Duck.—The Rouen, or Rhone duck, is a large and handsome variety, of French extraction. The plumage of the Rouen duck is somewhat sombre; its flesh is also much darker, and, though of higher flavour, not near so delicate as that of our own Aylesbury. It is with this latter breed that the Rouen duck is generally mated; and the result is said to be increase of size and strength. In Normandy and Brittany these ducks, as well as other sorts, greatly abound; and the “duck-liver pâtés” are there almost as popular as the pâté de foie gras of Strasburg. In order to bring the livers of the wretched duck to the fashionable and unnatural size, the same diabolical cruelty is resorted to as in the case of the Strasburg goose. The poor birds are nailed by the feet to a board placed close to a fire, and, in that position, plentifully supplied with food and water. In a few days, the carcase is reduced to a mere shadow, while the liver has grown monstrously. We would rather abstain from the acquaintance of a man who ate pâté de foie gras, knowing its component parts.
Duck’s Eggs.—The ancient notion that ducks whose beaks have a tendency to curve upwards, are better layers than those whose beaks do not thus point, is, we need hardly say, simply absurd: all ducks are good layers, if they are carefully fed and tended. Ducks generally lay at night, or early in the morning. While they are in perfect health, they will do this; and one of the surest signs of indisposition, among birds of this class, is irregularity in laying. The eggs laid will approach nearly the colour of the layer,—light-coloured ducks laying white eggs, and brown ducks greenish-blue eggs; dark-coloured birds laying the largest eggs. One time of day the notion was prevalent that a duck would hatch no other eggs than her own; and although this is not true, it will be, nevertheless, as well to match the duck’s own eggs as closely as possible; for we have known instances wherein the duck has turned out of the nest and destroyed eggs differing from her own in size and colour.
Ducks.—The Mallard, or Wild Duck, from which is derived the domestic species, is 451 prevalent throughout Europe, Asia, and America. The mallard’s most remarkable characteristic is one which sets at defiance the speculations of the most profound ornithologist. The female bird is extremely plain, but the male’s plumage is a splendour of greens and browns, and browns and blues. In the spring, however, the plumage of the male begins to fade, and in two months, every vestige of his finery has departed, and he is not to be distinguished from his soberly-garbed wife. Then the greens, and the blues, and the browns begin to bud out again, and by October he is once more a gorgeous drake. It is to be regretted that domestication has seriously deteriorated the moral character of the duck. In a wild state, he is a faithful husband, desiring but one wife, and devoting himself to her; but no sooner is he domesticated than he becomes polygamous, and makes nothing of owning ten or a dozen wives at a time. As regards the females, they are much more solicitous for the welfare of their progeny in a wild state than a tame. Should a tame duck’s duckling get into mortal trouble, its mother will just signify her sorrow by an extra “quack,” or so, and a flapping of her wings; but touch a wild duck’s little one if you dare! she will buffet you with her broad wings, and dash boldly at your face with her stout beak. If you search for her nest amongst the long grass, she will try no end of manœuvres to lure you from it, her favourite ruse being to pretend lameness, to delude you into the notion that you have only to pursue her vigorously, and her capture is certain; so you persevere for half a mile or so, and then she is up and away, leaving you to find your way back to the nest if you can. Among the ancients, opinion was at variance respecting the wholesomeness and digestibility of goose flesh, but concerning the excellence of the duck all parties were agreed; indeed, they not only assigned to duck-meat the palm for exquisite flavour and delicacy, they even attributed to it medicinal powers of the highest order. Not only the Roman medical writers of the time make mention of it, but likewise the philosophers of the period. Plutarch assures us that Cato preserved his whole household in health, in a season when plague and disease were rife, through dieting them on roast duck.
935. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast duck, 2 oz. of butter, 3 or 4 slices of lean ham or bacon, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 2 pints of thin gravy, 1, or a small bunch of green onions, 3 sprigs of parsley, 3 cloves, 1 pint of young green peas, cayenne and salt to taste, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar.
Mode.—Put the butter into a stewpan; cut up the duck into joints, lay them in with the slices of lean ham or bacon; make it brown, then dredge in a tablespoonful of flour, and stir this well in before adding the gravy. Put in the onion, parsley, cloves, and gravy, and when it has simmered for ¼ hour, add a pint of young green peas, and stew gently for about ½ hour. Season with cayenne, salt, and sugar; take out the duck, place it round the dish, and the peas in the middle.
Time.—½ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold duck, 1s.
Seasonable from June to August.
Ducks Hatching.—Concerning incubation by ducks, a practised writer says, “The duck requires a secret and safe place, rather than any attendance, and will, at nature’s call, cover her eggs and seek her food. On hatching, there is not often a necessity for taking away any of the brood; and, having hatched, let the mother retain her young ones upon the nest her own time. On her moving with her brood, let a coop be prepared upon the short grass, if the weather be fine, and under shelter, if otherwise.”
Cooping and Feeding Ducklings.—Brood ducks should be cooped at some distance from any other. A wide and flat dish of water, to be often renewed, should stand just outside the coop, and barley, or any other meal, be the first food of the ducklings. It will be needful, if it be wet weather, to clip their tails, lest these draggle, and so weaken the bird. The period of the duck’s confinement to the coop will depend on the weather, and on the strength of the ducklings. A fortnight is usually the extent of time necessary, and they may even be sometimes permitted to enjoy the luxury of a swim at 452 the end of a week. They should not, however, be allowed to stay too long in the water at first; for they will then become ill, their feathers get rough, and looseness of the bowels ensue. In the latter case, let them be closely cooped for a few days, and bean-meal or oatmeal be mixed with their ordinary food.
AYLESBURY DUCKS.
The Aylesbury Duck.—The white Aylesbury duck is, and deservedly, a universal favourite. Its snowy plumage and comfortable comportment make it a credit to the poultry-yard, while its broad and deep breast, and its ample back, convey the assurance that your satisfaction will not cease at its death. In parts of Buckinghamshire, this member of the duck family is bred on an extensive scale; not on plains and commons, however, as might be naturally imagined, but in the abodes of the cottagers. Round the walls of the living-rooms, and of the bedroom even, are fixed rows of wooden boxes, lined with hay; and it is the business of the wife and children to nurse and comfort the feathered lodgers, to feed the little ducklings, and to take the old ones out for an airing. Sometimes the “stock” ducks are the cottager’s own property, but it more frequently happens that they are intrusted to his care by a wholesale breeder, who pays him so much per score for all ducklings properly raised. To be perfect, the Aylesbury duck should be plump, pure white, with yellow feet, and a flesh-coloured beak.
936. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast duck, ½ pint of good gravy, cayenne and salt to taste, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 2 oz. of butter rolled in flour, 1½ pint of green peas.
Mode.—Cut up the duck into joints, lay it in the gravy, and add a seasoning of cayenne, salt, and minced lemon-peel; let this gradually warm through, but not boil. Throw the peas into boiling water slightly salted, and boil them rapidly until tender. Drain them, stir in the pounded sugar, and the butter rolled in flour; shake them over the fire for two or three minutes, and serve in the centre of the dish, with the duck laid round.
Time.—15 minutes to boil the peas, when they are full grown.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold duck, 10d.
Seasonable from June to August.
Fattening Ducks.—Many duck-keepers give their birds nothing in the shape of food, letting them wander about and pick up a living for themselves; and they will seem to get fat even upon this precarious feeding. Unless, however, ducks are supplied with, besides chance food, a liberal feed of solid corn, or grain, morning and evening, their flesh will become flabby and insipid. The simple way to fatten ducks is to let them have as much substantial food as they will eat, bruised oats and pea-meal being the standard fattening food for them. No cramming is required, as with the turkey and some other poultry: they will cram themselves to the very verge of suffocation. At the same time, plenty of exercise and clean water should be at their service.
American Mode of Capturing Ducks.—On the American rivers, the modes of capture are various. Sometimes half a dozen artificial birds are fastened to a little raft, and which is so weighted that the sham birds squat naturally on the water. This is quite sufficient to attract the notice of a passing flock, who descend to cultivate the acquaintance of the isolated few, when the concealed hunter, with his fowling-piece, scatters a 453 deadly leaden shower amongst them. In the winter, when the water is covered with rubble ice, the fowler of the Delaware paints his canoe entirely white, lies flat in the bottom of it, and floats with the broken ice; from which the aquatic inhabitants fail to distinguish it. So floats the canoe till he within it understands, by the quacking, and fluttering, and whirring of wings, that he is in the midst of a flock, when he is up in a moment with the murderous piece, and dying quacks and lamentations rend the still air.
BOW-BILL DUCKS.
Bow-bill Ducks, &c.—Everyone knows how awkward are the Anatidæ, waddling along on their unelastic webbed toes, and their short legs, which, being placed considerably backward, make the fore part of the body preponderate. Some, however, are formed more adapted to terrestrial habits than others, and notably amongst these may be named Dendronessa sponsa, the summer duck of America. This beautiful bird rears her young in the holes of trees, generally overhanging the water. When strong enough, the young scramble to the mouth of the hole, launch into the air with their little wings and feet spread out, and drop into their favourite element. Whenever their birthplace is at some distance from the water, the mother carries them to it, one by one, in her bill, holding them so as not to injure their yet tender frame. On several occasions, however, when the hole was 30, 40, or more yards from a piece of water, Audubon observed that the mother suffered the young to fall on the grass and dried leaves beneath the tree, and afterwards led them directly to the nearest edge of the next pool or creek. There are some curious varieties of the domestic duck, which only appear interesting from their singularity, for there does not seem to be anything of use or value in the unusual characteristics which distinguish them; thus, the bow-bill duck, as shown in the engraving, called by some writers the hook-bill, is remarkable for the peculiarly strange distortion of its beak, and the tuft on the top of its head. The penguin duck, again, waddles in an upright position, like the penguin, on account of the unnatural situation of its legs. These odd peculiarities add nothing of value to the various breeds, and may be set down as only the result of accidental malformation, transmitted from generation to generation.
937. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast duck, ½ pint of good gravy, 4 shalots, a few slices of carrot, a small bunch of savoury herbs, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 lb. of turnips, weighed after being peeled, 2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste.
Mode.—Cut up the duck into joints, fry the shalots, carrots, and herbs, and put them, with the duck, into the gravy; add the pounded mace, and stew gently for 20 minutes or ½ hour. Cut about 1 lb. of turnips, weighed after being peeled, into ½-inch squares, put the butter into a stewpan, and stew them till quite tender, which will be in about ½ hour, or rather more; season with pepper and salt, and serve in the centre of the dish, with the duck, &c. laid round.
Time.—Rather more than ½ hour to stew the turnips.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold duck, 1s.
Seasonable from November to February.
The Wild Duck.—In many parts of England the wild duck is to be found, especially in those desolate fenny parts where water abounds. In Lincolnshire they are plentiful, and are annually taken in the decoys, which consist of ponds situate in the marshes, and 454 surrounded with wood or reeds to prevent the birds which frequent them from being disturbed. In these the birds sleep during the day; and as soon as evening sets in, the decoy rises, and the wild fowl feed during the night. Now is the time for the decoy ducks to entrap the others. From the ponds diverge, in different directions, certain canals, at the end of which funnel nets are placed; along these the decoy ducks, trained for the purpose, lead the others in search of food. After they have got a certain length, a decoy-man appears, and drives them further on, until they are finally taken in the nets. It is from these decoys, in Lincolnshire, that the London market is mostly supplied. The Chinese have a singular mode of catching these ducks. A person wades in the water up to the chin, and, having his head covered with an empty calabash, approaches the place where the ducks are. As the birds have no suspicion of the nature of the object which is concealed under the calabash, they suffer its approach, and allow it to move at will among their flock. The man, accordingly, walks about in the midst of his game, and, whenever he pleases, pulls them by the legs under the water, and fixes them to his belt, until he has secured as many as he requires, and then moves off as he went amongst them, without exciting the slightest suspicion of the trick he has been playing them. This singular mode of duck-hunting is also practised on the Ganges, the earthen vessels of the Hindoos being used instead of calabashes. These vessels, being those in which the inhabitants boil their rice, are considered, after once being used, as defiled, and are accordingly thrown into the river. The duck-takers, finding them suitable for their purpose, put them on their heads; and as the ducks, from seeing them constantly floating down the stream, are familiar with their appearance, they regard them as objects from which no danger is to be expected.
CALL-DUCKS.
Duck-snares in the Lincolnshire Fens.—The following interesting account of how duck-snaring used to be managed in the Lincolnshire fens, was published some years ago, in a work entitled the “Feathered Tribes.”—“In the lakes to which they resorted, their favourite haunts were observed, and in the most sequestered part of a haunt, a pipe or ditch was cut across the entrance, decreasing gradually in width from the entrance to the further end, which was not more than two feet wide. The ditch was of a circular form, but did not bend much for the first ten yards. The banks of the lake on each side of the ditch were kept clear of weeds and close herbage, in order that the ducks might get on them to sit and dress themselves. Along the ditch, poles were driven into the ground close to the edge on each side, and the tops were bent over across the ditch and tied together. The poles then bent forward at the entrance to the ditch, and formed an arch, the top of which was ten feet distant from the surface of the water; the arch was made to decrease in height as the ditch decreased in width, so that the remote end was not more than eighteen inches in height. The poles were placed about six feet from each other, and connected by poles laid lengthwise across the arch, and tied together. Over the whole was thrown a net, which was made fast to a reed fence at the entrance and nine or ten yards up the ditch, and afterwards strongly pegged to the ground. At the end of the ditch furthest from the entrance, was fixed what was called a tunnel-net, of about four yards in length, of a round form, and kept open by a number of hoops about eighteen inches in diameter, placed at a small distance from each other to keep it distended. Supposing the circular bend of the ditch to be to the right, when one stands with his back to the lake, then on the left-hand side, a number of reed fences were constructed, called shootings, for the purpose of screening the decoy-man from observation, and, in such a manner, that the fowl in the decoy would not be alarmed while he was driving those that were in the pipe. These shootings, which were ten in number, were about four yards in length and about six feet high. From the end of the last shooting a person could not see the lake, owing to the bend of the ditch; and there was then no further occasion for shelter. Were it not for these shootings, the fowl that remained about the mouth of the ditch would have been alarmed, if the person driving the fowl already under the net should have been exposed, and would have become so shy as entirely to forsake the place.”
The Decoy-man, Dog, and Ducks.—“The first thing the decoy-man did, on approaching the ditch, was to take a piece of lighted peat or turf, and to hold it near his mouth, to prevent the birds from smelling him. He was attended by a dog trained to render him assistance. He walked very silently about halfway up the shootings, where a small piece of wood was thrust through the reed fence, which made an aperture just large enough to enable him to see if there were any fowl within; if not, he walked 455 to see if any were about the entrance to the ditch. If there were, he stopped, made a motion to his dog, and gave him a piece of cheese to eat, when the dog went directly to a hole through the reed fence, and the birds immediately flew off the bank into the water. The dog returned along the bank between the reed fences, and came out to his master at another hole. The man then gave the dog something more to encourage him, and the dog repeated his rounds, till the birds were attracted by his motions, and followed him into the mouth of the ditch—an operation which was called ‘working them.’ The man now retreated further back, working the dog at different holes, until the ducks were sufficiently under the net. He then commanded his dog to lie down under the fence, and going himself forward to the end of the ditch next the lake, he took off his hat, and gave it a wave between the shootings. All the birds that were under the net could then see him, but none that were in the lake could. The former flew forward, and the man then ran to the next shooting, and waved his hat, and so on, driving them along until they came into the tunnel-net, into which they crept. When they were all in, the man gave the net a twist, so as to prevent them getting back. He then took the net off from the end of the ditch, and taking out, one by one, the ducks that were in it, dislocated their necks.”
938. Ingredients.—A pair of fowls; water.
Y. Boiled Fowl with Cauliflower.
Choosing and Trussing.—In choosing fowls for boiling, it should be borne in mind that those that are not black-legged are generally much whiter when dressed. Pick, draw, singe, wash, and truss them in the following manner, without the livers in the wings; and, in drawing, be careful not to break the gall-bladder:—Cut off the neck, leaving sufficient skin to skewer back. Cut the feet off to the first joint, tuck the stumps into a slit made on each side of the belly, twist the wings over the back of the fowl, and secure the top of the leg and the bottom of the wing together by running a skewer through them and the body. The other side must be done in the same manner. Should the fowl be very large and old, draw the sinews of the legs before tucking them in. Make a slit in the apron of the fowl, large enough to admit the parson’s nose, and tie a string on the tops of the legs to keep them in their proper place.
BOILED FOWL.
Mode.—When they are firmly trussed, put them into a stewpan with plenty of hot water; bring it to boil, and carefully remove all the scum as it rises. Simmer very gently until the fowl is tender, and bear in mind that the slower it boils, the plumper and whiter will the fowl be. Many cooks wrap them in a floured cloth to preserve the colour, and to prevent the scum from clinging to them; in this case, a few slices of lemon should be placed on the breasts; over these a sheet of buttered paper, and then the cloth; cooking them in this manner renders the flesh very white. Boiled ham, bacon, boiled tongue, or pickled pork, are the usual accompaniments to boiled fowls, and they may be served with Béchamel, white sauce, parsley 456 and butter, oyster, lemon, liver, celery, or mushroom sauce. A little should be poured over the fowls, after the skewers are removed, and the remainder sent in a tureen to table.
Time.—Large fowl, 1 hour; moderate-sized one, ¾ hour; chicken, from 20 minutes to ½ hour.
Average cost, in full season, 5s. the pair.
Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable all the year, but scarce in early spring.
GAME FOWLS.
The Game Fowl.—Respecting the period at which this well-known member of the Gallus family became domesticated, history is silent. There is little doubt, however, that, like the dog, it has been attached to mankind ever since mankind were attached to civilization. Although the social position of this bird is, at the present time, highly respectable, it is nothing to what it was when Rome was mistress of the world. Writing at that period, Pliny says, respecting the domestic cock, “The gait of the cock is proud and commanding; he walks with head erect and elevated crest; alone, of all birds, he habitually looks up to the sky, raising, at the same time, his curved and scythe-formed tail, and inspiring terror in the lion himself, that most intrepid of animals. * * They regulate the conduct of our magistrates, and open or close to them their own houses. They prescribe rest or movement to the Roman fasces: they command or prohibit battles. In a word, they lord it over the masters of the world.” As well among the ancient Greeks as the Romans, was the cock regarded with respect, and even awe. The former people practised divinations by means of this bird. Supposing there to be a doubt in the camp as to the fittest day to fight a battle, the letter of every day in the week would be placed face downwards, and a grain of corn placed on each; then the sacred cock would be let loose, and, according to the letters he pecked his corn from, so would the battle-time be regulated. On one momentous occasion, however, a person inimical to priestly interest officiously examined the grain, and found that those lying on the letters not wanted were made of wax, and the birds, preferring the true grain, left these untouched. It is needless to add that, after this, divination through the medium of cocks and grain fell out of fashion. Whether or no the learned fowl above alluded to were of the “game” breed, is unknown; but that the birds were bred for the inhuman sport of fighting many hundred years before the Christian era, there can be no doubt. Themistocles, the Athenian king, who flourished more than two thousand years ago, took advantage of the sight of a pitched battle between two cocks to harangue his soldiers on courage. “Observe,” said he, “with what intrepid valour they fight, inspired by no other motive than love of victory; whereas you have to contend for your religion and your liberty, for your wives and children, and for the tombs of your ancestors.” And to this day his courage has not degenerated. He still preserves his bold and elegant gait, his sparkling eye, while his wedge-shaped beak and cruel spurs are ever ready to support his defiant crow. It is no wonder that the breed is not plentiful—first, on account of the few eggs laid by the hen; and, secondly, from the incurable pugnacity of the chicks. Half-fledged broods may be found blind as bats from fighting, and only waiting for the least glimmer of sight to be at it again. Without doubt, the flesh of game fowls is every way superior to that of every chicken of the family.
939. Ingredients.—A large fowl, seasoning, to taste, of pepper and salt, 2 handfuls of button mushrooms, 1 slice of lean ham, ¾ pint of thickened gravy, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, ½ teaspoonful of pounded sugar.
457Mode.—Cut the fowl into quarters, roast it until three-parts done, and keep it well basted whilst at the fire. Take the fowl up, broil it for a few minutes over a clear fire, and season it with pepper and salt. Have ready some mushroom sauce made in the following manner. Put the mushrooms into a stewpan with a small piece of butter, the ham, a seasoning of pepper and salt, and the gravy; simmer these gently for ½ hour, add the lemon-juice and sugar, dish the fowl, and pour the sauce round them.
Time.—To roast the fowl, 35 minutes; to broil it, 10 to 15 minutes.
Average cost, in full season, 2s. 6d.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable.—In full season from May to January.
BLACK BANTAMS.
The Bantam.—No one will dispute that for beauty, animation, plumage, and courage, the Bantam is entitled to rank next to the game fowl. As its name undoubtedly implies, the bird is of Asiatic origin. The choicest sorts are the buff-coloured, and those that are entirely black. A year-old Bantam cock of pure breed will not weigh more than sixteen ounces. Despite its small size, however, it is marvellously bold, especially in defence of its progeny. A friend of the writer’s, residing at Kensington, possessed a pair of thorough-bred Bantams, that were allowed the range of a yard where a fierce bull-terrier was kennelled. The hen had chicks; and, when about three weeks old, one of them strayed into the dog-kennel. The grim beast within took no notice of the tiny fledgeling; but, when the anxious mother ventured in to fetch out the truant, with a growl the dog woke, and nearly snapped her asunder in his great jaws. The cock bird saw the tragic fate of its partner; but, nothing daunted, flew at the dog with a fierce cry, and pecked savagely at its face. The odds, however, were too great; and, when the terrier had sufficiently recovered from the astonishment caused by the sudden and unexpected attack, he seized the audacious Bantam, and shook him to death; and, in five minutes, the devoted couple were entombed in Pincher’s capacious maw.
940. Ingredients.—1 fowl, mutton broth, 2 onions, 2 small blades of pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, ¼ pint of rice, parsley and butter.
Mode.—Truss the fowl as for boiling, and put it into a stewpan with sufficient clear well-skimmed mutton broth to cover it; add the onion, mace, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; stew very gently for about 1 hour, should the fowl be large, and about ½ hour before it is ready put in the rice, which should be well washed and soaked. When the latter is tender, strain it from the liquor, and put it on a sieve reversed to dry before the fire, and, in the mean time, keep the fowl hot. Dish it, put the rice round as a border, pour a little parsley and butter over the fowl, and the remainder send to table in a tureen.
458Time.—A large fowl, 1 hour.
Average cost, in full season, 2s. 6d.
Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.
Seasonable all the year, but scarce in early spring.
DORKINGS.
The Dorking.—This bird takes its name from that of a town in Surrey, where the breed is to be found in greater numbers, and certainly in greater perfection, than elsewhere. It is generally believed that this particular branch of poultry was found in the town above mentioned as long ago as the Roman era. The Dorking’s chief characteristic is that he has five claws on each foot; the extra claw, however, is never of sufficient length to encumber the foot, or to cause it to “drag” its nest, or scratch out the eggs. The colour of the true Dorking is pure white; long in the body, short in the legs, and a prolific layer. Thirty years ago, there was much controversy respecting the origin of the Dorking. The men of Sussex declared that the bird belonged to them, and brought birds indigenous to their weald, and possessing all the Dorking fine points and peculiarities, in proof of the declaration. Others inclined to the belief that the Poland bird was the father of the Dorking, and not without at least a show of reason, as the former bird much resembles the latter in shape; and, despite its sombre hue, it is well known that the Poland cock will occasionally beget thorough white stock from white English hens. The commotion has, however, long ago subsided, and Dorking still retains its fair reputation for fowl.
941. Ingredients.—1 fowl, 2 oz. of butter, 3 onions sliced, 1 pint of white veal gravy, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 apple, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.
Mode.—Put the butter into a stewpan, with the onions sliced, the fowl cut into small joints, and the apple peeled, cored, and minced. Fry of a pale brown, add the stock, and stew gently for 20 minutes; rub down the curry-powder and flour with a little of the gravy, quite smoothly, and stir this to the other ingredients; simmer for rather more than ½ hour, and just before serving, add the above proportion of hot cream and lemon-juice. Serve with boiled rice, which may either be heaped lightly on a dish by itself, or put round the curry as a border.
Time.—50 minutes.
Average cost, 3s. 3d.
Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.
Seasonable in the winter.
Note.—This curry may be made of cold chicken, but undressed meat will be found far superior.
SPANGLED POLANDS.
The Poland.—This bird, a native of Holland, is a great favourite with fowl-keepers, especially those who have an eye to profit rather than to amusement. Those varieties known as the “silver spangled” and the “gold spangled” are handsome enough to please the most fastidious; but the common black breed, with the bushy crown of white feathers, is but a plain bird. The chief value of the common Poland lies in the great 459 number of eggs they produce; indeed, in many parts, they are as well known as “everlasting layers” as by their proper name. However, the experienced brooder would take good care to send the eggs of his everlasting layers to market, and not use them for home consumption, as, although they may be as large as those laid by other hens, the amount of nutriment contained in them is not nearly so great. Mr. Mowbray once kept an account of the number of eggs produced by this prolific bird, with the following result:—From the 25th of October to the 25th of the following September five hens laid 503 eggs; the average weight of each egg was one ounce five drachms, and the total weight of the whole, exclusive of the shells, 50¼ pounds. Taking the weight of the birds at the fair average of five pounds each, we thus see them producing within a year double their weight of egg alone; and, supposing every egg to contain a chick, and allowing the chick to grow, in less than eighteen months from the laying of the first egg, two thousand five hundred pounds of chicken-meat would be the result. The Poland is easily fattened, and its flesh is generally considered juicier and of richer flavour than most others.
942. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowls, 2 large onions, 1 apple, 2 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of curry-powder, 1 teaspoonful of flour, ½ pint of gravy, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.
Mode.—Slice the onions, peel, core, and chop the apple, and cut the fowl into neat joints; fry these in the butter of a nice brown; then add the curry-powder, flour, and gravy, and stew for about 20 minutes. Put in the lemon-juice, and serve with boiled rice, either placed in a ridge round the dish or separately. Two or three shalots or a little garlic may be added, if approved.
Time.—Altogether ½ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold fowl, 6d.
Seasonable in the winter.
COCHIN-CHINAS.
The Cochin-China.—About fifteen years ago, the arrival of this distinguished Asiatic created in England as great a sensation as might be expected from the landing of an invading host. The first pair that ever made their appearance here were natives of Shanghai, and were presented to the queen, who exhibited them at the Dublin poultry-show of 1846. Then began the “Cochin” furor. As soon as it was discovered, despite the most strenuous endeavours to keep the tremendous secret, that a certain dealer was possessed of a pair of these birds, straightway the avenues to that dealer’s shop were blocked by broughams, and chariots, and hack cabs, until the shy poulterer had been tempted by a sufficiently high sum to part with his treasure. Bank-notes were exchanged for Cochin chicks, and Cochin eggs were in as great demand as though they had been laid by the fabled golden goose. The reign of the Cochin China was, however, of inconsiderable duration. The bird 460 that, in 1847, would fetch thirty guineas, is now counted but ordinary chicken-meat, and its price is regulated according to its weight when ready for the spit. As for the precious buff eggs, against which, one time of day, guineas were weighed,—send for sixpenn’orth at the cheesemonger’s, and you will get at least five; which is just as it should be. For elegance of shape or quality of flesh, the Cochin cannot for a moment stand comparison with our handsome dunghill; neither can the indescribable mixture of growling and braying, peculiar to the former, vie with the musical trumpeting of our own morning herald: yet our poultry-breeders have been immense gainers by the introduction of the ungainly celestial, inasmuch as new blood has been infused into the English chicken family. Of this incalculable advantage we may be sure; while, as to the Cochin’s defects, they are certain to be lost in the process of “cross and cross” breeding.
943. Ingredients.—A pair of fowls, 1 pint of Béchamel, No. 367, a few bunches of boiled brocoli or cauliflower.
Mode.—Truss and boil the fowls by recipe No. 938; make a pint of Béchamel sauce by recipe No. 367; pour some of this over the fowls, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. Garnish the dish with bunches of boiled cauliflowers or brocoli, and serve very hot. The sauce should be made sufficiently thick to adhere to the fowls; that for the tureen should be thinned by adding a spoonful or two of stock.
Time.—From ½ to 1 hour, according to size.
Average cost, in full season, 5s. a pair.
Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
Seasonable all the year, but scarce in early spring.
Space for Fowls.—We are no advocates for converting the domestic fowl into a cage-bird. We have known amateur fowl-keepers—worthy souls, who would butter the very barley they gave their pets, if they thought they would the more enjoy it—coop up a male bird and three or four hens in an ordinary egg-chest placed on its side, and with the front closely barred with iron hooping! This system will not do. Every animal, from man himself to the guinea-pig, must have what is vulgarly, but truly, known as “elbow-room;” and it must be self-evident how emphatically this rule applies to winged animals. It may be urged, in the case of domestic fowls, that from constant disuse, and from clipping and plucking, and other sorts of maltreatment, their wings can hardly be regarded as instruments of flight; we maintain, however, that you may pluck a fowl’s wing-joints as bare as a pumpkin, but you will not erase from his memory that he is a fowl, and that his proper sphere is the open air. If he likewise reflects that he is an ill-used fowl—a prison-bird—he will then come to the conclusion, that there is not the least use, under such circumstances, for his existence; and you must admit that the decision is only logical and natural.
944. Ingredients.—1 young fowl, 3 dozen oysters, the yolks of 2 eggs, ¼ pint of cream.
Mode.—Truss a young fowl as for boiling; fill the inside with oysters which have been bearded and washed in their own liquor; secure the ends of the fowl, put it into a jar, and plunge the jar into a saucepan of boiling water. Keep it boiling for 1½ hour, or rather longer; then take the gravy that has flowed from the oysters and fowl, of which there will be a good quantity; stir in the cream and yolks of eggs, 461 add a few oysters scalded in their liquor; let the sauce get quite hot, but do not allow it to boil; pour some of it over the fowl, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. A blade of pounded mace added to the sauce, with the cream and eggs, will be found an improvement.
Time.—1½ hour.
Average cost, 4s. 6d.
Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.
Seasonable from September to April.
The Fowl-house.—In building a fowl-house, take care that it be, if possible, built against a wall or fence that faces the south, and thus insure its inmates against many cold winds, driving rains, and sleets they will otherwise suffer. Let the floor of the house slope half an inch to the foot from back to front, so as to insure drainage; let it also be close, hard, and perfectly smooth; so that it may be cleanly swept out. A capital plan is to mix a few bushels of chalk and dry earth, spread it over the floor, and pay a paviour’s labourer a trifle to hammer it level with his rammer. The fowl-house should be seven feet high, and furnished with perches at least two feet apart. The perches must be level, and not one above the other, or unpleasant consequences may ensue to the undermost row. The perches should be ledged (not fixed—just dropped into sockets, that they may be easily taken out and cleaned) not lower than five feet from the ground, convenient slips of wood being driven into the wall, to render the ascent as easy as possible. The front of the fowl-house should be latticed, taking care that the interstices be not wide enough even to tempt a chick to crawl through. Nesting-boxes, containing soft hay, and fitted against the walls, so as to be easily reached by the perch-ladder, should be supplied. It will be as well to keep by you a few portable doors, so that you may hang one before the entrance to a nesting-box, when the hen goes in to sit. This will prevent other hens from intruding, a habit to which some are much addicted.
945. Ingredients.—2 small fowls or 1 large one, 3 oz. of butter, a bunch of parsley and green onions, 1 clove, 2 blades of mace, 1 shalot, 1 bay-leaf, salt and white pepper to taste, ¼ pint of cream, the yolks of 3 eggs.
Mode.—Choose a couple of fat plump chickens, and, after drawing, singeing, and washing them, skin, and carve them into joints; blanch these in boiling water for 2 or 3 minutes; take them out, and immerse them in cold water to render them white. Put the trimmings, with the necks and legs, into a stewpan; add the parsley, onions, clove, mace, shalot, bay-leaf, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; pour to these the water that the chickens were blanched in, and simmer gently for rather more than 1 hour. Have ready another stewpan; put in the joints of fowl, with the above proportion of butter; dredge them with flour, let them get hot, but do not brown them much; then moisten the fricassee with the gravy made from the trimmings, &c., and stew very gently for ½ hour. Lift the fowl into another stewpan, skim the sauce, reduce it quickly over the fire, by letting it boil fast, and strain it over them. Add the cream, and a seasoning of pounded mace and cayenne; let it boil up, and when ready to serve, stir to it the well-beaten yolks of 3 eggs: these should not be put in till the last moment, 462 and the sauce should be made hot, but must not boil, or it will instantly curdle. A few button-mushrooms stewed with the fowl are by many persons considered an improvement.
Time.—1 hour to make the gravy, ½ hour to simmer the fowl.
Average cost, 5s. the pair.
Sufficient.—1 large fowl for one entrée.
Seasonable at any time.
Stocking the Fowl-house.—Take care that the birds with which you stock your house are young. The surest indications of old age are fading of the comb and gills from brilliant red to a dingy brick-colour, general paleness of plumage, brittleness of the feathers, length and size of the claws, and the scales of the legs and feet assuming a ragged and corny appearance. Your cock and hens should be as near two years old as possible. Hens will lay at a year old, but the eggs are always insignificant in size, and the layers giddy and unsteady sitters. The hen-bird is in her prime for breeding at three years old, and will continue so, under favourable circumstances, for two years longer; after which she will decline. Crowing hens, and those that have large combs, are generally looked on with mistrust; but this is mere silliness and superstition—though it is possible that a spruce young cock would as much object to a spouse with such peculiar addictions, as a young fellow of our own species would to a damsel who whistled and who wore whiskers. Fowls with yellow legs should be avoided; they are generally of a tender constitution, loose-fleshed, and of indifferent flavour.
946. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowl, 1 strip of lemon-peel, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, 1 onion, pepper and salt to taste, 1 pint of water, 1 teaspoonful of flour, ¼ pint of cream, the yolks of 2 eggs.
Mode.—Carve the fowls into nice joints; make gravy of the trimmings and legs, by stewing them with the lemon-peel, mace, herbs, onion, seasoning, and water, until reduced to ½ pint; then strain, and put in the fowl. Warm it through, and thicken with a teaspoonful of flour; stir the yolks of the eggs into the cream; add these to the sauce, let it get thoroughly hot, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle.
Time.—1 hour to make the gravy, ¼ hour to warm the fowl.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold chicken, 8d.
Seasonable at any time.
Characteristics of Health and Power.—The chief characteristics of health in a fowl are brightness and dryness of eye and nostrils, the comb and wattles firm and ruddy, the feathers elastic and glossy. The most useful cock is generally the greatest tyrant, who struts among his hens despotically, with his head erect and his eyes ever watchful. There is likely to be handsomer and stronger chicks in a house where a bold, active—even savage—bird reigns, than where the lord of the hen-house is a weak, meek creature, who bears the abuse and peckings of his wives without a remonstrance. I much prefer dark-coloured cock-birds to those of light plumage. A cock, to be handsome, should be of middling size; his bill should be short, comb bright-red, wattles large, breast broad, and wings strong. His head should be rather small than otherwise, his legs short and sturdy, and his spurs well-formed; his feathers should be short and close, and the more frequently and heartily he crows, the better father he is likely to become. The common error of choosing hens above the ordinary stature of their respective varieties should be avoided, as the best breeding-hens are those of medium size.
947. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowls, vinegar, salt and cayenne to taste, 3 or 4 minced shalots. For the batter,—½ lb. of flour, ½ pint of hot water, 2 oz. of butter, the whites of 2 eggs.
Mode.—Cut the fowl into nice joints; steep them for an hour in a little vinegar, with salt, cayenne, and minced shalots. Make the batter by mixing the flour and water smoothly together; melt in it the butter, and add the whites of egg beaten to a froth; take out the pieces of fowl, dip them in the batter, and fry, in boiling lard, a nice brown. Pile them high in the dish, and garnish with fried parsley or rolled bacon. When approved, a sauce or gravy may be served with them.
Time.—10 minutes to fry the fowl.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold fowl, 8d.
Seasonable at any time.
Chanticleer and his Companions.—On bringing the male and female birds together for the first time, it will be necessary to watch the former closely, as it is a very common occurrence with him to conceive a sudden and violent dislike for one or more of his wives, and not allow the obnoxious ones to approach within some distance of the others; indeed, I know many cases where the capricious tyrant has set upon the innocent cause of his resentment and killed her outright. In all such cases, the hen objected to should be removed and replaced by another. If the cock should, by any accident, get killed, considerable delicacy is required in introducing a new one. The hens may mope, and refuse to associate with their new husband, clustering in corners, and making odious comparisons between him and the departed; or the cock may have his own peculiar notions as to what a wife should be, and be by no means satisfied with those you have provided him. The plan is, to keep him by himself nearly the whole day, supplying plentifully with exhilarating food, then to turn him loose among the hens, and to continue this practice, allowing him more of the society of his wives each day, until you suffer him to abide with them altogether.
948. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowl, vinegar, salt and cayenne to taste, 4 minced shalots, yolk of egg; to every teacupful of bread crumbs allow 1 blade of pounded mace, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, 1 saltspoonful of salt, a few grains of cayenne.
Mode.—Steep the pieces of fowl as in the preceding recipe, then dip them into the yolk of an egg or clarified butter; sprinkle over bread crumbs with which have been mixed salt, mace, cayenne, and lemon-peel in the above proportion. Fry a light brown, and serve with or without gravy, as may be preferred.
Time.—10 minutes to fry the fowl.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold fowl, 6d.
Seasonable at any time.
Various Modes of Fattening Fowls.—It would, I think, be a difficult matter to find, among the entire fraternity of fowl-keepers, a dozen whose mode of fattening “stock” is the same. Some say that the grand secret is to give them abundance of saccharine food; others say nothing beats heavy corn steeped in milk; while another breeder, 464 celebrated in his day, and the recipient of a gold medal from a learned society, says, “The best method is as follows:—The chickens are to be taken from the hen the night after they are hatched, and fed with eggs hard-boiled, chopped, and mixed with crumbs of bread, as larks and other small birds are fed, for the first fortnight; after which give them oatmeal and treacle mixed so as to crumble, of which the chickens are very fond, and thrive so fast that, at the end of two months, they will be as large as full-grown fowls.” Others there are who insist that nothing beats oleaginous diet, and cram their birds with ground oats and suet. But, whatever the course of diet favoured, on one point they seem agreed; and that is, that, while fattening, the fowls should be kept in the dark. Supposing the reader to be a dealer,—a breeder of gross chicken-meat for the market (against which supposition the chances are 10,000 to 1), and beset with as few scruples as generally trouble the huckster, the advice is valuable. “Laugh and grow fat” is a good maxim enough; but “Sleep and grow fat” is, as is well known to folks of porcine attributes, a better. The poor birds, immured in their dark dungeons, ignorant that there is life and sunshine abroad, tuck their heads under their wings and make a long night of it; while their digestive organs, having no harder work than to pile up fat, have an easy time enough. But, unless we are mistaken, he who breeds poultry for his own eating, bargains for a more substantial reward than the questionable pleasure of burying his carving-knife in chicken grease. Tender, delicate, and nutritious flesh is the great aim; and these qualities, I can affirm without fear of contradiction, were never attained by a dungeon-fatted chicken; perpetual gloom and darkness is as incompatible with chicken life as it is with human. If you wish to be convinced of the absurdity of endeavouring to thwart nature’s laws, plant a tuft of grass, or a cabbage-plant, in the darkest corner of your coal-cellar. The plant or the tuft may increase in length and breadth, but its colour will be as wan and pale, almost, as would be your own face under the circumstances.
949. Ingredients.—1 large fowl, 4 tablespoonfuls of salad oil, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 pint of stock No. 105, or water, about 20 mushroom-buttons, salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoonful of powdered sugar, a very small piece of garlic.
Mode.—Cut the fowl into 8 or 10 pieces; put them with the oil into a stewpan, and brown them over a moderate fire; dredge in the above proportion of flour; when that is browned, pour in the stock or water; let it simmer very slowly for rather more than ½ hour, and skim off the fat as it rises to the top; add the mushrooms; season with salt, pepper, garlic, and sugar; take out the fowl, which arrange pyramidically on the dish, with the inferior joints at the bottom. Reduce the sauce by boiling it quickly over the fire, keeping it stirred until sufficiently thick to adhere to the back of a spoon; pour over the fowl, and serve.
Time.—Altogether 50 minutes.
Average cost, 3s. 6d.
Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.
Seasonable at any time.
A Fowl à la Marengo.—The following is the origin of the well-known dish Poulet à la Marengo:—On the evening of the battle the first consul was very hungry after the agitation of the day, and a fowl was ordered with all expedition. The fowl was procured, but there was no butter at hand, and unluckily none could be found in the neighbourhood. There was oil in abundance, however; and the cook having poured a certain quantity into his skillet, put in the fowl, with a clove of garlic and other seasoning, with a little white wine, the best the country afforded; he then garnished it with mushrooms, and served it up hot. This dish proved the second conquest of the day, as the first consul found it most agreeable to his palate, and expressed his satisfaction. Ever since, a fowl à la Marengo is a favourite dish with all lovers of good cheer.
950. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowl, 6 tablespoonfuls of Béchamel sauce No. 367, 6 tablespoonfuls of white stock No. 107, the white of 1 egg, bread crumbs, clarified butter.
Mode.—Take the remains of roast fowls, mince the white meat very small, and put it into a stewpan with the Béchamel and stock; stir it well over the fire, and just let it boil up. Pour the mince into a dish, beat up the white of egg, spread it over, and strew on it a few grated bread crumbs; pour a very little clarified butter on the whole, and brown either before the fire or with a salamander. This should be served in a silver dish, if at hand.
Time.—2 or 3 minutes to simmer in the sauce.
Seasonable at any time.
The best Way to Fatten Fowls.—The barn-door fowl is in itself a complete refutation of the cramming and dungeon policy of feeding practised by some. This fowl, which has the common run of the farm-yard, living on dairy-scraps and offal from the stable, begins to grow fat at threshing-time. He has his fill of the finest corn; he has his fill of fresh air and natural exercise, and at last he comes smoking to the table,—a dish for the gods. In the matter of unnaturally stuffing and confining fowls, Mowbray is exactly of our opinion. He says: “The London chicken-butchers, as they are termed, are said to be, of all others, the most expeditious and dexterous feeders, putting up a coop of fowls, and making them thoroughly fat within the space of a fortnight, using much grease, and that perhaps not of the most delicate kind, in the food. In this way I have no boasts to make, having always found it necessary to allow a considerable number of weeks for the purpose of making fowls fat in coops. In the common way this business is often badly managed, fowls being huddled together in a small coop, tearing each other to pieces, instead of enjoying that repose which alone can insure the wished-for object—irregularly fed and cleaned, until they become so stenched and poisoned in their own excrement, that their flesh actually smells and tastes when smoking upon the table.” Sussex produces the fattest and largest poultry of any county in England, and the fatting process there most common is to give them a gruel made of pot-liquor and bruised oats, with which are mixed hog’s grease, sugar, and milk. The fowls are kept very warm, and crammed morning and night. They are put into the coop, and kept there two or three days before the cramming begins, and then it is continued for a fortnight, and the birds are sent to market.
951. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowls, 3 shalots, 2 blades of mace, a faggot of savoury herbs, 2 or three slices of lean ham, 1 pint of stock or water, pepper and salt to taste, 1 onion, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, ½ teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 oz. of butter.
Mode.—Cut the fowls up into neat pieces, the same as for a fricassee; put the trimmings into a stewpan with the shalots, mace, herbs, ham, onion, and stock (water may be substituted for this). Boil it slowly for 1 hour, strain the liquor, and put a small piece of butter into a stewpan; when melted, dredge in sufficient flour to dry up the butter, and stir it over the fire. Put in the strained liquor, boil for a few minutes, and strain it again over the pieces of fowl. Squeeze 466 in the lemon-juice, add the sugar and a seasoning of pepper and salt, make it hot, but do not allow it to boil; lay the fowl neatly on the dish, and garnish with croûtons.
Time.—Altogether 1½ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold fowl, 9d.
Seasonable at any time.
The best Fowls to Fatten, &c.—The chicks most likely to fatten well are those first hatched in the brood, and those with the shortest legs. Long-legged fowls, as a rule, are by far the most difficult to fatten. The most delicate sort are those which are put up to fatten as soon as the hen forsakes them; for, as says an old writer, “then they will be in fine condition, and full of flesh, which flesh is afterwards expended in the exercise of foraging for food, and in the increase of stature; and it may be a work of some weeks to recover it,—especially with young cocks.” But whether you take them in hand as chicks, or not till they are older, the three prime rules to be observed are, sound and various food, warmth, and cleanliness. There is nothing that a fatting fowl grows so fastidious about as his water. If water any way foul be offered him, he will not drink it, but sulk with his food, and pine, and you all the while wondering the reason why. Keep them separate, allowing to each bird as much space as you can spare. Spread the ground with sharp sandy gravel; take care that they are not disturbed. In addition to their regular diet of good corn, make them a cake of ground oats or beans, brown sugar, milk, and mutton suet. Let the cake lie till it is stale, then crumble it, and give each bird a gill-measureful morning and evening. No entire grain should be given to fowls during the time they are fattening; indeed, the secret of success lies in supplying them with the most nutritious food without stint, and in such a form that their digestive mills shall find no difficulty in grinding it.
952. Ingredients.—A pair of fowls; a little flour.
ROAST FOWL.
Mode.—Fowls to be tender should be killed a couple of days before they are dressed; when the feathers come out easily, then let them be picked and cooked. In drawing them, be careful not to break the gall-bag, as, wherever it touches, it would impart a very bitter taste; the liver and gizzard should also be preserved. Truss them in the following manner:—After having carefully picked them, cut off the head, and skewer the skin of the neck down over the back. Cut off the claws; dip the legs in boiling water, and scrape them; turn the pinions under, run a skewer through them and the middle of the legs, which should be passed through the body to the pinion and leg on the other side, one skewer securing the limbs on both sides. The liver and gizzard should be placed in the wings, the liver on one side and the gizzard on the other. Tie the legs together by passing a trussing-needle, threaded with twine, through the backbone, and secure it on the other side. If trussed like a capon, the legs are placed more apart. When firmly trussed, singe them all over; put them down to a bright clear fire, paper the breasts with a sheeted buttered paper, and keep the fowls well basted. Roast them for ¾ hour, more or less, according 467 to the size, and 10 minutes before serving, remove the paper, dredge the fowls with a little fine flour, put a piece of butter into the basting-ladle, and as it melts, baste the fowls with it; when nicely frothed and of a rich colour, serve with good brown gravy, a little of which should be poured over the fowls, and a tureen of well-made bread sauce, No. 371. Mushroom, oyster, or egg sauce are very suitable accompaniments to roast fowl.—Chicken is roasted in the same manner.
Time.—A very large fowl, quite 1 hour, medium-sized one ¾ hour, chicken ½ hour, or rather longer.
Average cost, in full season, 5s. a pair; when scarce, 7s. 6d. the pair.
Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
Seasonable all the year, but scarce in early spring.
The Diseases of Fowls, and how to Cure them.—The diseases to which Gallus domesticus is chiefly liable, are roup, pip, scouring, and chip. The first-mentioned is the most common of all, and results from cold. The ordinary symptoms,—swollen eyes, running at the nostrils, and the purple colour of the wattles. Part birds so affected from the healthy ones, as, when the disease is at its height it is as contagious as glanders among horses. Wash out the nostrils with warm water, give daily a peppercorn inclosed in dough; bathe the eyes and nostrils with warm milk and water. If the head is much swollen, bathe with warm brandy and water. When the bird is getting well, put half a spoonful of sulphur in his drinking-water. Some fanciers prescribe for this disease half a spoonful of table salt, dissolved in half a gill of water, in which rue has been steeped; others, pills composed of ground rice and fresh butter: but the remedy first mentioned will be found far the best. As there is a doubt respecting the wholesomeness of the eggs laid by roupy hens, it will be as well to throw them away. The pip is a white horny skin growing on the tip of the bird’s tongue. It should be removed with the point of a penknife, and the place rubbed with salt.
953. Ingredients.—½ lb. of rice, 1 quart of stock or broth, 3 oz. of butter, minced fowl, egg, and bread crumbs.
Mode.—Put the rice into the above proportion of cold stock or broth, and let it boil very gently for ½ hour; then add the butter, and simmer it till quite dry and soft. When cold, make it into balls, hollow out the inside, and fill with minced fowl made by recipe No. 956. The mince should be rather thick. Cover over with rice, dip the balls into egg, sprinkle them with bread crumbs, and fry a nice brown. Dish them, and garnish with fried parsley. Oysters, white sauce, or a little cream, may be stirred into the rice before it cools.
Time.—½ hour to boil the rice, 10 minutes to fry the croquettes.
Average cost, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.
Seasonable at any time.
Chip.—If the birds are allowed to paddle about on wet soil, or to be much out in the rain, they will get “chip.” Young chicks are especially liable to this complaint. They will sit shivering in out-of-the-way corners, perpetually uttering a dolorous “chip, chip;” seemingly frozen with cold, though, on handling them, they are found to be in high fever. A wholesale breeder would take no pains to attempt the cure of fowls so afflicted; but they who keep chickens for the pleasure, and not for the profit they yield, 468 will be inclined to recover them if possible. Give them none but warm food, half a peppercorn rolled in a morsel of dough every night, and a little nitre in their water. Above all, keep them warm; a corner in the kitchen fender, for a day or two, will do more to effect a cure than the run of a druggist’s warehouse.
954. Ingredients.—3 or 4 shalots, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of flour, white sauce; pepper, salt, and pounded mace to taste; ½ teaspoonful of pounded sugar, the remains of cold roast fowls, the yolks of 2 eggs, egg, and bread crumbs.
Mode.—Mince the fowl, carefully removing all skin and bone, and fry the shalots in the butter; add the minced fowl, dredge in the flour, put in the pepper, salt, mace, pounded sugar, and sufficient white sauce to moisten it; stir to it the yolks of 2 well-beaten eggs, and set it by to cool. Then make the mixture up into balls, egg and bread-crumb them, and fry a nice brown. They may be served on a border of mashed potatoes, with gravy or sauce in the centre.
Time.—10 minutes to fry the balls.
Seasonable at any time.
The Turn.—What is tended “turrling” with song-birds, is known, as regard fowls, as the “turn.” Its origin is the same in both cases,—over-feeding and want of exercise. Without a moment’s warning, a fowl so afflicted will totter and fall from its perch, and unless assistance be at hand, speedily give up the ghost. The veins of the palate should be opened, and a few drops of a mixture composed of six parts of sweet nitre and one of ammonia, poured down its throat. I have seen ignorant keepers plunge a bird, stricken with the “turn,” into cold water; but I never saw it taken out again alive; and for a good reason: the sudden chill has the effect of driving the blood to the head,—of aggravating the disease indeed, instead of relieving it.
955. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowl, 1 pint of water, 1 onion, 2 or three small carrots, 1 blade of pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, thickening of butter and flour, 1½ tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup.
Mode.—Cut off the best joints from the fowl, and the remainder make into gravy, by adding to the bones and trimmings a pint of water, an onion sliced and fried of a nice brown, the carrots, mace, seasoning, and herbs. Let these stew gently for 1½ hour, strain the liquor, and thicken with a little flour and butter. Lay in the fowl, thoroughly warm it through, add the ketchup, and garnish with sippets of toasted bread.
Time.—Altogether 1¾ hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold fowl, 4d.
Seasonable at any time.
Skin-disease in Fowls.—Skin-disease is, nine times out of ten, caused by the feathers being swarmed by parasites. Poor feeding will induce this, even if cleanliness be observed; uncleanliness, however liberal the bill of fare, will be taken as an invitation 469 by the little biting pests, and heartily responded to. Mix half a teaspoonful of hydro-oxalic acid with twelve teaspoonfuls of water,—apply to the itching parts with an old shaving-brush.
Obstruction of the Crop.—Obstruction of the crop is occasioned by weakness or greediness. You may know when a bird is so afflicted by his crop being distended almost to bursting. Mowbray tells of a hen of his in this predicament; when the crop was opened, a quantity of new beans were discovered in a state of vegetation. The crop should be slit from the bottom to the top with a sharp pair of scissors, the contents taken out, and the slit sewed up again with fine white thread.
956. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowl, 2 hard-boiled eggs, salt, cayenne, and pounded mace, 1 onion, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, 6 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 oz. of butter, two teaspoonfuls of flour, ½ teaspoonful of finely-minced lemon-peel, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.
Mode.—Cut out from the fowl all the white meat, and mince it finely without any skin or bone; put the bones, skin, and trimmings into a stewpan with an onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, a blade of mace, and nearly a pint of water; let this stew for an hour, then strain the liquor. Chop the eggs small; mix them with the fowl; add salt, cayenne, and pounded mace, put in the gravy and remaining ingredients; let the whole just boil, and serve with sippets of toasted bread.
Time.—Rather more than 1 hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.
Seasonable at any time.
Note.—Another way to make this is to mince the fowl, and warm it in white sauce or Béchamel. When dressed like this, 3 or 4 poached eggs may be placed on the top: oysters, or chopped mushrooms, or balls of oyster forcemeat, may be laid round the dish.
The Moulting Season.—During the moulting season, beginning properly at the end of September, the fowls will require a little extra attention. Keep them dry and warm, and feed them liberally on warm and satisfying food. If in any fowl the moult should seem protracted, examine it for broken feather-stumps still bedded in the skin: if you find any, extract them carefully with a pair of tweezers. If a fowl is hearty and strong, six weeks will see him out of his trouble; if he is weakly, or should take cold during the time, he will not thoroughly recover in less than three months. It is seldom or ever that hens will lay during the moult; while the cock, during the same period, will give so little of his consideration to the frivolities of love, that you may as well, nay, much better, keep him by himself till he perfectly recovers. A moulting chicken makes but a sorry dish.
957. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowl, 3 or 4 sliced onions, 1 apple, 2 oz. of butter, pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 pint of gravy.
Mode.—Cut the onions into slices, mince the apple, and fry these 470 in the butter; add pounded mace, pepper, salt, curry-powder, vinegar, flour, and sugar in the above proportions; when the onion is brown, put in the gravy, which should be previously made from the bones and trimmings of the fowls, and stew for ¾ hour; add the fowl cut into nice-sized joints, let it warm through, and when quite tender, serve. The dish should be garnished with an edging of boiled rice.
Time.—1 hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.
Seasonable at any time.
The Scour or Dysentery.—The scour, or dysentery, or diarrhœa, is induced variously. A sudden alteration in diet will cause it, as will a superabundance of green food. The best remedy is a piece of toasted biscuit sopped in ale. If the disease has too tight a hold on the bird to be quelled by this, give six drops of syrup of white poppies and six drops of castor-oil, mixed with a little oatmeal or ground rice. Restrict the bird’s diet, for a few days, to dry food,—crushed beans or oats, stale bread-crumbs, &c.
958. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast or boiled fowl, a pint of Béchamel, No. 367, or white sauce, No. 537 or 539.
Mode.—Strip off the skin from the fowl; cut the meat into thin slices, and warm them in about ½ pint, or rather more, of Béchamel, or white sauce. When quite hot, serve, and garnish the dish with rolled ham or bacon toasted.
Time.—1 minute to simmer the slices of fowl.
Seasonable at any time.
FEATHER-LEGGED BANTAMS.
The Feather-legged Bantam.—Since the introduction of the Bantam into Europe, it has ramified into many varieties, none of which are destitute of elegance, and some, indeed, remarkable for their beauty. All are, or ought to be, of small size, but lively and vigorous, exhibiting in their movements both grace and stateliness. The variety shown in the engraving is remarkable for the tarsi, or beams of the legs, being plumed to the toes, with stiff, long feathers, which brush the ground. Owing, possibly, to the little care taken to preserve this variety from admixture, it is now not frequently seen. Another variety is often red, with a black breast and single dentated comb. The tarsi are smooth, and of a dusky blue. When this sort of Bantam is pure, it yields in courage and spirit to none, and is, in fact, a game-fowl in miniature, being as beautiful and graceful as it is spirited. A pure white Bantam, possessing all the qualifications just named, is also bred in the royal aviary at Windsor.
959. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowl, 3 or 4 sliced onions, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, salt to taste.
Mode.—Divide the fowl into joints; slice and fry the onions in a little butter, taking care not to burn them; sprinkle over the fowl a 471 little curry-powder and salt; fry these nicely, pile them high in the centre of the dish, cover with the onion, and serve with a cut lemon on a plate. Care must be taken that the onions are not greasy: they should be quite dry, but not burnt.
Time.—5 minutes to fry the onions, 10 minutes to fry the fowl.
Average cost, exclusive of the fowl, 4d.
Seasonable during the winter months.
SPECKLED HAMBURGS.
The Speckled Hamburg.—Of the speckled, or spangled Hamburg, which is a favourite breed with many persons, there are two varieties,—the golden-speckled and the silver-speckled. The general colour of the former is golden, or orange-yellow, each feather having a glossy dark brown or black tip, particularly remarkable on the hackles of the cock and the wing-coverts, and also on the darker feathers of the breast. The female is yellow, or orange-brown, the feathers in like manner being margined with black. The silver-speckled variety is distinguished by the ground-colour of the plumage being of a silver-white, with perhaps a tinge of straw-yellow, every feather being margined with a semi-lunar mark of glossy black. Both of these varieties are extremely beautiful, the hens laying freely. First-rate birds command a high price.
960. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowl, 2 oz. of butter, pepper, salt, and pounded mace to taste, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, ½ pint of weak stock, 1 pint of green peas, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar.
Mode.—Cut the fowl into nice pieces; put the butter into a stewpan; sautez or fry the fowl a nice brown colour, previously sprinkling it with pepper, salt, and pounded mace. Dredge in the flour, shake the ingredients well round, then add the stock and peas, and stew till the latter are tender, which will be in about 20 minutes; put in the pounded sugar, and serve, placing the chicken round, and the peas in the middle of the dish. When liked, mushrooms may be substituted for the peas.
Time.—Altogether 40 minutes.
Average cost, exclusive of the fowl, 7d.
Seasonable from June to August.
961. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast fowls, 1 pint of Béchamel No. 367, salt and cayenne to taste, egg and bread crumbs.
472Mode.—Take the breasts and nice white meat from the fowls; cut it into small dice of an equal size, and throw them into some good Béchamel, made by recipe No. 367; season with salt and cayenne, and put the mixture into a dish to cool. When this preparation is quite cold, cut it into 2 equal parts, which should be made into boudins of a long shape, the size of the dish they are intended to be served on; roll them in flour, egg and bread-crumb them, and be careful that the ends are well covered with the crumbs, otherwise they would break in the frying-pan; fry them a nice colour, put them before the fire to drain the greasy moisture from them, and serve with the remainder of the Béchamel poured round: this should be thinned with a little stock.
Time.—10 minutes to fry the boudins.
Average cost, exclusive of the fowl, 1s. 3d.
Sufficient for 1 entrée.
SEBRIGHT BANTAMS.
Sir John Sebright’s Bantams.—Above all Bantams is placed, the celebrated and beautiful breed called Sir John Sebright’s Silver Bantams. This breed, which Sir John brought to perfection after years of careful trials, is very small, with unfeathered legs, and a rose comb and short hackles. The plumage is gold or silver, spangled, every feather being of a golden orange, or of a silver white, with a glossy jet-black margin; the cocks have the tail folded like that of a hen, with the sickle feathers shortened straight, or nearly so, and broader than usual. The term hen-cocks is, in consequence, often applied to them; but although the sickle feathers are thus modified, no bird possesses higher courage, or a more gallant carriage. The attitude of the cock is, indeed, singularly proud; and he is often seen to bear himself so haughtily, that his head, thrown back as if in disdain, nearly touches the two upper feathers—sickles they can scarcely be called—of his tail. Half-bred birds of this kind are not uncommon, but birds of the pure breed are not to be obtained without trouble and expense; indeed, some time ago, it was almost impossible to procure either a fowl or an egg. “The finest,” says the writer whom we have consulted as to this breed, “we have ever seen, were in Sir John’s poultry-yard, adjacent to Turnham-Green Common, in the byroad leading to Acton.”
962. Ingredients.—A cold roast fowl, Mayonnaise sauce No. 468, 4 or 5 young lettuces, 4 hard-boiled eggs, a few water-cresses, endive.
Mode.—Cut the fowl into neat joints, lay them in a deep dish, piling them high in the centre, sauce the fowl with Mayonnaise made by recipe No. 468, and garnish the dish with young lettuces cut in halves, water-cresses, endive, and hard-boiled eggs: these may be sliced in rings, or laid on the dish whole, cutting off at the bottom a piece of the white, to make the egg stand. All kinds of cold meat and solid fish may be dressed à la Mayonnaise, and make excellent luncheon or supper dishes. The sauce should not be poured over the fowls until 473 the moment of serving. Should a very large Mayonnaise be required, use 2 fowls instead of 1, with an equal proportion of the remaining ingredients.
Average cost, with one fowl, 3s. 6d.
Sufficient for a moderate-sized dish.
Seasonable from April to September.
BLACK SPANISH.
Black Spanish.—The real Spanish fowl is recognized by its uniformly black colour, burnished with tints of green; its peculiar white face, and the large development of its comb and wattle. The hens are excellent layers, and their eggs are of a very large size. They are, however, bad nurses; consequently, their eggs should be laid in the nest of other varieties to be hatched. “In purchasing Spanish,” says an authority, “blue legs, the entire absence of white or coloured feathers in the plumage, and a large white face, with a very large high comb, which should be erect in the cock, though pendent in the hens, should be insisted on.” The flesh of this fowl is esteemed; but, from the smallness of its body when compared with that of the Dorking, it is not placed on an equality with it for the table. Otherwise, however, they are profitable birds, and their handsome carriage, and striking contrast of colour in the comb, face, and plumage, are a high recommendation to them as kept fowls. For a town fowl, they are perhaps better adapted than any other variety.
963. Ingredients.—1 lb. of rice, 2 oz. of butter, a fowl, 2 quarts of stock or good broth, 40 cardamum-seeds, ½ oz. of coriander-seed, ¼ oz. of cloves, ½ oz. of allspice, ¼ oz. of mace, ¼ oz. of cinnamon, ½ oz. of peppercorns, 4 onions, 6 thin slices of bacon, 2 hard-boiled eggs.
Mode.—Well wash 1 lb. of the best Patna rice, put it into a frying-pan with the butter, which keep moving over a slow fire until the rice is lightly browned. Truss the fowl as for boiling, put it into a stewpan with the stock or broth; pound the spices and seeds thoroughly in a mortar, tie them in a piece of muslin, and put them in with the fowl. Let it boil slowly until it is nearly done; then add the rice, which should stew until quite tender and almost dry; cut the onions into slices, sprinkle them with flour, and fry, without breaking them, of a nice brown colour. Have ready the slices of bacon curled and grilled, and the eggs boiled hard. Lay the fowl in the form of a pyramid upon a dish, smother with the rice, garnish with the bacon, fried onions, and the hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters, and serve very hot. Before taking the rice out, remove the spices.
Time.—½ hour to stew the fowl without the rice; ½ hour with it.
474Average cost, 4s. 3d.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable at any time.
SULTANS.
The Serai Ta-ook, or Fowls of the Sultan.—This fowl is the size of our English Polands, and is the latest species introduced to England. They have a white and flowing plumage, a full-sized, compact Poland tuft on the head, are muffed, have a full flowing tail, short legs well feathered, and five toes upon each foot. Their comb consists merely of two little points, and their wattles are very small: their colour is that of a pure white. In January, 1854, they arrived in this country from Constantinople; and they take their name from sarai, the Turkish word for sultan’s palace, and ta-ook, the Turkish for fowl. They are thus called the “fowls of the sultan,” a name which has the twofold advantage of being the nearest to be found to that by which they have been known in their own country, and of designating the country whence they come. Their habits are described as being generally brisk and happy-tempered, but not so easily kept in as Cochin-Chinas. They are excellent layers; but they are non-sitters and small eaters: their eggs are large and white. Brahmas or Cochins will clear the crop of a grass-run long before they will, and, with scattered food, they soon satisfy themselves and walk away.
964. Ingredients.—A fowl, a large bunch of water-cresses, 3 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, ¼ pint of gravy.
Mode.—Truss and roast a fowl by recipe No. 952, taking care that it is nicely frothed and brown. Wash and dry the water-cresses, pick them nicely, and arrange them in a flat layer on a dish. Sprinkle over a little salt and the above proportion of vinegar; place over these the fowl, and pour over it the gravy. A little gravy should be served in a tureen. When not liked, the vinegar may be omitted.
Time.—From ½ to 1 hour, according to size.
Average cost, in full season, 2s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.
Seasonable at any time.
965. Ingredients.—A large fowl, forcemeat No. 417, a little flour.
Mode.—Select a large plump fowl, fill the breast with forcemeat, made by recipe No. 417, truss it firmly, the same as for a plain roast fowl, dredge it with flour, and put it down to a bright fire. Roast it for nearly or quite an hour, should it be very large; remove the skewers, and serve with a good brown gravy and a tureen of bread sauce.
475Time.—Large fowl, nearly or quite 1 hour.
Average cost, in full season, 2s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable all the year, but scarce in early spring.
Note.—Sausage-meat stuffing may be substituted for the above: this is now a very general mode of serving fowl.
PENCILLED HAMBURGS.
Pencilled Hamburg.—This variety of the Hamburg fowl is of two colours, golden and silver, and is very minutely marked. The hens of both should have the body clearly pencilled across with several bars of black, and the hackle in both sexes should be perfectly free from dark marks. The cocks do not exhibit the pencillings, but are white or brown in the golden or silver birds respectively. Their form is compact, and their attitudes graceful and sprightly. The hens do not sit, but lay extremely well; hence one of their common names, that of Dutch every-day layers. They are also known in different parts of the country, as Chitteprats, Creoles, or Corals, Bolton bays and grays, and, in some parts of Yorkshire, by the wrong name of Corsican fowls. They are imported in large numbers from Holland, but those bred in this country are greatly superior in size.
966. Ingredients.—A set of duck or goose giblets, 1 lb. of rump-steak, 1 onion, ½ teaspoonful of whole black pepper, a bunch of savoury herbs, plain crust.
Mode.—Clean, and put the giblets into a stewpan with an onion, whole pepper, and a bunch of savoury herbs; add rather more than a pint of water, and simmer gently for about 1½ hour. Take them out, let them cool, and cut them into pieces; line the bottom of a pie-dish with a few pieces of rump-steak; add a layer of giblets and a few more pieces of steak; season with pepper and salt, and pour in the gravy (which should be strained), that the giblets were stewed in; cover with a plain crust, and bake for rather more than 1½ hour in a brisk oven. Cover a piece of paper over the pie, to prevent the crust taking too much colour.
Time.—1½ hour to stew the giblets, about 1 hour to bake the pie.
Average cost, exclusive of the giblets, 1s. 4d.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
The Brent Goose.—This is the smallest and most numerous species of the geese which visit the British islands. It makes its appearance in winter, and ranges over the whole of the coasts and estuaries frequented by other migrant geese. Mr. Selby states that a vary large body of these birds annually resort to the extensive sandy and muddy flats which lie between the mainland and Holy Island, on the Northumbrian coast, and which are covered by every flow of the tide. This part of the coast appears to have 476 been a favourite resort of these birds from time immemorial, where they have always received the name of Ware geese, no doubt from their continually feeding on marine vegetables. Their flesh is very agreeable.
967. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast goose, 2 onions, 2 oz. of butter, 1 pint of boiling water, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, pepper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of port wine, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup.
Mode.—Cut up the goose into pieces of the size required; the inferior joints, trimmings, &c., put into a stewpan to make the gravy; slice and fry the onions in the butter of a very pale brown; add these to the trimmings, and pour over about a pint of boiling water; stew these gently for ¾ hour, then skim and strain the liquor. Thicken it with flour, and flavour with port wine and ketchup, in the above proportion; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, and put in the pieces of goose; let these get thoroughly hot through, but do not allow them to boil, and serve with sippets of toasted bread.
Time.—Altogether, rather more than 1 hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold goose, 4d.
Seasonable from September to March.
The Wild Goose.—This bird is sometimes called the “Gray-lag” and is the original of the domestic goose. It is, according to Pennant, the only species which the Britons could take young, and familiarize. “The Gray-lag,” says Mr. Gould, “is known to inhabit all the extensive marshy districts throughout the temperate regions of Europe generally; its range northwards not extending further than the fifty-third degree of latitude, while southwards it extends to the northern portions of Africa, easterly to Persia, and we believe it is generally dispersed over Asia Minor.” It is the bird that saved the Capitol by its vigilance, and by the Romans was cherished accordingly.
K1. Roast Goose.
968. Ingredients.—Goose, 4 large onions, 10 sage-leaves, ¼ lb. of bread crumbs, 1½ oz. of butter, salt and pepper to taste, 1 egg.
Choosing and Trussing.—Select a goose with a clean white skin, plump breast, and yellow feet: if these latter are red, the bird is old. Should the weather permit, let it hang for a few days: by so doing, the flavour will be very much improved. Pluck, singe, draw, and carefully wash and wipe the goose; cut off the neck close to the back, leaving the skin long enough to turn over; cut off the feet at the first joint, and separate the pinions at the first joint. Beat the breast-bone flat with a rolling-pin, put a skewer through the under part of each wing, and having drawn up the legs closely, put a skewer into the middle of each, and pass the same quite through the body. Insert another skewer into the small of the leg, bring it close down to the side bone, run it through, and do the same to the other 477 side. Now cut off the end of the vent, and make a hole in the skin sufficiently large for the passage of the rump, in order to keep in the seasoning.
ROAST GOOSE.
Mode.—Make a sage-and-onion stuffing of the above ingredients, by recipe No. 504; put it into the body of the goose, and secure it firmly at both ends, by passing the rump through the hole made in the skin, and the other end by tying the skin of the neck to the back; by this means the seasoning will not escape. Put it down to a brisk fire, keep it well basted, and roast from 1½ to 2 hours, according to the size. Remove the skewers, and serve with a tureen of good gravy, and one of well-made apple-sauce. Should a very highly-flavoured seasoning be preferred, the onions should not be parboiled, but minced raw: of the two methods, the mild seasoning is far superior. A ragoût, or pie, should be made of the giblets, or they may be stewed down to make gravy. Be careful to serve the goose before the breast falls, or its appearance will be spoiled by coming flattened to table. As this is rather a troublesome joint to carve, a large quantity of gravy should not be poured round the goose, but sent in a tureen.
Time.—A large goose, 1¾ hour; a moderate-sized one, 1¼ to 1½ hour.
Seasonable from September to March; but in perfection from Michaelmas to Christmas.
Average cost, 5s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons.
Note.—A teaspoonful of made mustard, a saltspoonful of salt, a few grains of cayenne, mixed with a glass of port wine, are sometimes poured into the goose by a slit made in the apron. This sauce is, by many persons, considered an improvement.
EMDEN GOOSE.
The Goose.—This bird is pretty generally distributed over the face of the globe, being met with in North America, Lapland, Iceland, Arabia, and Persia. Its varieties are numerous; but in England there is only one species, which is supposed to be a native breed. The best geese are found on the borders of Suffolk, and in Norfolk and Berkshire; but the largest flocks are reared in the fens of Lincolnshire and Cambridge. They thrive best where they have an easy access to water, and large herds of them are sent every year to London, to be fattened by the metropolitan poulterers. “A Michaelmas goose,” says Dr. Kitchener, “is as famous in the mouths of the million as the minced-pie at Christmas; yet for those who eat with delicacy, it is, at that time, too full-grown. The true period when the goose is in the highest perfection is when it has just acquired 478 its full growth, and not begun to harden; if the March goose is insipid, the Michaelmas goose is rank. The fine time is between both; from the second week in June to the first in September.” It is said that the Michaelmas goose is indebted to Queen Elizabeth for its origin on the table at that season. Her majesty happened to dine on one at the table of an English baronet, when she received the news of the discomfiture of the Spanish Armada. In commemoration of this event, she commanded the goose to make its appearance at table on every Michaelmas. We here give an engraving of the Emden goose.
969. Ingredients.—Goose, 3 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste.
Mode.—Geese are called green till they are about four months old, and should not be stuffed. After it has been singed and trussed, the same as in the preceding recipe, put into the body a seasoning of pepper and salt, and the butter to moisten it inside. Roast before a clear fire for about ¾ hour, froth and brown it nicely, and serve with a brown gravy, and, when liked, gooseberry-sauce. This dish should be garnished with water-cresses.
Time.—About ¾ hour.
Average cost, 4s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable in June, July, and August.
TOULOUSE GOOSE.
The Egyptian Goose.—Especial attention has been directed to this bird by Herodotus, who says it was held sacred by the ancient Egyptians, which has been partially confirmed by modern travellers. Mr. Salt remarks, “Horus Apollo says the old geese stay with their young in the most imminent danger, at the risk of their own lives, which I have myself frequently witnessed. Vielpanser is the goose of the Nile, and wherever this goose is represented on the walls of the temples in colours, the resemblance may be clearly traced.” The goose is also said to have beep a bird under the care of Isis. It has been placed by Mr. Gould amongst the birds of Europe; not from the number of half-reclaimed individuals which are annually shot in Britain, but from the circumstance of its occasionally visiting the southern parts of the continent from its native country, Africa. The Toulouse goose, of which we give an engraving, is a well-known bird.
970. Ingredients.—A Guinea-fowl, lardoons, flour, and salt.
Mode.—When this bird is larded, it should be trussed the same as a pheasant; if plainly roasted, truss it like a turkey. After larding and trussing it, put it down to roast at a brisk fire; keep it well basted, and a short time before serving, dredge it with a little flour, and let it froth nicely. Serve with a little gravy in the dish, and a tureen of the same, and one of well-made bread-sauce.
479Time.—Guinea-fowl, larded, 1¼ hour; plainly roasted, about 1 hour.
Sufficient for 6 persons.
Seasonable in winter.
Note.—The breast, if larded, should be covered with a piece of paper, and removed about 10 minutes before serving.
GUINEA-FOWLS.
The Guinea-Fowl.—The bird takes its name from Guinea, in Africa, where it is found wild, and in great abundance. It is gregarious in its habits, associating in flocks of two or three hundred, delighting in marshy grounds, and at night perching upon trees, or on high situations. Its size is about the same as that of a common hen, but it stands higher on its legs. Though domesticated, it retains much of its wild nature, and is apt to wander. The hens lay abundantly, and the eggs are excellent. In their flesh, however, they are not so white as the common fowl, but more inclined to the colour of the pheasant, for which it frequently makes a good substitute at table. The flesh is both savoury and easy of digestion, and is in season when game is out of season.
971. Ingredients.—A few thin slices of beef, the same of bacon, 9 larks, flour; for stuffing, 1 teacupful of bread crumbs, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, 1 egg, salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoonful of chopped shalot, ½ pint of weak stock or water, puff-paste.
Mode.—Make a stuffing of bread crumbs, minced lemon-peel, parsley, and the yolk of an egg, all of which should be well mixed together; roll the larks in flour, and stuff them. Line the bottom of a pie-dish with a few slices of beef and bacon; over these place the larks, and season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and chopped shalot, in the above proportion. Pour in the stock or water, cover with crust, and bake for an hour in a moderate oven. During the time the pie is baking, shake it 2 or 3 times, to assist in thickening the gravy, and serve very hot.
Time.—1 hour.
Average cost, 1s. 6d. a dozen.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable.—In full season in November.
972. Ingredients.—Larks, egg and bread crumbs, fresh butter.
Mode.—These birds are by many persons esteemed a great delicacy, and may be either roasted or broiled. Pick, gut, and clean them; 480 when they are trussed, brush them over with the yolk of an egg; sprinkle with bread crumbs, and roast them before a quick fire; baste them continually with fresh butter, and keep sprinkling with the bread crumbs until the birds are well covered. Dish them on bread crumbs fried in clarified butter, and garnish the dish with slices of lemon. Broiled larks are also very excellent: they should be cooked over a clear fire, and would take about 10 minutes or ¼ hour.
Time.—¼ hour to roast; 10 minutes to broil.
Seasonable.—In full season in November.
Note.—Larks may also be plainly roasted, without covering them with egg and bread crumbs; they should be dished on fried crumbs.
H1. Pigeon.
973. Ingredients.—Pigeons, 3 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste.
Mode.—Take care that the pigeons are quite fresh, and carefully pluck, draw, and wash them; split the backs, rub the birds over with butter, season them with pepper and salt, and broil them over a moderate fire for ¼ hour or 20 minutes. Serve very hot, with either mushroom-sauce or a good gravy. Pigeons may also be plainly boiled, and served with parsley and butter; they should be trussed like boiled fowls, and take from ¼ hour to 20 minutes to boil.
Time.—To broil a pigeon, from ¼ hour to 20 minutes; to boil one, the same time.
Average cost, from 6d. to 9d. each.
Seasonable from April to September, but in the greatest perfection from midsummer to Michaelmas.
POUTER PIGEON.
The Pouter Pigeon.—This is a very favourite pigeon, and, without doubt, the most curious of his species. He is a tall strong bird, as he had need be to carry about his great inflated crop, frequently as large and as round as a middling-sized turnip. A perfect pouter, seen on a windy day, is certainly a ludicrous sight: his feathered legs have the appearance of white trousers; his tapering tail looks like a swallow-tailed coat; his head is entirely concealed by his immense windy protuberance; and, altogether, he reminds you of a little “swell” of a past century, staggering under a bale of linen. The most common pouters are the blues, buffs, and whites, or an intermixture of all these various colours. The pouter is not a prolific breeder, is a bad nurse, and more likely to degenerate, if not repeatedly crossed and re-crossed with fresh stock, than any other pigeon: nevertheless, it is a useful bird to keep if you are founding a new colony, as it is much attached to its home, and little apt to stray; consequently it is calculated to induce more restless birds to settle down and make themselves comfortable. If you wish to breed pouters, you cannot do worse than intrust them with the care of their own eggs.
974. Ingredients.—Pigeons, 3 oz. of batter, pepper and salt to taste.
Trussing.—Pigeons, to be good, should be eaten fresh (if kept a little, the flavour goes off), and they should be drawn as soon as killed. Cut off the heads and necks, truss the wings over the backs, and cut off the toes at the first joint: previous to trussing, they should be carefully cleaned, as no bird requires so much washing.
ROAST PIGEON.
Mode.—Wipe the birds very dry, season them inside with pepper and salt, and put about ¾ oz. of butter into the body of each: this makes them moist. Put them down to a bright fire, and baste them well the whole of the time they are cooking (they will be done enough in from 20 to 30 minutes); garnish with fried parsley, and serve with a tureen of parsley and butter. Bread-sauce and gravy, the same as for roast fowl, are exceedingly nice accompaniments to roast pigeons, as also egg-sauce.
Time.—From 20 minutes to ½ hour.
Average cost, 6d. to 9d. each.
Seasonable from April to September; but in the greatest perfection from Midsummer to Michaelmas.
The Pigeon.—The pigeon tribe forms a connecting link between the passerine birds and poultry. They are widely distributed over the world, some of the species being found even in the arctic regions. Their chief food is grain, and they drink much; not at intervals, like other birds, but by a continuous draught, like quadrupeds. The wild pigeon, or stockdove, is the parent whence all the varieties of the domestic pigeon are derived. In the wild state it is still found in many parts of this island, making its nest in the holes of rocks, in the hollows of trees, or in old towers, but never, like the ringdove, on branches. The blue house-pigeon is the variety principally reared for the table in this country, and is produced from our farmyards in great numbers. When young, and still fed by their parents, they are most preferable for the table, and are called squabs; under six months they are denominated squeakers, and at six months they begin to breed. Their flesh is accounted savoury, delicate, and stimulating, and the dark-coloured birds are considered to have the highest flavour, whilst the light are esteemed to have the more delicate flesh.
The Pigeon-house, or Dovecot.—The first thing to be done towards keeping pigeons is to provide a commodious place for their reception; and the next is, to provide the pigeons themselves. The situation or size of the dovecot will necessarily depend on convenience; but there is one point which must invariably be observed, and that is, that every pair of pigeons has two holes or rooms to nest in. This is indispensable, as, without it, there will be no security, but the constant prospect of confusion, breaking of eggs, and the destruction of young. The proper place for the pigeon-house is the poultry-yard; but it does very well near dwellings, stables, brewhouses, bakehouses, or such offices. Some persons keep pigeons in rooms, and have them making their nests on the floor. The object is to escape the danger of the young falling out; but in such cases, there is a great risk of rats or other vermin getting at the pigeons.
Aspect of the Pigeon-house.—The front of the pigeon-house should have a southwest aspect, and, if a room be selected for the purpose, it is usual to break a hole in the roof of the building for the passage of the pigeons, but which can be closed at convenience. A platform ought to be laid at the entrance for the pigeons to perch upon, with some kind of defence against strange cats, which will frequently depopulate a whole dovecot. Yet, although cats are dangerous neighbours for the birds, they are necessary to defend them from the approach of rats and mice, which will not only suck 482 the eggs, but destroy the birds. The platform should be painted white, and renewed as the paint wears off, white being a favourite colour with pigeons, and also most conspicuous as a mark to enable them to find their house. The boxes ought also to be similarly painted, and renewed when necessary, for which purpose lime and water will do very well.
The Necessity of Cleanliness.—As cleanliness in human habitations is of the first importance, so is it in the pigeon-house. There the want of it will soon render the place a nuisance not to be approached, and the birds, both young and old, will be so covered with vermin and filth, that they will neither enjoy health nor comfort, whilst early mortality amongst them will be almost certain, in some cases, the pigeon-house is cleaned daily; but it should always be done, at any rate, once a week, and the floor covered with sifted gravel, frequently renewed. Pigeons being exceedingly fond of water, and having a prescience of the coming of rain, they may be seen upon the house-tops waiting upon it until late in the evening, and then spreading their wings to receive the luxury of the refreshing shower. When they are confined in a room, therefore, they should be allowed a wide pan of water, to be often renewed. This serves them for a bath, which cools, refreshes, and assists them to keep their bodies clear of vermin.
Breeding Pigeons.—In breeding pigeons, it is necessary to match a cock and hen, and shut them up together, or place them near to each other, and in the course of a day or two there is little doubt of their mating. Various rules have been laid down for the purpose of assisting to distinguish the cock from the hen pigeon; but the masculine forwardness and action of the cock is generally so remarkable, that he is easily ascertained. The pigeon being monogamous, the male attaches and confines himself to one female, and the attachment is reciprocal, and the fidelity of the dove to its mate is proverbial. At the age of six months, young pigeons are termed squeakers, and then begin to breed, when properly managed. Their courtship, and the well-known tone of voice in the cock, just then acquired and commencing, are indications of their approaching union. Nestlings, while fed by cock and hen, are termed squabs, and are, at that age, sold and used for the table. The dove-house pigeon is said to breed monthly, when well supplied with food. At all events, it may be depended on, that pigeons of almost any healthy and well-established variety will breed eight or ten times in the year; whence it may readily be conceived how vast are the numbers that may be raised.
CARRIER PIGEONS.
The Carrier Pigeon.—Without doubt the carrier is entitled to rank first in the pigeon family, with the exception, perhaps, of the blue-rock pigeons. No domestic fowl can be traced to so remote an antiquity. When Greece was in its glory, carrier pigeons were used to convey to distant parts the names of the victors at the Olympian games. During the holy war, when Acre was besieged by King Richard, Saladin habitually corresponded with the besieged by means of carrier pigeons. A shaft from an English crossbow, however, happened to bring one of these feathered messengers to the ground, and the stratagem was discovered, the design of the Saracens revealed, and so turned against the designers, that Acre was in the hands of the Christians before the wily Saladin dreamt of such a thing.
975. Ingredients.—1½ lb. of rump-steak, 2 or 3 pigeons, 3 slices of ham, pepper and salt to taste, 2 oz. of butter, 4 eggs, puff crust.
Mode.—Cut the steak into pieces about 3 inches square, and with it line the bottom of a pie-dish, seasoning it well with pepper and salt. Clean the pigeons, rub them with pepper and salt inside and out, and put into the body of each rather more than ½ oz. of butter; lay them on the steak, and a piece of ham on each pigeon. Add the yolks of 4 eggs, and half fill the dish with stock; place a border of puff paste round the edge of the dish, put on the cover, and ornament 483 it in any way that may be preferred. Clean three of the feet, and place them in a hole made in the crust at the top: this shows what kind of pie it is. Glaze the crust,—that is to say, brush it over with the yolk of an egg,—and bake it in a well-heated oven for about 1¼ hour. When liked, a seasoning of pounded mace may be added.
Time.—1¼ hour, or rather less.
Average cost, 5s. 3d.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable at any time.
Tumbler Pigeons.—The smaller the size of this variety, the greater its value. The head should be round and smooth, the neck thin, and the tail similar to that of the turbit. Highly-bred birds of this variety will attain an elevation in their flight beyond that of any other pigeons; and it is in seeing these little birds wing themselves so far into the skies that the fanciers take such delight. For four or five hours tumblers have been known to keep on the wing; and it is when they are almost lost to the power of human vision that they exhibit those pantomimic feats which give them their name, and which are marked by a tumbling over-and-over process, which suggests the idea of their having suddenly become giddy, been deprived of their self-control, or overtaken by some calamity. This aerobatic propensity in these pigeons has been ascribed by some to the absence of a proper power in the tail; but it is nothing more than a natural habit, for which no adequate reason can be assigned. Of this variety, the Almond Tumbler is the most beautiful; and the greater the variation of the colour in the flight and tail, the greater their value.
TUMBLER PIGEONS.
RUNT PIGEONS.
The Runt Pigeon.—This is generally esteemed among the largest of the pigeon varieties, and being possessed of proportionate strength, with a strong propensity to exercise it, they keep the dovecot in a state of almost continual commotion by domineering over the weaker inmates. They breed tolerably well, however, and are valuable for the table. There is both the Leghorn and the Spanish Runt, variously plumaged; but when red, white, or black mottled, are most highly esteemed. One of the great advantages connected with the Runt is, that he is not likely to fly away from home. Being heavy birds, they find it difficult, when well fed, to mount even to a low housetop. Again, they require no loft, or special dwelling-place, but, if properly tended, will be perfectly satisfied, and thrive as well, in a rabbit-hutch as anywhere. Their flavour is very good; and it is not an uncommon thing for a squeaker Runt to exceed a pound and a quarter in weight.
The Nun Pigeon.—The Tumbler bears a strong resemblance to this variety, which is characterized by a tuft of feathers rising from the back of the head, and which, on the whole, is an extremely pretty little bird. According to the colour of the head, it is called the red, black, or yellow-headed Nun. To be a perfect bird, it should have a small head and beak; and the larger the tuft at the back of his head, the handsomer the bird is esteemed, and proportionately valuable in the eyes of pigeon-fanciers
NUN PIGEONS.
TRUMPETER PIGEONS.
The Trumpeter Pigeon.—From the circumstance of this bird imitating the sound of a trumpet, instead of cooing, like other pigeons, it has received its designation. It is of the middle size, having its legs and feet covered with feathers, and its plumage generally of a mottled black-and-white. It has a tuft springing from the root of its beak, and the larger this topknot is, the higher the estimation in which the breed is held. In their powers of trumpeting some are more expert than others; and whether this has any effect in influencing their own estimate of themselves, we cannot say; but they are rather select in the choice of their company. If two of them are put in a pigeon-house with other doves, it will be found that they confine their association almost entirely to each other. As much as two guineas have been paid for a well-trained docile bird of this kind.
WOOD-PIGEON.
The Wood, or Wild Pigeon.—Buffon enumerates upwards of thirty varieties of the pigeon, which he derives from one root,—viz. the stockdove, or common wild pigeon. All the varieties of colour and form which we witness, he attributes to human contrivance and fancy. Nevertheless, there exist essentially specific differences in these birds, which would appear to be attributable rather to the nature of the region, soil, and climate to which they are indigenous, than to the art and ingenuity of man. The stockdove, in its wild state, is still found in some parts of Britain, forming its nest in the holes of rocks, old towers, and in the hollows of trees; it never, however, like the ringdove, nestles in the branches. Multitudes of wild pigeons still visit our shores in the winter, coming from their more northerly retreats, making their appearance about November, and retiring again in the spring. When forests of beechwood covered large tracts of the ground of this country, these birds used to haunt them in myriads, frequently covering a mile of ground in extent when they went out in the morning to feed.
976. Ingredients.—6 pigeons, a few slices of bacon, 3 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced parsley, sufficient stock No. 104 to cover the pigeons, thickening of butter and flour, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of port wine.
Mode.—Empty and clean the pigeons thoroughly, mince the livers, add to these the parsley and butter, and put it into the insides of the birds. Truss them with the legs inward, and put them into a stewpan, with a few slices of bacon placed under and over them; add the stock, and stew gently for rather more than ½ hour. Dish the pigeons, strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, add the ketchup and port wine, give one boil, pour over the pigeons, and serve.
Time.—Rather more than ½ hour.
Average cost, 6d. to 9d. each.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from April to September.
485The Fantail Pigeon.—This curious variety is inferior in point of size to most of the other varieties, and is characterized by having a short, slender bill, pendent wings, and naked legs and feet. It has the power of erecting its tail in the manner of a turkey-cock; during which action, especially when paying court to its mate, it trembles or shakes, like the peacock when moving about with his train expanded and in full display. This power of erecting and spreading the tail is not confined to the male bird alone: the female possesses the same power to an equal extent, and otherwise resembles the male in every respect. It is not very prolific, and seldom succeeds so well in the aviary or pigeon-house as most of the other kinds.
FANTAIL PIGEONS.
JACOBIN PIGEONS.
The Jacobin Pigeon.—This variety, having the power to transmit to posterity a form precisely similar, with all its peculiar characters undiminished, is, among pigeon-fanciers, designated as of a pure or permanent race. It is distinguished by a remarkable ruff or frill of raised feathers, which, commencing behind the head and proceeding down the neck and breast, forms a kind of hood, not unlike that worn by a monk. From this circumstance, it has obtained its Gallic name of nonnain capuchin. In size it is one of the smallest of the domestic pigeons, and its form is light and elegant. It is a very productive species, and, having its flight considerably impeded by the size and form of its hooded frill, keeps much at home, and is well adapted for the aviary or other buildings where pigeons are confined.
The Turbit Pigeon.—This variety bears a strong resemblance to the Jacobin, having a kind of frill in the fore part of its neck, occasioned by the breast-feathers lying contrariwise and standing straight out. The species is classed in accordance with the colour of the shoulders, similarly as the Nuns are by the colour of their heads. Their characteristics of excellence are a full frill, short bill, and small round head. In Germany it is called the ruffle pigeon, in allusion to the feathers on its breast; and it has rarely any feathers on its feet. There is a peculiarity connected with this bird, which somewhat lowers it in the estimation of fanciers: it seldom rears more than one at a time, which, therefore, marks it as a bird rather for amusement than profit.
TURBIT PIGEONS.
BARB PIGEONS.
The Barb Pigeon.—The name of this variety is a contraction of Barbary, from which country it originally comes. It is both prolific and has excellent qualities as a nurse. The kind most esteemed is that of one uniform colour, that of blue-black being preferable to any other. Speckled or mottled Barbs are esteemed the most common of all pigeons. It is not unlike the Carrier pigeon, and, at a small distance, might easily be mistaken for the latter. It has a short beak and a small wattle. A spongy, pinky skin round the eyes is its chief characteristic, however, and this increases in size till the bird is three or four years old. This peculiarity is hardly distinguishable in very young birds.
The Rock Pigeon.—This variety, in its wild state, is found upon the rocky parts of the west of Scotland, and the bold shores of the Western Isles, more abundant than in any other parts of the British islands. As the shores of the mainland are exposed to the muds of the Atlantic, and the comparatively small islands are surrounded by that ocean, the low grounds exposed to the west are seldom covered with snow for any length of time, and thus the birds easily find a supply of food. The numbers which there congregate are often very great, and the din of their united cry is sometimes very loud and even alarming. The love of home and the certainty of returning to it is very conspicuous in the rock-pigeon or biset, as it is called by the French. Flocks from different parts of the coasts often meet on the feeding-grounds; but when the time of returning to rest comes round, each one keeps to its own party.
BLUE ROCK-PIGEON.
OWL PIGEONS.
The Owl Pigeon.—This pigeon does not seem to be so well known as it formerly was, if we may judge from the fact that few modern writers mention it. Like the Turbit pigeon, the Owl has a remarkable tuft of feathers on the breast, it having been compared by some to the frill of a shirt, and by others to a full-blown white rose. In size, it is not quite to large a pigeon as the Jacobin. It is said to be preferred in France, above other varieties, as a bird to rear and kill for the table. In England it is very far from being common; indeed, we have applied to several keepers of pigeons, who have fancied themselves acquainted with all the varieties of this bird, and they have been able to tell us nothing of it. Mr. Harrison Weir, our artist, however, has made his portrait from the life.
977. Ingredients.—Rabbit; water.
C1. Boiled Rabbit.
BOILED RABBIT.
Mode.—For boiling, choose rabbits with smooth and sharp claws, as that denotes they are young: should these be blunt and rugged, the ears dry and tough, the animal is old. After emptying and skinning it, wash it well in cold water, and let it soak for about ¼ hour in warm water, to draw out the blood. Bring the head round to the side, and fasten it there by means of a skewer run through that and the body. Put the rabbit into sufficient hot water to cover it, let it boil very gently until tender, which will be in from ½ to ¾ hour, according to its size and age. Dish it, and smother it either with onion, mushroom, or liver sauce, or parsley-and-butter; the former is, however, generally preferred to any of the last-named sauces. When liver-sauce is preferred, the liver should be boiled for a few minutes, and minced very finely, or rubbed through a sieve before it is added to the sauce.
487Time.—A very young rabbit, ½ hour; a large one, ¾ hour; an old one, 1 hour or longer.
Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 persons.
Seasonable from September to February.
The Rabbit.—Though this animal is an inhabitant of most temperate climates, it does not reach so far north as the hare. The wild rabbit is a native of Great Britain, and is found in large numbers in the sandy districts of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. Its flesh is, by some, considered to have a higher flavour than that of the tame rabbit, although it is neither so white nor so delicate. The animal, however, becomes larger and fatter in the tame than in the wild state; but it is not desirable to have it so fat as it can be made.
T. Curried Rabbit or Fowl.
978. Ingredients.—1 rabbit, 2 oz. of butter, 3 onions, 1 pint of stock No. 104, 1 tablespoonful of curry powder, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 teaspoonful of mushroom powder, the juice of ½ lemon, ½ lb. of rice.
Mode.—Empty, skin, and wash the rabbit thoroughly, and cut it neatly into joints. Put it into a stewpan with the butter and sliced onions, and let them acquire a nice brown colour, but do not allow them to blacken. Pour in the stock, which should be boiling; mix the curry powder and flour smoothly with a little water, add it to the stock, with the mushroom powder, and simmer gently for rather more than ½ hour; squeeze in the lemon-juice, and serve in the centre of a dish, with an edging of boiled rice all round. Where economy is studied, water may be substituted for the stock; in this case, the meat and onions must be very nicely browned. A little sour apple and rasped cocoa-nut stewed with the curry will be found a great improvement.
Time.—Altogether ¾ hour.
Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 persons.
Seasonable in winter.
WILD RABBITS.
The Common or Wild Rabbit.—Warrens, or inclosures, are frequently made in favourable localities, and some of them are so large as to comprise 2,000 acres. The common wild rabbit is of a grey colour, and is esteemed the best for the purposes of food. Its skin is valuable as an article of commerce, being used for the making of hats. Another variety of the rabbit, however, called the “silver-grey,” has been lately introduced to this country, and is still more valuable. Its colour is a black ground, thickly interspersed with grey hairs; and its powers as a destroyer and consumer of vegetable food are well known to be enormous, especially by those who have gardens in the vicinity of a rabbit-warren.
979. Ingredients.—1 rabbit, flour, dripping, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of minced shalot, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup.
Mode.—Cut the rabbit into neat joints, and flour them well; make the dripping boiling in a fryingpan, put in the rabbit, and fry it a nice brown. Have ready a very hot dish, put in the butter, shalot, and ketchup; arrange the rabbit pyramidically on this, and serve as quickly as possible.
Time.—10 minutes.
Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from September to February.
Note.—The rabbit may be brushed over with egg, and sprinkled with bread crumbs, and fried as above. When cooked in this manner, make a gravy in the pan by recipe No. 866, and pour it round, but not over, the pieces of rabbit.
Varieties in Rabbits.—Almost everybody knows that a rabbit is a furry animal, that lives on plants, and burrows in the ground; that it has its varieties as well as other animals, and that it is frequently an especial favourite with boys. Among its varieties, the short-legged, with width and substance of loin, is the most hardy, and fattens the most expeditiously. It has, besides, the soundest liver, rabbits generally being subject to defects of that part. It is also the smallest variety. There is a very large species of the hare-colour, having much bone, length and depth of carcase, large and long ears, with full eyes, resembling those of the hare: it might readily be taken for a hybrid or mule, but for the objection to its breeding. Its flesh is high-coloured, substantial, and more savoury than that of the common rabbit; and, cooked like the hare, it makes a good dish. The large white, and yellow and white species, have whiter and more delicate flesh, and, cooked in the same way, will rival the turkey. Rabbits are divided into four kinds, distinguished as warreners, parkers, hedgehogs, and sweethearts. The warrener, as his name implies, is a member of a subterranean community, and is less effeminate than his kindred who dwell upon the earth and have “the world at their will,” and his fur is the most esteemed. After him, comes the parker, whose favourite resort is a gentleman’s pleasure-ground, where he usually breeds in great numbers, and from which he frequently drives away the hares. The hedgehog is a sort of vagabond rabbit, that, tinker like, roams about the country, and would have a much better coat on his back if he was more settled in his habits, and remained more at home. The sweetheart is a tame rabbit, with its fur so sleek, soft, and silky, that it is also used to some extent in the important branch of hat-making.
980. Ingredients.—1 rabbit, ¼ lb. of butter, salt and pepper to taste, 2 blades of pounded mace, 3 dried mushrooms, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced parsley, 2 teaspoonfuls of flour, 2 glasses of sherry, 1 pint of water.
Mode.—Empty, skin, and wash the rabbit thoroughly, and cut it into joints. Put the butter into a stewpan with the pieces of rabbit; add salt, pepper, and pounded mace, and let it cook until three parts done; then put in the remaining ingredients, and boil for about 10 minutes: it will then be ready to serve. Fowls or hare may be dressed in the same manner.
Time.—Altogether, 35 minutes.
Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from September to February.
489981. Ingredients.—1 rabbit, a few slices of ham, salt and white pepper to taste, 2 blades of pounded mace, ½ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, a few forcemeat balls, 3 hard-boiled eggs, ½ pint of gravy, puff crust.
Mode.—Cut up the rabbit (which should be young), remove the breastbone, and bone the legs. Put the rabbit, slices of ham, forcemeat balls, and hard eggs, by turns, in layers, and season each layer with pepper, salt, pounded mace, and grated nutmeg. Pour in about ½ pint of water, cover with crust, and bake in a well-heated oven for about 1½ hour. Should the crust acquire too much colour, place a piece of paper over it to prevent its burning. When done, pour in at the top, by means of the hole in the middle of the crust, a little good gravy, which may be made of the breast- and leg-bones of the rabbit and 2 or 3 shank-bones, flavoured with onion, herbs, and spices.
Time.—1½ hour.
Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from September to February.
Note.—The liver of the rabbit may be boiled, minced, and mixed with the forcemeat balls, when the flavour is liked.
Fecundity of the Rabbit.—The fruitfulness of this animal has been the subject of wonder to all naturalists. It breeds seven times in the year, and generally begets seven or eight young ones at a time. If we suppose this to happen regularly for a period of four years, the progeny that would spring from a single pair would amount to more than a million. As the rabbit, however, has many enemies, it can never be permitted to increase in numbers to such an extent as to prove injurious to mankind; for it not only furnishes man with an article of food, but is, by carnivorous animals of every description, mercilessly sacrificed. Notwithstanding this, however, in the time of the Roman power, they once infested the Balearic islands to such an extent, that the inhabitants were obliged to implore the assistance of a military force from Augustus to exterminate them.
982. Ingredients.—1 rabbit, 3 teaspoonfuls of flour, 3 sliced onions, 2 oz. of butter, a few thin slices of bacon, pepper and salt to taste, 2 slices of lemon, 1 bay-leaf, 1 glass of port wine.
Mode.—Slice the onions, and put them into a stewpan with the flour and butter; place the pan near the fire, stir well as the butter melts, till the onions become a rich brown colour, and add, by degrees, a little water or gravy till the mixture is of the consistency of cream. Cut some thin slices of bacon; lay in these with the rabbit, cut into neat joints; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, the lemon and bay-leaf, and let the whole simmer until tender. Pour in the port wine, give one boil, and serve.
Time.—About ½ hour to simmer the rabbit.
490Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from September to February.
The Rabbit-house.—Rabbit-keeping is generally practised by a few individuals in almost every town, and by a few in almost every part of the country. Forty years ago, there were in the metropolis one or two considerable feeders, who, according to report, kept from 1,500 to 2,000 breeding does. These large establishments, however, have ceased to exist, and London receives the supply of tame as well as wild rabbits chiefly from the country. Where they are kept, however, the rabbit-house should be placed upon a dry foundation, and be well ventilated. Exposure to rain, whether externally or internally, is fatal to rabbits, which, like sheep, are liable to the rot, springing from the same causes. Thorough ventilation and good air are indispensable where many rabbits are kept, or they will neither prosper nor remain healthy for any length of time. A thorough draught or passage for the air is, therefore, absolutely necessary, and should be so contrived as to be checked in cold or wet weather by the closing or shutting of opposite doors or windows.
983. Ingredients.—1 rabbit, forcemeat No. 417, buttered paper, sausage-meat.
ROAST RABBIT.
Mode.—Empty, skin, and thoroughly wash the rabbit; wipe it dry, line the inside with sausage-meat and forcemeat made by recipe No. 417, and to which has been added the minced liver. Sew the stuffing inside, skewer back the head between the shoulders, cut off the fore-joints of the shoulders and legs, bring them close to the body, and secure them by means of a skewer. Wrap the rabbit in buttered paper, and put it down to a bright clear fire; keep it well basted, and a few minutes before it is done remove the paper, flour and froth it, and let it acquire a nice brown colour. Take out the skewers, and serve with brown gravy and red-currant jelly. To bake the rabbit, proceed in the same manner as above: in a good oven, it will take about the same time as roasting.
Time.—A young rabbit, 35 minutes; a large one, about ¾ hour.
Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 persons.
Seasonable from September to February.
The Hutch.—Hutches are generally placed one above another to the height required by the number of rabbits and the extent of the room. Where a large stock is kept, to make the most of room, the hutches may be placed in rows, with a sufficient interval between for feeding and cleaning, instead of being, in the usual way, joined to the wall. It is preferable to rest the hutches upon stands, about a foot above the ground, for the convenience of cleaning under them. Each of the hutches intended for breeding should have two rooms,—a feeding and a bed-room. Those are single for the use of the weaned rabbits, or for the bucks, which are always kept separate. The floors should be planed smooth, that wet may run off, and a common hoe, with a short handle, and a short broom, are most convenient implements for cleaning these houses.
984. Ingredients.—1 rabbit, 2 large onions, 6 cloves, 1 small teaspoonful of chopped lemon-peel, a few forcemeat balls, thickening of butter and flour, 1 large tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup.
491Mode.—Cut the rabbit into small joints; put them into a stewpan, add the onions sliced, the cloves, and minced lemon-peel. Pour in sufficient water to cover the meat, and, when the rabbit is nearly done, drop in a few forcemeat balls, to which has been added the liver, finely chopped. Thicken the gravy with flour and butter, put in the ketchup, give one boil, and serve.
Time.—Rather more than ½ hour.
Average cost, 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from September to February.
LOP-EARED RABBIT.
Fancy Rabbits.—The graceful fall of the ears is the first thing that is looked to by the fancier; next, the dewlap, if the animal is in its prime; then the colours and marked points, and, lastly, the shape and general appearance. The ears of a fine rabbit should extend not less than seven inches, measured from tip to tip in a line across the skull; but even should they exceed this length, they are admitted with reluctance into a fancy stock, unless they have a uniform and graceful droop. The dewlap, which is a fold of skin under the neck and throat, is only seen in fancy rabbits, after they have attained their full growth: it commences immediately under the jaw, and adds greatly to the beauty of their appearance. It goes down the throat and between the fore legs, and is so broad that it projects beyond the chin.
The difference between the fancy and common rabbit in the back, independent of the ears, is sufficient to strike the common observer. Fancy rabbits fetch a very high price; so much as five and ten guineas, and even more, is sometimes given for a first-rate doe. If young ones are first procured from a good family, the foundation of an excellent stock can be procured for a much smaller sum. Sometimes the ears, instead of drooping down, slope backwards: a rabbit with this characteristic is scarcely admitted into a fancy lot, and is not considered worth more than the common variety. The next position is when one ear lops outwards, and the other stands erect: rabbits of this kind possess but little value, however fine the shape and beautiful the colour, although they sometimes breed as good specimens as finer ones.
The forward or horn-lop is one degree nearer perfection than the half-lop: the ears, in this case, slope forward and down over the forehead. Rabbits with this peculiarity are often perfect in other respects, with the exception of the droop of the ears, and often become the parents of perfect young ones: does of this kind often have the power of lifting an ear erect. In the ear-lop, the ears spread out in an horizontal position, like the wings of a bird in flight, or the arms of a man swimming. A great many excellent does have this characteristic, and some of the best-bred bucks in the fancy are entirely so. Sometimes a rabbit drops one ear completely, but raises the other so nearly horizontally as to constitute an ear-lop: this is superior to all others, except the perfect fall, which is so rarely to be met with, that those which are merely ear-lopped are considered as valuable rabbits, if well bred and with other good qualities.
“The real lop has ears that hang down by the side of the cheek, slanting somewhat outward in their descent, with the open part of the ear inward, and sometimes either backwards or forwards instead of perpendicular: when the animals stand in an easy position, the tips of the ears touch the ground. The hollows of the ears, in a fancy rabbit of a first-rate kind, should be turned so completely backwards that only the outer part of them should remain in front: they should match exactly in their descent, and should slant outwards as little as possible.”
The same authority asserts that perfect lops are so rare, that a breeder possessing twenty of the handsomest and most perfect does would consider himself lucky if, in the course of a year, he managed to raise twelve full-lopped rabbits out of them all. As regards variety and purity of colour, an experienced breeder says:—
“The fur of fancy rabbits may be blue, or rather lead-colour, and white, or black and white, or tawny and white, that is, tortoiseshell-coloured. But it is not of so much importance what colours the coat of a rabbit displays, as it is that those colours shall be arranged in a particular manner, forming imaginary figures or fancied resemblances to certain objects. Hence the peculiarities of their markings have been denoted by distinctive 492 designations. What is termed ‘the blue butterfly smut’ was, for some time, considered the most valuable of fancy rabbits. It is thus named on account of having bluish or lead-coloured spots on either side of the nose, having some resemblance to the spread wings of a butterfly, what may be termed the groundwork of the rabbit’s face being white. A black and white rabbit may also have the face marked in a similar manner, constituting a ‘black butterfly smut.’
“But a good fancy rabbit must likewise have other marks, without which it cannot be considered a perfect model of its kind. There should be a black or blue patch on its back, called the saddle; the tail must be of the same colour with the back and snout; while the legs should be all white; and there ought to be dark stripes on both sides of the body in front, passing backwards to meet the saddle, and uniting on the top of the shoulders at the part called the withers in a horse. These stripes form what is termed the ‘chain,’ having somewhat the appearance of a chain or collar hanging round the neck.
“Among thorough-bred fancy rabbits, perhaps not one in a hundred will have all these markings clearly and exactly displayed on the coat; but the more nearly the figures on the coat of a rabbit approach to the pattern described, the greater will be its value, so far, at least, as relates to colour. The beauty and consequent worth of a fancy rabbit, however, depends a good deal on its shape, or what is styled its carriage. A rabbit is said to have a good carriage when its back is finely arched, rising full two inches above the top of its head, which must be held so low as for the muzzle and the points of the ears to reach almost to the ground.”
985. Ingredients.—1 rabbit, a few strips of bacon, rather more than 1 pint of good broth or stock, a bunch of savoury herbs, salt and pepper to taste, thickening of butter and flour, 1 glass of sherry.
Mode.—Well wash the rabbit, cut it into quarters, lard them with slips of bacon, and fry them; then put them into a stewpan with the broth, herbs, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; simmer gently until the rabbit is tender, then strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, add the sherry, give one boil, pour it over the rabbit, and serve. Garnish with slices of cut lemon.
Time.—Rather more than ½ hour.
Average cost, 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from September to February.
THE HARE-RABBIT.
The Hare-Rabbit.—There has been lately introduced to French tables an animal called the “Hare-rabbit,” partaking of the nature, characteristics, and qualifications of both the hare and the rabbit. It is highly spoken of, both as regards flesh and flavour; and it is said to be the only hybrid which is able to perpetuate its race. We hope that some enterprising individual will soon secure for English tables what would seem to be a really valuable addition to our other game and poultry dishes; although it will be rather difficult to exactly assign its proper position, as within or without the meaning of “game,” as by law established. Only a few specimens have been seen in England at present, but there is no reason to doubt that our rabbit-fanciers will prove equal to the occasion, and cope successfully with our neighbours across the Channel in introducing a new animal serviceable in the kitchen.
The Angora Rabbit.—This is one of the handsomest of all rabbits. It takes its name from being an inhabitant of Angora, a city and district of Asia Minor. Like the well-known Angora goat and cat, both of which are valuable on account of the fineness of their wool and fur, this rabbit is prized for its long, waved, silky fur, which, as an article of commerce, is highly esteemed. We are not aware whether it is eaten by the inhabitants, and but few specimens have been introduced into England, where, doubtless, the beauty of its coat would materially suffer from the more humid and less genial character of the climate. To the rabbits of the ancient and mountainous district of Angora the words of the wise man would seem most to apply, “The conies are but feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.”
ANGORA RABBIT.
HIMALAYA RABBIT.
The Himalaya Rabbit.—Amidst the mighty Himalaya mountains, whose peaks are the highest on the globe, the pretty rabbit here portrayed is found; and his colour seems to be like the snow, which, above the altitude of from 13,000 to 16,000 feet, perpetually crowns the summits of these monarchs of the world. It is, at present, a very rare animal in England, but will, doubtless, be more extensively known in the course of a few years. From the earth-tunnelling powers of this little animal, Martial declares that mankind learned the art of fortification, mining, and covered roads.
986. Ingredients.—Turkey; forcemeat No. 417.
Choosing and Trussing.—Hen turkeys are preferable for boiling, on account of their whiteness and tenderness, and one of moderate size should be selected, as a large one is not suitable for this mode of cooking. They should not be dressed until they have been killed 3 or 4 days, as they will neither look white, nor will they be tender. Pluck the bird, carefully draw, and singe it with a piece of white paper; wash it inside and out, and wipe it thoroughly dry with a cloth. Cut off the head and neck, draw the strings or sinews of the thighs, and cut off the legs at the first joint; draw the legs into the body, fill the breast with forcemeat made by recipe No. 417; run a skewer through the wing and the middle joint of the leg, quite into the leg and wing on the opposite side; break the breastbone, and make the bird look as round and as compact as possible.
BOILED TURKEY.
Mode.—Put the turkey into sufficient hot water to cover it; let it come to a boil, then carefully remove all the scum: if this is attended to, there is no occasion to boil the bird in a floured cloth; but it should be well covered with the water. Let it simmer very gently for about 1½ hour to 1¾ hour, according 494 to the size, and serve with either white, celery, oyster, or mushroom sauce, or parsley-and-butter, a little of which should be poured over the turkey. Boiled ham, bacon, tongue, or pickled pork, should always accompany this dish; and when oyster sauce is served, the turkey should be stuffed with oyster forcemeat.
Time.—A small turkey, 1½ hour; a large one, 1¾ hour.
Average cost, 5s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. each, but more expensive at Christmas, on account of the great demand.
Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable from December to February.
The Turkey.—The turkey, for which fine bird we are indebted to America, is certainly one of the most glorious presents made by the New World to the Old. Some, indeed, assert that this bird was known to the ancients, and that it was served at the wedding-feast of Charlemagne. This opinion, however, has been controverted by first-rate authorities, who declare that the French name of the bird, dindon, proves its origin; that the form of the bird is altogether foreign, and that it is found in America alone in a wild state. There is but little doubt, from the information which has been gained at considerable trouble, that it appeared, generally, in Europe about the end of the 17th century; that it was first imported into France by Jesuits, who had been sent out missionaries to the West; and that from France it spread over Europe. To this day, in many localities in France, a turkey is called a jesuit. On the farms of N. America, where turkeys are very common, they are raised either from eggs which have been found, or from young ones caught in the woods: they thus preserve almost entirely their original plumage. The turkey only became gradually acclimated, both on the continent and in England: in the middle of the 18th century, scarcely 10 out of 20 young turkeys lived; now, generally speaking, 15 out of the same number arrive at maturity.
987. Ingredients.—The remains of cold turkey; to every ½ lb. of meat allow 2 oz. of ham or bacon, 2 shalots, 1 oz. of butter, 1 tablespoonful of flour, the yolks of 2 eggs, egg and bread crumbs.
Mode.—The smaller pieces, that will not do for a fricassée or hash, answer very well for this dish. Mince the meat finely with ham or bacon in the above proportion; make a gravy of the bones and trimmings, well seasoning it; mince the shalots, put them into a stewpan with the butter, add the flour; mix well, then put in the mince, and about ½ pint of the gravy made from the bones. (The proportion of the butter must be increased or diminished according to the quantity of mince.) When just boiled, add the yolks of 2 eggs; put the mixture out to cool, and then shape it in a wineglass. Cover the croquettes with egg and bread crumbs, and fry them a delicate brown. Put small pieces of parsley-stems for stalks, and serve with rolled bacon cut very thin.
Time.—8 minutes to fry the croquettes.
Seasonable from December to February.
The Wild Turkey.—In its wild state, the turkey is gregarious, going together in extensive flocks, numbering as many as five hundred. These frequent the great swamps of America, where they roost; but, at sunrise, leave these situations to repair to the dry 495 woods, in search of berries and acorns. They perch on the boughs of trees, and, by rising from branch to branch, attain the height they desire. They usually mount to the highest tops, apparently from an instinctive conception that the loftier they are the further they are out of danger. They fly awkwardly, but run with great swiftness, and about the month of March become so fat as not to be able to take a flight beyond three or four hundred yards, and are then, also, easily run down by a horseman. Now, however, it rarely happens that wild turkeys are seen in the inhabited parts of America. It is only in the distant and more unfrequented parts that they are found in great numbers.
988. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast or boiled turkey; a strip of lemon-peel, a bunch of savoury herbs, 1 onion, pepper and salt to taste, 1 pint of water, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, the yolk of an egg.
Mode.—Cut some nice slices from the remains of a cold turkey, and put the bones and trimmings into a stewpan, with the lemon-peel, herbs, onion, pepper, salt, and the water; stew for an hour, strain the gravy, and lay in the pieces of turkey. When warm through, add the cream and the yolk of an egg; stir it well round, and, when getting thick, take out the pieces, lay them on a hot dish, and pour the sauce over. Garnish the fricassée with sippets of toasted bread. Celery or cucumbers, cut into small pieces, may be put into the sauce; if the former, it must be boiled first.
Time.—1 hour to make the gravy.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold turkey, 4d.
Seasonable from December to February.
The Turkey.—This is one of the gallinaceous birds, the principal genera of which are Pheasants, Turkeys, Peacocks, Bustards, Pintatoes, and Grouse. They live mostly on the ground, scraping the earth with their feet, and feeding on seeds and grains, which, previous to digestion, are macerated in their crops. They usually associate in families, consisting of one male and several females. Turkeys are particularly fond of the seeds of nettles, whilst the seeds of the foxglove will poison them. The common turkey is a native of North America, and, in the reign of Henry VIII., was introduced into England. According to Tusser’s “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry,” it began about the year 1585 to form a dish at our rural Christmas feasts:—
“Beefe, mutton, and pork, shred pies of the best,
Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkey well drest;
Cheese, apples, and nuts, jolly carols to hear,
As then in the country is counted good cheer.”
The turkey is one of the most difficult birds to rear, and its flesh is much esteemed.
The Disposition of the Turkey.—Among themselves, turkeys are extremely furious, whilst amongst other animals they are usually both weak and cowardly. The domestic cock frequently makes them keep at a distance, whilst they will rarely attack him but in a united body, when the cock is rather crushed by their weight than defeated by their prowess. The disposition of the female is in general much more gentle than that of the male. When leading forth her young to collect their food, though so large and apparently so powerful a bird, she gives them very slight protection from the attacks of any rapacious animal which may appear against them. She rather warns them of their danger than offers to defend them; yet she is extremely affectionate to her young.
989. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast turkey, 1 onion, pepper and salt to taste, rather more than 1 pint of water, 1 carrot, 1 496 turnip, 1 blade of mace, a bunch of savoury herbs, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 1 tablespoonful of port wine, thickening of butter and flour.
Mode.—Cut the turkey into neat joints; the best pieces reserve for the hash, the inferior joints and trimmings put into a stewpan with an onion cut in slices, pepper and salt, a carrot, turnip, mace, herbs, and water in the above proportion; simmer these for an hour, then strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, flavour with ketchup and port wine, and lay in the pieces of turkey to warm through; if there is any stuffing left, put that in also, as it so much improves the flavour of the gravy. When it boils, serve, and garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread.
Time.—1 hour to make the gravy.
Seasonable from December to February.
Hunting Turkeys.—Formerly, in Canada, hunting turkeys was one of the principal diversions of the natives of that country. When they discovered the retreat of the birds, which was generally near a field of nettles, or where grain of any kind was plentiful, they would send a well-trained dog into the midst of the flock. The turkeys no sooner perceived their enemy than they would run off at full speed, and with such swiftness that they would leave the dog far behind. He, however, would follow in their wake, and as they could not, for a great length of time, continue at their speed, they were at last forced to seek shelter in the trees. There they would sit, spent with fatigue, till the hunters would approach, and, with long poles, knock them down one after the other.
A1. Roast Turkey.
ROAST TURKEY.
Choosing and Trussing.—Choose cock turkeys by their short spurs and black legs, in which case they are young; if the spurs are long, and the legs pale and rough, they are old. If the bird has been long killed, the eyes will appear sunk and the feet very dry; but, if fresh, the contrary will be the case. Middling-sized fleshy turkeys are by many persons considered superior to those of an immense growth, as they are, generally speaking, much more tender. They should never be dressed the same day they are killed; but, in cold weather, should hang at least 8 days; if the weather is mild, 4 or 5 days will be found sufficient. Carefully pluck the bird, singe it with white paper, and wipe it thoroughly with a cloth; draw it, preserve the liver and gizzard, and be particular not to break the gall-bag, as no washing will remove the bitter taste it imparts where it once touches. Wash it inside well, and wipe it thoroughly dry with a cloth; the outside merely requires nicely wiping, as we have just stated. Cut off the neck close to the back, but leave enough of the crop-skin to turn over; break the leg-bone close below the knee, draw out the strings from the thighs, and flatten the breastbone to make it look 497 2K plump. Have ready a forcemeat made by recipe No. 417; fill the breast with this, and, if a trussing-needle is used, sew the neck over to the back; if a needle is not at hand, a skewer will answer the purpose. Run a skewer through the pinion and thigh into the body to the pinion and thigh on the other side, and press the legs as much as possible between the breast and the side bones, and put the liver under one pinion and the gizzard under the other. Pass a string across the back of the bird, catch it over the points of the skewer, tie it in the centre of the back, and be particular that the turkey is very firmly trussed. This may be more easily accomplished with a needle and twine than with skewers.
Mode.—Fasten a sheet of buttered paper on to the breast of the bird, put it down to a bright fire, at some little distance at first (afterwards draw it nearer), and keep it well basted the whole of the time it is cooking. About ¼ hour before serving, remove the paper, dredge the turkey lightly with flour, and put a piece of butter into the basting-ladle; as the butter melts, baste the bird with it. When of a nice brown and well frothed, serve with a tureen of good brown gravy and one of bread sauce. Fried sausages are a favourite addition to roast turkey; they make a pretty garnish, besides adding very much to the flavour. When these are not at hand, a few forcemeat balls should be placed round the dish as a garnish. Turkey may also be stuffed with sausage-meat, and a chestnut forcemeat with the same sauce is, by many persons, much esteemed as an accompaniment to this favourite dish.—See coloured plate, A1.
Time.—Small turkey, 1½ hour; moderate-sized one, about 10 lbs., 2 hours; large turkey, 2½ hours, or longer.
Average cost, from 10s. to 12s, but expensive at Christmas, on account of the great demand.
Sufficient.—A moderate-sized turkey for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable from December to February.
English Turkeys.—These are reared in great numbers in Suffolk, Norfolk, and several other counties, whence they were wont to be driven to the London market in flocks of several hundreds; the improvements in our modes of travelling now, however, enable them to be brought by railway. Their drivers used to manage them with great facility, by means of a bit of red rag tied to the end of a long stick, which, from the antipathy these birds have to that colour, effectually answered the purpose of a scourge. There are three varieties of the turkey in this country,—the black, the white, and the speckled, or copper-coloured. The black approaches nearest to the original stock, and is esteemed the best. Its flesh is white and tender, delicate, nourishing, and of excellent flavour; it greatly deteriorates with age, however, and is then good for little but stewing.
991. Ingredients.—Turkey poult; butter.
Choosing and Trussing.—Choose a plump bird, and truss it in the following manner:—After it has been carefully plucked, drawn, and singed, skin the neck, and fasten the head under the wing; turn the legs at the first joint, and bring the feet close to the thighs, as a woodcock should be trussed, and do not stuff it.
Mode.—Put it down to a bright fire, keep it well basted, and at first place a piece of paper on the breast to prevent its taking too much colour. About 10 minutes before serving, dredge it lightly with flour, and baste well; when nicely frothed, send it to table immediately, with a little gravy in the dish, and some in a tureen. If at hand, a few water-cresses may be placed round the turkey as a garnish, or it may be larded.
Time.—About 1 hour.
Average cost, 7s. to 8s. each.
Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
Seasonable.—In full season from June to October.
The Feathers of the Turkey.—Human ingenuity subjects almost every material to the purposes of ornament or use, and the feathers of turkeys have been found adapted for more ends than one. The American Indians convert them into an elegant clothing, and, by twisting the inner ribs into a strong double string, with hemp or the inner bark of the mulberry-tree, work it like matting. This fabric has a very rich and glossy appearance, and is as fine as silk shag. The natives of Louisiana used to make fans of the tail; and four of that appendage joined together was formerly constructed into a parasol by the French.
992. After the fowl has been drawn and singed, wipe it inside and out with a clean cloth, but do not wash it. Take off the head, cut through the skin all round the first joint of the legs, and pull them from the fowl, to draw out the large tendons. Raise the flesh first from the lower part of the backbone, and a little also from the end of the breastbone, if necessary; work the knife gradually to the socket of the thigh; with the point of the knife detach the joint from it, take the end of the bone firmly in the fingers, and cut the flesh clean from it down to the next joint, round which pass the point of the knife carefully, and when the skin is loosened from it in every part, cut round the next bone, keeping the edge of the knife close to it, until the whole of the leg is done. Remove the bones of the other leg in the same manner; then detach the flesh from the back- and breast-bone sufficiently to enable you to reach the upper joints of the wings; proceed with these as with the legs, but be especially careful 499 not to pierce the skin of the second joint: it is usual to leave the pinions unboned, in order to give more easily its natural form to the fowl when it is dressed. The merrythought and neck-bones may now easily be cut away, the back- and side-bones taken out without being divided, and the breastbone separated carefully from the flesh (which, as the work progresses, must be turned back from the bones upon the fowl, until it is completely inside out). After the one remaining bone is removed, draw the wings and legs back to their proper form, and turn the fowl right side outwards.
993. A turkey is boned exactly in the same manner; but as it requires a very large proportion of forcemeat to fill it entirely, the legs and wings are sometimes drawn into the body, to diminish the expense of this. If very securely trussed, and sewn, the bird may be either boiled, or stewed in rich gravy, as well as roasted, after being boned and forced; but it must be most gently cooled, or it may burst.
994. Cut through the skin down the centre of the back, and raise the flesh carefully on either side with the point of a sharp knife, until the sockets of the wings and thighs are reached. Till a little practice has been gained, it will perhaps be better to bone these joints before proceeding further; but after they are once detached from it, the whole of the body may easily be separated from the flesh and taken out entire: only the neck-bones and merrythought will then remain to be removed. The bird thus prepared may either be restored to its original form, by filling the legs and wings with forcemeat, and the body with the livers of two or three fowls, mixed with alternate layers of parboiled tongue freed from the rind, fine sausage-meat, or veal forcemeat, or thin slices of the nicest bacon, or aught else of good flavour, which will give a marbled appearance to the fowl when it is carved; and then be sewn up and trussed as usual; or the legs and wings may be drawn inside the body, and the bird being first flattened on a table, may be covered with sausage-meat, and the various other ingredients we have named, so placed that it shall be of equal thickness in every part; then tightly rolled, bound firmly together with a fillet of broad tape, wrapped in a thin pudding-cloth, closely tied at both ends, and dressed as follows:—Put it into a braising-pan, stewpan, or thick iron saucepan, bright in the inside, and fitted as nearly as may be to its size; add all the chicken-bones, a bunch of sweet herbs, two carrots, two bay-leaves, a large blade of mace, twenty-four 500 white peppercorns, and any trimmings or bones of undressed veal which may be at hand; cover the whole with good veal broth, add salt, if needed, and stew it very softly, from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half; let it cool in the liquor in which it was stewed; and after it is lifted out, boil down the gravy to a jelly and strain it; let it become cold, clear off the fat, and serve it cut into large dice or roughed, and laid round the fowl, which is to be served cold. If restored to its form, instead of being rolled, it must be stewed gently for an hour, and may then be sent to table hot, covered with mushroom, or any other good sauce that may be preferred; or it may be left until the following day, and served garnished with the jelly, which should be firm, and very clear and well-flavoured: the liquor in which a calf’s foot has been boiled down, added to the broth, will give it the necessary degree of consistence.
995. First carve them entirely into joints, then remove the bones, beginning with the legs and wings, at the head of the largest bone; hold this with the fingers, and work the knife as directed in the recipe above. The remainder of the birds is too easily done to require any instructions.
996. Ingredients.—Wheatears; fresh butter.
Mode.—After the birds are picked, gutted, and cleaned, truss them like larks, put them down to a quick fire, and baste them well with fresh butter. When done, which will be in about 20 minutes, dish them on fried bread crumbs, and garnish the dish with slices of lemon.
Time.—20 minutes.
Seasonable from July to October.
The Wheatear.—The wheatear is an annual visitor of England: it arrives about the middle of March and leaves in September. The females come about a fortnight before the males, and continue to arrive till the middle of May. They are in season from July to October, and are taken in large numbers on the South Downs, in the neighbourhood of Eastbourne, Brighton, and other parts of Sussex. They are taken by means of snares and nets, and numbers of them are eaten on the spot by the inhabitants. The larger ones are sent to London and potted, where they are by many as much esteemed as the ortolans of the continent. Mr. Pennant assigns as the reason of their abounding on the downs about Eastbourne, the existence of a species of fly which forms their favourite food, and which feeds on the wild thyme on the adjacent hills.
THE GUINEA-PIG.
997. The Guinea-Pig.—This common hutch-companion of the rabbit, although originally a native of Brazil, propagates freely in England and other European countries. Were it not that they suffer cruelly from cats, and numerous other enemies, and that it is the habit of the males to devour their own offspring, their numbers would soon become overwhelming. Rats, however, it is said, carefully avoid them; and for this reason they are 501 frequently bred by rabbit-fanciers, by way of protection for their young stock against those troublesome vermin. The lower tier of a rabbit-hutch is esteemed excellent quarters by the guinea-pig: here, as he runs loose, he will devour the waste food of his more admired companion. Some naturalists assert that the guinea-pig will breed at two months old, the litter varying from four to twelve at a time. It is varied in colour,—white, fawn, and black, and a mixture of the three colours, forming a tortoiseshell, which is the more generally admired hue. Occasionally, the white ones have red eyes, like those of the ferret and the white rabbit. Their flesh, although eatable, is decidedly unfit for food; they have been tasted, however, we presume by some enthusiast eager to advance the cause of science, or by some eccentric epicure in search of a new pleasure for his palate. Unless it has been that they deter rats from intruding within the rabbit-hutch, they are as useless as they are harmless. The usual ornament of an animal’s hind quarters is denied them; and were it not for this fact, and also for their difference in colour, the Shaksperean locution, “a rat without a tail,” would designate them very properly.
THE CYGNET.
998. The Cygnet.—The Cygnet, or the young Swan, was formerly much esteemed; but it has “fallen from its high estate,” and is now rarely seen upon the table. We are not sure that it is not still fattened in Norwich for the corporation of that place. Persons who have property on the river there, take the young birds, and send them to some one who is employed by the corporation, to be fed; and for this trouble he is paid, or was wont to be paid, about half a guinea a bird. It is as the future bird of elegance and grace that the young swan is mostly admired; when it has become old enough to grace the waters, then it is that all admire her, when she with
“Archèd neck,
Between her white wings mantling, proudly rows
Her state with oary feet.”
ROAST DUCK.
LEG, WING, AND
NECKBONE OF DUCK.
999. No dishes require so much knowledge and skill in their carving as do game and poultry; for it is necessary to be well acquainted with the anatomy of the bird and animal in order to place the knife at exactly the proper point. A tough fowl and an old goose are sad triers of a carver’s powers and temper, and, indeed, sometimes of the good humour of those in the neighbourhood of the carver; for a sudden tilt of the 502 dish may eventuate in the placing a quantity of the gravy in the lap of the right or left-hand supporter of the host. We will endeavour to assist those who are unacquainted with the “gentle art of carving,” and also those who are but slightly acquainted with it, by simply describing the rules to follow, and referring to the distinctly-marked illustrations of each dish, which will further help to bring light to the minds of the uninitiated. If the bird be a young duckling, it may be carved like a fowl, viz., by first taking off the leg and the wing on either side, as described at No. 1000; but in cases where the duckling is very small, it will be as well not to separate the leg from the wing, as they will not then form too large a portion for a single serving. After the legs and wings are disposed of, the remainder of the duck will be also carved in the same manner as a fowl; and not much difficulty will be experienced, as ducklings are tender, and the joints are easily broken by a little gentle forcing, or penetrated by the knife. In cases where the duck is a large bird, the better plan to pursue is then to carve it like a goose, that is, by cutting pieces from the breast in the direction indicated by the lines marked from 1 to 2, commencing to carve the slices close to the wing, and then proceeding upwards from that to the breastbone. If more should be wanted than can be obtained from both sides of the breast, then the legs and wings must be attacked, in the same way as is described in connection with carving a fowl. It may be here remarked, that as the legs of a duck are placed far more backward than those of a fowl, their position causing the waddling motion of the bird, the thigh-bones will be found considerably nearer towards the backbone than in a chicken: this is the only difference worth mentioning. The carver should ask each guest if a portion of stuffing would be agreeable; and in order to get at this, a cut should be made below the breast, as shown by the line from 3 to 4, at the part called the “apron,” and the spoon inserted. (As described in the recipe, it is an excellent plan, when a couple of ducks are served, to have one with, and the other without stuffing.) As to the prime parts of a duck, it has been said that “the wing of a flier and the leg of a swimmer” are severally the best portions. Some persons are fond of the feet of the duck; and, in trussing, these should never be taken off. The leg, wing, and neckbone are here shown; so that it will be easy to see the shape they should be when cut off.
503
BOILED FOWL.
LEG, WING, AND
NECKBONE OF FOWL.
1000. This will not be found a very difficult member of the poultry family to carve, unless, as may happen, a very old farmyard occupant, useless for egg-laying purposes, has, by some unlucky mischance, been introduced into the kitchen as a “fine young chicken.” Skill, however, and the application of a small amount of strength, combined with a fine keeping of the temper, will even get over that difficulty. Fixing the fork firmly in the breast, let the knife be sharply passed along the line shown from 1 to 2; then cut downwards from that line to fig. 3; and the wing, it will be found, can be easily withdrawn. The shape of the wing should be like the accompanying engraving. Let the fork be placed inside the leg, which should be gently forced away from the body of the fowl; and the joint, being thus discovered, the carver can readily cut through it, and the leg can be served. When the leg is displaced, it should be of the same shape as that shown in the annexed woodcut. The legs and wings on either side having been taken off, the carver should draw his knife through the flesh in the direction of the line 4 to 5: by this means the knife can be slipped underneath the merrythought, which, being lifted up and pressed backward, will immediately come off. The collar- or neck-bones are the next to consider: these lie on each side of the merrythought, close under the upper part of the wings; and, in order to free these from the fowl, they must also be raised by the knife at their broad end, and turned from the body towards the breastbone, until the shorter piece of the bone, as shown in the cut, breaks off. There will now be left only the breast, with the ribs. The breast can be, without difficulty, disengaged from the ribs by cutting through the latter, which will offer little impediment. The side-bones are now to be taken off; and to do this, the lower end of the back should be turned from the carver, who should press the point of the knife through the top of the backbone, near the centre, bringing it down towards the end of the back completely through the bone. If the knife is now turned in the opposite direction, the joint will be easily separated from the vertebræ. The backbone being now uppermost, the fork should be pressed firmly down on it, whilst at the same time the knife should 504 be employed in raising up the lower small end of the fowl towards the fork, and thus the back will be dislocated about its middle. The wings, breast, and merrythought are esteemed the prime parts of a fowl, and are usually served to the ladies of the company, to whom legs, except as a matter of paramount necessity, should not be given. Byron gave it as one reason why he did not like dining with ladies, that they always had the wings of the fowls, which he himself preferred. We heard a gentleman who, when he might have had a wing, declare his partiality for a leg, saying that he had been obliged to eat legs for so long a time, that he had at last come to like them better than the other more prized parts. If the fowl is, capon-like, very large, slices may be carved from its breast in the same manner as from a turkey’s.
Z. Roast Fowl with Watercress.
ROAST FOWL.
1001. Generally speaking, it is not necessary so completely to cut up a fowl as we have described in the preceding paragraphs, unless, indeed, a large family party is assembled, and there are a number of “little mouths” to be filled, or some other such circumstances prevail. A roast fowl is carved in the same manner as a boiled fowl, No. 1000; viz., by cutting along the line from 1 to 2, and then round the leg between it and the wing. The markings and detached pieces, as shown in the engravings under the heading of “Boiled Fowl,” supersede the necessity of our lengthily again describing the operation. It may be added, that the liver, being considered a delicacy, should be divided, and one half served with each wing. In the case of a fowl being stuffed, it will be proper to give each guest a portion, unless it be not agreeable to some one of the party.
ROAST GOOSE.
LEG, WING, AND
NECKBONE OF GOOSE.
1002. It would not be fair to say that this dish bodes a great deal of happiness to an inexperienced carver, especially if there is a large party to serve, and the slices off the breast should not suffice to satisfy the desires and cravings of many wholesome appetites, produced, may be, by the various sports in vogue at Michaelmas and Christmas. The beginning of the task, however, is not in any way difficult. Evenly-cut slices, not too thick or too thin, 505 should be carved from the breast in the direction of the line from 2 to 3; after the first slice has been cut, a hole should be made with the knife in the part called the apron, passing it round the line, as indicated by the figures 1, 1, 1: here the stuffing is located, and some of this should be served on each plate, unless it is discovered that it is not agreeable to the taste of some one guest. If the carver manages cleverly, he will be able to cut a very large number of fine slices off the breast, and the more so if he commences close down by the wing, and carves upwards towards the ridge of the breastbone. As many slices as can be taken from the breast being carved, the wings should be cut off; and the same process as described in carving boiled fowl, is made use of in this instance, only more dexterity and greater force will most probably be required: the shape of the leg, when disengaged from the body of the goose, should be like that shown in the accompanying engraving. It will be necessary, perhaps, in taking off the leg, to turn the goose on its side, and then, pressing down the small end of the leg, the knife should be passed under it from the top quite down to the joint; the leg being now turned back by the fork, the knife must cut through the joint, loosening the thigh-bone from its socket. The merrythought, which in a goose is not so large as might be expected, is disengaged in the same way as that of a fowl—by passing the knife under it, and pressing it backwards towards the neck. The neck-bones, of which we give a cut, are freed by the same process as are those of a fowl; and the same may be said of all the other parts of this bird. The breast of a goose is the part most esteemed; all parts, however, are good, and full of juicy flavour.
PIGEON.
1003. A very straightforward plan is adopted in carving a pigeon: the knife is carried sharply in the direction of the line as shown from 1 to 2, entirely through the bird, cutting it into two precisely equal and similar parts. If it is necessary to make three pieces of it, a small wing should be cut off with the leg on either side, thus serving two guests; and, by this means, there will be sufficient meat left on the breast to send to the third guest.
506
BOILED RABBIT.
ROAST RABBIT.
1004. In carving a boiled rabbit, let the knife be drawn on each side of the backbone, the whole length of the rabbit, as shown by the dotted line 3 to 4: thus the rabbit will be in three parts. Now let the back be divided into two equal parts in the direction of the line from 1 to 2; then let the leg be taken off, as shown by the line 5 to 6, and the shoulder, as shown by the line 7 to 8. This, in our opinion, is the best plan to carve a rabbit, although there are other modes which are preferred by some.
A roast rabbit is rather differently trussed from one that is meant to be boiled; but the carving is nearly similar, as will be seen by the cut. The back should be divided into as many pieces as it will give, and the legs and shoulders can then be disengaged in the same manner as those of the boiled animal.
ROAST TURKEY.
1005. A noble dish is a turkey, roast or boiled. A Christmas dinner, with the middle classes of this empire, would scarcely be a Christmas dinner without its turkey; and we can hardly imagine an object of greater envy than is presented by a respected portly paterfamilias carving, at the season devoted to good cheer and genial charity, his own fat turkey, and carving it well. The only art consists, as in the carving of a goose, in getting from the breast as many fine slices as possible; and all must have remarked the very great difference in the large number of people whom a good carver will find slices for, and the comparatively few that a bad carver will succeed in serving. As we have stated in both the carving of a duck and goose, the carver should commence cutting slices close to the wing from 2 to 3, and then proceed upwards towards the ridge of the breastbone: this is not the usual plan, but, in practice, will be found the best. The breast is the only part which is looked on as fine in a turkey, the legs being very seldom cut off and eaten at table: they are usually removed to the kitchen, where they are taken off, as here marked, to appear only in a form which seems to have a special attraction at a bachelor’s supper-table,—we mean devilled: served in this way, they are especially liked and relished.
A boiled turkey is carved in the same manner as when roasted.
1006. The Common Law of England has a maxim, that goods, in which no person can claim any property, belong, by his or her prerogative, to the king or queen. Accordingly, those animals, those feræ naturæ, which come under the denomination of game, are, in our laws, styled his or her majesty’s, and may therefore, as a matter of course, be granted by the sovereign to another; in consequence of which another may prescribe to possess the same within a certain precinct or lordship. From this circumstance arose the right of lords of manors or others to the game within their respective liberties; and to protect these species of animals, the game laws were originated, and still remain in force. There are innumerable acts of parliament inflicting penalties on persons who may illegally kill game, and some of them are very severe; but they cannot be said to answer their end, nor can it be expected that they ever will, whilst there are so many persons of great wealth who have not otherwise the means of procuring game, except by purchase, and who will have it. These must necessarily encourage poaching, which, to a very large extent, must continue to render all game laws nugatory as to their intended effects upon the rustic population.
1007. The Object of these Laws, however, is not wholly confined to the restraining of the illegal sportsman. Even qualified or privileged persons 508 must not kill game at all seasons. During the day, the hours allowed for sporting are from one hour before sunrise till one hour after sunset; whilst the time of killing certain species is also restricted to certain seasons. For example, the season for bustard-shooting is from December 1 to March 1; for grouse, or red grouse, from August 12 to December 10; heath-fowl, or black-game, from August 20 to December 20; partridges from September 1 to February 12; pheasants from October 1 to February 1; widgeons, wild ducks, wild geese, wild fowls, at any time but in June, July, August, and September. Hares may be killed at any time of the year, under certain restrictions defined by an act of parliament of the 10th of George III.
1008. The Exercise or Diversion of pursuing Four-footed Beasts of Game is called hunting, which, to this day, is followed in the field and the forest, with gun and greyhound. Birds, on the contrary, are not hunted, but shot in the air, or taken with nets and other devices, which is called fowling; or they are pursued and taken by birds of prey, which is called hawking, a species of sport now fallen almost entirely into desuetude in England, although, in some parts, showing signs of being revived.
1009. In pursuing Four-footed Beasts, such as deer, boars, and hares, properly termed hunting, mankind were, from the earliest ages, engaged. It was the rudest and the most obvious manner of acquiring human support before the agricultural arts had in any degree advanced. It is an employment, however, requiring both art and contrivance, as well as a certain fearlessness of character, combined with the power of considerable physical endurance. Without these, success could not be very great; but, at best, the occupation is usually accompanied with rude and turbulent habits; and, when combined with these, it constitutes what is termed the savage state of man. As culture advances, and as the soil proportionably becomes devoted to the plough or to the sustenance of the tamer or more domesticated animals, the range of the huntsman is proportionably limited; so that when a country has attained to a high state of cultivation, hunting becomes little else than an amusement of the opulent. In the case of fur-bearing animals, however, it is somewhat different; for these continue to supply the wants of civilization with one of its most valuable materials of commerce.
1010. The Themes which form the Minstrelsy of the Earliest Ages, either relate to the spoils of the chase or the dangers of the battle-field. Even the sacred writings introduce us to Nimrod, the first mighty hunter before the Lord, and tell us that Ishmael, in the solitudes of Arabia, became a skilful bowman; and that David, when yet young, was not afraid to join in combat with the lion or the bear. The Greek mythology teems with hunting exploits. Hercules overthrows the Nemæan lion, the Erymanthean boar, and the hydra of Lerna; Diana descends to the earth, and pursues the stag; whilst Æsculapius, Nestor, Theseus, Ulysses, and Achilles are all followers of the chase. Aristotle, sage as he was, advises young men to apply themselves early to it; and Plato 509 finds in it something divine. Horace exalts it as a preparative exercise for the path of glory, and several of the heroes of Homer are its ardent votaries. The Romans followed the hunting customs of the Greeks, and the ancient Britons were hunters before Julius Cæsar invaded their shores.
1011. Although the Ancient Britons followed Hunting, however, they did not confine themselves solely to its pursuit. They bred cattle and tilled the ground, and, to some extent, indicated the rudimentary state of a pastoral and agricultural life; but, in every social change, the sports of the field maintained their place. After the expulsion of the Danes, and during the brief restoration of the Saxon monarchy, these were still followed: even Edward the Confessor, who would join in no other secular amusements, took the greatest delight, says William of Malmesbury, “to follow a pack of swift hounds in pursuit of game, and to cheer them with his voice.”
1012. Nor was Edward the only English sovereign who delighted in the pleasures of the chase. William the Norman, and his two sons who succeeded him, were passionately fond of the sport, and greatly circumscribed the liberties of their subjects in reference to the killing of game. The privilege of hunting in the royal forests was confined to the king and his favourites; and in order that these umbrageous retreats might be made more extensive, whole villages were depopulated, places of worship levelled with the ground, and every means adopted that might give a sufficient amplitude of space, in accordance with the royal pleasure, for the beasts of the chase. King John was likewise especially attached to the sports of the field; whilst Edward III. was so enamoured of the exercise, that even during his absence at the wars in France, he took with him sixty couples of stag-hounds and as many hare-hounds, and every day amused himself either with hunting or hawking. Great in wisdom as the Scotch Solomon, James I., conceited himself to be, he was much addicted to the amusements of hunting, hawking, and shooting. Yea, it is even asserted that his precious time was divided between hunting, the bottle, and his standish: to the first he gave his fair weather, to the second his dull, and to the third his cloudy. From his days down to the present, the sports of the field have continued to hold their high reputation, not only for the promotion of health, but for helping to form that manliness of character which enters so largely into the composition of the sons of the British soil. That it largely helps to do this there can be no doubt. The late duke of Grafton, when hunting, was, on one occasion, thrown into a ditch. A young curate, engaged in the same chase, cried out, “Lie still, my lord!” leapt over him, and pursued his sport. Such an apparent want of feeling might be expected to have been resented by the duke; but not so. On his being helped up by his attendant, he said, “That man shall have the first good living that falls to my disposal: had he stopped to have given me his sympathy, I never would have given him anything.” Such was the manly sentiment of the duke, who delighted in the exemplification of a spirit similarly ardent as his own in the sport, and above the baseness of an assumed sorrow.
5101013. That Hunting has in many Instances been carried to an Excess is well known, and the match given by the Prince Esterhazy, regent of Hungary, on the signing of the treaty of peace with France, is not the least extraordinary upon record. On that occasion, there were killed 160 deer, 100 wild boars, 300 hares, and 80 foxes: this was the achievement of one day. Enormous, however, as this slaughter may appear, it is greatly inferior to that made by the contemporary king of Naples on a hunting expedition. That sovereign had a larger extent of ground at his command, and a longer period for the exercise of his talents; consequently, his sport, if it can so be called, was proportionably greater. It was pursued during his journey to Vienna, in Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia; when he killed 5 bears, 1,820 boars, 1,950 deer, 1,145 does, 1,625 roebucks, 11,121 rabbits, 13 wolves, 17 badgers, 16,354 hares, and 354 foxes. In birds, during the same expedition, he killed 15,350 pheasants and 12,335 partridges. Such an amount of destruction can hardly be called sport; it resembles more the indiscriminate slaughter of a battle-field, where the scientific engines of civilized warfare are brought to bear upon defenceless savages.
1014. Deer and Hares may be esteemed as the only four-footed animals now hunted in Britain for the table; and even these are not followed with the same ardour as they were wont to be. Still, there is no country in the world where the sport of hunting on horseback is carried to such an extent as in Great Britain, and where the pleasures of the chase are so well understood, and conducted on such purely scientific principles. The Fox, of all “the beasts of the field,” is now considered to afford the best sport. For this, it is infinitely superior to the stag; for the real sportsman can only enjoy that chase when the deer is sought for and found like other game which are pursued with hounds. In the case of finding an outlying fallow-deer, which is unharboured, in this manner, great sport is frequently obtained; but this is now rarely to be met with in Britain. In reference to hare-hunting, it is much followed in many parts of this and the sister island; but, by the true foxhunter, it is considered as a sport only fit to be pursued by women and old men. Although it is less dangerous and exciting than the fox-chase, however, it has great charms for those who do not care for the hard riding which the other requires.
1015. The Art of taking or killing Birds is called “fowling,” and is either practised as an amusement by persons of rank or property, or for a livelihood by persons who use nets and other apparatus. When practised as an amusement, it principally consists of killing them with a light firearm called a “fowling-piece,” and the sport is secured to those who pursue it by the game laws. The other means by which birds are taken, consist in imitating their voices, or leading them, by other artifices, into situations where they become entrapped by nets, birdlime, or otherwise. For taking large numbers of birds, the pipe or call is the most common means employed; and this is done during the months of September and October. We will here briefly give a 511 description of the modus operandi pursued in this sport. A thin wood is usually the spot chosen, and, under a tree at a little distance from the others, a cabin is erected, and there are only such branches left on the tree as are necessary for the placing of the birdlime, and which are covered with it. Around the cabin are placed avenues with twisted perches, also covered with birdlime. Having thus prepared all that is necessary, the birdcatcher places himself in the cabin, and, at sunrise and sunset, imitates the cry of a small bird calling the others to its assistance. Supposing that the cry of the owl is imitated, immediately different kinds of birds will flock together at the cry of their common enemy, when, at every instant, they will be seen falling to the ground, their wings being of no use to them, from their having come in contact with the birdlime. The cries of those which are thus situated now attract others, and thus are large numbers taken in a short space of time. If owls were themselves desired to be taken, it is only during the night that this can be done, by counterfeiting the squeak of the mouse. Larks, other birds, and water-fowl, are sometimes taken by nets; but to describe fully the manner in which this is done, would here occupy too much space.
1016. Feathered Game have from time immemorial given gratification to the palate of man. With the exception of birds of prey, and some other species, Moses permitted his people to eat them; and the Egyptians made offerings to their priests of their most delicate birds. The ancient Greeks commenced their repasts with little roasted birds; and feathered game, amongst the Romans, was served as the second course. Indeed, several of the ancient gourmands of the “imperial city” were so fond of game, that they brought themselves to ruin by eating flamingoes and pheasants. “Some modern nations, the French among others,” says Monsieur Soyer, “formerly ate the heron, crane, crow, stork, swan, cormorant, and bittern. The first three especially were highly esteemed; and Laillevant, cook of Charles VII., teaches us how to prepare these meagre, tough birds. Belon says, that in spite of its revolting taste when unaccustomed to it, the bittern is, however, among the delicious treats of the French. This writer also asserts, that a falcon or a vulture, either roasted or boiled, is excellent eating; and that if one of these birds happened to kill itself in flying after game, the falconer instantly cooked it. Lebaut calls the heron a royal viand.”
1017. The Heron was hunted by the Hawk, and the sport of hawking is usually placed at the head of those amusements that can only be practised in the country. This precedency it probably obtained from its being a pastime so generally followed by the nobility, not in Great Britain only, but likewise on the continent. In former times, persons of high rank rarely appeared in public without their dogs and their hawks: the latter they carried with them when they journeyed from one country to another, and sometimes even took them to battle with them, and would not part with them when taken prisoners, even to obtain their own liberty. Such birds were esteemed as the ensigns of nobility, and no action was reckoned more dishonourable in a man of rank than 512 that of giving up his hawk. We have already alluded to the hunting propensities of our own Edward III., and we may also allude to his being equally addicted to hawking. According to Froissart, when this sovereign invaded France, he took with him thirty falconers on horseback, who had charge of his hawks, and every day, as his royal fancy inclined him, he either hunted, or went to the river for the purpose of hawking. In the great and powerful, the pursuit of game as a sport is allowable, but in those who have to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, it is to be condemned. In Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy” we find a humorous story, told by Poggius, the Florentine, who reprobates this folly in such persons. It is this. A physician of Milan, that cured madmen, had a pit of water in his house, in which he kept his patients, some up to the knees, some to the girdle, some to the chin, pro modo insaniæ, as they were more or less affected. One of them by chance, that was well recovered, stood in the door, and seeing a gallant pass by with a hawk on his fist, well mounted, with his spaniels after him, would needs know to what use all this preparation served. He made answer, To kill certain fowl. The patient demanded again, what his fowl might be worth which he killed in a year? He replied, Five or ten crowns; and when he urged him further, what his dogs, horse, and hawks stood him in, he told him four hundred crowns. With that the patient bade him begone, as he loved his life and welfare; “for if our master come and find thee here, he will put thee in the pit amongst the madmen, up to the chin.” Thus reproving the madness of such men as will spend themselves in those vain sports, to the neglect of their business and necessary affairs.
1018. As the inevitable Result of Social Progress is, at least to limit, if not entirely to suppress, such sports as we have here been treating of, much of the romance of country life has passed away. This is more especially the case with falconry, which had its origin about the middle of the fourth century, although, lately, some attempts have been rather successfully made to institute a revival of the “gentle art” of hawking. Julius Firmicus, who lived about that time, is, so far as we can find, the first Latin author who speaks of falconers, and the art of teaching one species of birds to fly after and catch others. The occupation of these functionaries has now, however, all but ceased. New and nobler efforts characterize the aims of mankind in the development of their civilization, and the sports of the field have, to a large extent, been superseded by other exercises, it may be less healthful and invigorating, but certainly more elegant, intellectual, and humanizing.
ROAST BLACK-COCK.
Mode.—Let these birds hang for a few days, or they will be tough and tasteless, if not well kept. Pluck and draw them, and wipe the insides and outsides with a damp cloth, as washing spoils the flavour. Cut off the heads, and truss them, the same as a roast fowl, cutting off the toes, and scalding and peeling the feet. Trussing them with the head on, as shown in the engraving, is still practised by many cooks, but the former method is now considered the best. Put them down to a brisk fire, well baste them with butter, and serve with a piece of toast under, and a good gravy and bread sauce. After trussing, some cooks cover the breast with vine-leaves and slices of bacon, and then roast them. They should be served in the same manner and with the same accompaniments as with the plainly-roasted birds.
Time.—45 to 50 minutes.
Average cost, from 5s. to 6s. the brace; but seldom bought.
Sufficient,—2 or 3 for a dish.
Seasonable from the middle of August to the end of December.
BLACK-COCK.
The Black-cock, Heath-cock, Moor-fowl, or Heath-poult.—This bird sometimes weighs as much as four pounds, and the hen about two. It is at present confined to the more northern parts of Britain, culture and extending population having united in driving it into more desolate regions, except, perhaps, in a few of the more wild and less-frequented portions of England. It may still be found in the New Forest, in Hampshire, Dartmoor, and Sedgmoor, in Devonshire, and among the hills of Somersetshire, contiguous to the latter. It may also be found in Staffordshire, in North Wales, and again in the north of England; but nowhere so plentiful as in some parts of the Highlands of Scotland. The males are hardly distinguishable from the females until they are about half-grown, when the black 514 feathers begin to appear, first about the sides and breast. Their food consists of the tops of birch and heath, except when the mountain berries are ripe, at which period they eagerly and even voraciously pick the bilberries and cranberries from the bushes. Large numbers of these birds are found in Norway, almost rivalling the turkey in point of size. Some of them have begun to be imported into London, where they are vended in the shops; but the flavour of their flesh is not equal to that of the Scotch bird.
1020. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast wild duck, 1 pint of good brown gravy, 2 tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs, 1 glass of claret, salt, cayenne, and mixed spices to taste; 1 tablespoonful of lemon or Seville orange-juice.
Mode.—Cut the remains of the duck into neat joints, put them into a stewpan, with all the above ingredients; let them get gradually hot by the side of the fire, and occasionally stir the contents; when on the point of boiling, serve, and garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread.
Time.—About ¼ hour.
Seasonable from November to February.
1021. Ingredients.—2 wild ducks, 4 shalots, 1 pint of stock No. 105, 1 glass of port wine, 1 oz. of butter, a little flour, the juice of ½ lemon, cayenne and salt to taste.
Mode.—Ducks that have been dressed and left from the preceding day will answer for this dish. Cut them into joints, reserve the legs, wings, and breasts until wanted; put the trimmings into a stewpan with the shalots and stock, and let them simmer for about ½ hour, and strain the gravy. Put the butter into a stewpan; when melted, dredge in a little flour, and pour in the gravy made from the bones; give it one boil, and strain it again; add the wine, lemon-juice, and cayenne; lay in the pieces of duck, and let the whole gradually warm through, but do not allow it to boil, or the duck will be hard. The gravy should not be too thick, and should be very highly seasoned. The squeeze of a Seville orange is a great improvement to this dish.
Time.—About ½ hour to make the gravy; ¼ hour for the duck gradually to warm through.
Seasonable from November to February.
MODERN MODE OF SERVING DISHES.
C1. Boiled Rabbit. D1. Partridge. E1. Roast Hare. F1. Pheasant. G1. Wild Duck.
G1. Wild Duck.
ROAST WILD DUCK.
1022. Ingredients.—Wild duck, flour, butter.
Mode.—Carefully pluck and draw them; cut off the heads close to the necks, leaving sufficient skin to turn over, and do not cut off the 515 feet; some twist each leg at the knuckle, and rest the claws on each side of the breast; others truss them as shown in our illustration. Roast the birds before a quick fire, and, when they are first put down, let them remain for 5 minutes without basting (this will keep the gravy in); afterwards baste plentifully with butter, and a few minutes before serving dredge them lightly with flour; baste well, and send them to table nicely frothed, and full of gravy. If overdone, the birds will lose their flavour. Serve with a good gravy in the dish, or orange gravy, No. 488; and send to table with them a cut lemon. To take off the fishy taste which wild fowl sometimes have, baste them for a few minutes with hot water to which have been added an onion and a little salt; then take away the pan, and baste with butter.—See coloured plate, G1.
Time.—When liked underdressed, 20 to 25 minutes; well done, 25 to 35 minutes.
Average cost, 4s. to 5s. the couple.
Sufficient,—2 for a dish.
Seasonable from November to February.
THE WILD DUCK.
The Wild Duck.—The male of the wild duck is called a mallard; and the young ones are called flappers. The time to try to find a brood of these is about the month of July, among the rushes of the deepest and most retired parts of some brook or stream, where, if the old bird is sprung, it may be taken as a certainty that its brood is not far off. When once found, flappers are easily killed, as they attain their full growth before their wings are fledged. Consequently, the sport is more like hunting water-rats than shooting birds. When the flappers take wing, they assume the name of wild ducks, and about the month of August repair to the corn-fields, where they remain until they are disturbed by the harvest-people. They then frequent the rivers pretty early in the evening, and give excellent sport to those who have patience to wait for them. In order to know a wild duck, it is necessary only to look at the claws, which should be black.
1023. Ingredients.—The remains of cold game, 1 onion stuck with 3 cloves, a few whole peppers, a strip of lemon-peel, salt to taste, thickening of butter and flour, 1 glass of port wine, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful of ketchup, 1 pint of water or weak stock.
Mode.—Cut the remains of cold game into joints, reserve the best 516 pieces, and the inferior ones and trimmings put into a stewpan with the onion, pepper, lemon-peel, salt, and water or weak stock; stew these for about an hour, and strain the gravy; thicken it with butter and flour; add the wine, lemon-juice, and ketchup; lay in the pieces of game, and let them gradually warm through by the side of the fire; do not allow it to boil, or the game will be hard. When on the point of simmering, serve, and garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread.
Time.—Altogether 1¼ hour.
Seasonable from August to March.
Note.—Any kind of game may be hashed by the above recipe, and the flavour may be varied by adding flavoured vinegars, curry powder, &c.; but we cannot recommend those latter ingredients, as a dish of game should really have a gamy taste; and if too many sauces, essences, &c., are added to the gravy, they quite overpower and destroy the flavour the dish should possess.
1024. Ingredients.—Grouse; cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste; 1 lb. of rump-steak, ½ pint of well-seasoned broth, puff paste.
Mode.—Line the bottom of a pie-dish with the rump-steak cut into neat pieces, and, should the grouse be large, cut them into joints; but, if small, they may be laid in the pie whole; season highly with salt, cayenne, and black pepper; pour in the broth, and cover with a puff paste; brush the crust over with the yolk of an egg, and bake from ¾ to 1 hour. If the grouse is cut into joints, the backbones and trimmings will make the gravy, by stewing them with an onion, a little sherry, a bunch of herbs, and a blade of mace: this should be poured in after the pie is baked.
Time.—¾ to 1 hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the grouse, which are seldom bought, 1s. 9d.
Seasonable from the 12th of August to the beginning of December.
L1. Grouse.
ROAST GROUSE.
1025. Ingredients.—Grouse, butter, a thick slice of toasted bread.
Mode.—Let the birds hang as long as possible; pluck and draw them; wipe, but do not wash them, inside and out, and truss them without the head, the same as for a roast fowl. Many persons still continue to truss them with the head under the wing, but 517 the former is now considered the most approved method. Put them down to a sharp clear fire; keep them well basted the whole of the time they are cooking, and serve them on a buttered toast, soaked in the dripping-pan, with a little melted butter poured over them, or with bread-sauce and gravy.—See coloured plate, L1.
Time.—½ hour; if liked very thoroughly done, 35 minutes.
Average cost, 2s. to 2s. 6d. the brace; but seldom bought.
Sufficient,—2 for a dish.
Seasonable from the 12th of August to the beginning of December.
RED GROUSE.
Grouse.—These birds are divided into wood grouse, black grouse, red grouse, and white grouse. The wood grouse is further distinguished as the cock of the wood, or capercalzie, and is as large as the turkey, being about two feet nine inches in length, and weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds. The female is considerably less than the male, and, in the colour of her feathers, differs widely from the other. This beautiful species is found principally in lofty, mountainous regions, and is very rare in Great Britain; but in the pine forests of Russia, Sweden, and other northern countries, it is very common. In these it has its habitat, feeding on the cones of the trees, and the fruits of various kinds of plants, especially the berry of the juniper. Black grouse is also distinguished as black-game, or the black-cock. It is not larger than the common hen, and weighs only about four pounds. The female is about one-third less than the male, and also differs considerably from him in point of colour. Like the former, they are found chiefly in high situations, and are common in Russia, Siberia, and other northern countries. They are also found in the northern parts of Great Britain, feeding in winter on the various berries and fruits belonging to mountainous countries, and, in summer, frequently descending to the lower lands, to feed upon corn. The red grouse, gorcock, or moor-cock, weighs about nineteen ounces, and the female somewhat less. In the wild heathy tracts of the northern counties of England it is plentiful, also in Wales and the Highlands of Scotland. Mr. Pennant considered it peculiar to Britain, those found in the mountainous parts of Spain, France, and Italy, being only varieties of the same bird. White grouse, white game, or ptarmigan, is nearly the same size as the red grouse, and is found in lofty situations, where it supports itself in the severest weather. It is to be met with in most of the northern countries of Europe, and appears even in Greenland. In the Hebrides, Orkneys, and the Highlands of Scotland, it is also found; and sometimes, though rarely, among the fells of Northumberland and Cumberland. In winter they fly in flocks, and are so little familiar with the sight of man, that they are easily shot, and even snared. They feed on the wild produce of the hills, which sometimes imparts to their flesh a bitter but not unpalatable taste. According to Buffon, it is dark-coloured, and somewhat flavoured like the hare.
1026. Ingredients.—8 eggs, butter, fresh salad, 1 or 2 grouse; for the sauce, 1 teaspoonful of minced shalot, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, the yolk of 1 egg, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, ¼ oz. of salt, 4 tablespoonfuls of oil, 2 tablespoonfuls of Chili vinegar, 1 gill of cream.
518Mode.—Boil the eggs hard, shell them, throw them into cold water, cut a thin slice off the bottom to facilitate the proper placing of them in the dish, cut each one into four lengthwise, and make a very thin flat border of butter, about one inch from the edge of the dish the salad is to be served on; fix the pieces of egg upright close to each other, the yolk outside, or the yolk and white alternately; lay in the centre a fresh salad of whatever is in season, and, having previously roasted the grouse rather underdone, cut it into eight or ten pieces, and prepare the sauce as follows:—Put the shalots into a basin, with the sugar, the yolk of an egg, the parsley, and salt, and mix in by degrees the oil and vinegar; when these ingredients are well mixed, put the sauce on ice or in a cool place. When ready to serve, whip the cream rather thick, which lightly mix with it; then lay the inferior parts of the grouse on the salad, sauce over so as to cover each piece, then lay over the salad and the remainder of the grouse, pour the rest of the sauce over, and serve. The eggs may be ornamented with a little dot of radishes or beetroot on the point. Anchovy and gherkin, cut into small diamonds, may be placed between, or cut gherkins in slices, and a border of them laid round. Tarragon or chervil-leaves are also a pretty addition. The remains of cold black-game, pheasant, or partridge may be used in the above manner, and will make a very delicate dish.
Average cost, 2s. 6d.
Seasonable from the 12th of August to the beginning of December.
THE CAPERCALZIE.
The Capercalzie.—This bird was to be met with formerly both in Ireland and Scotland, but is now extinct. The male lives separate from the females, except in the breeding season. Its manners and habits are very like those of black grouse, except that it seems to be wholly confined to forests of pine, on the tender shoots of which it feeds. It is by no means uncommon in the woods of Norway, whence we received it. It is also found abundant in Russia, Siberia, Italy, and in some portions of the Alps. It was, in 1760, last seen in Scotland, in the woods of Strathglass. Recent attempts have been made to re-introduce it into that country, but without success; principally owing, as we should imagine, to the want of sufficient food suitable for its sustenance.
Grouse.—Under this general term are included several species of game birds, called black, red, woodland, and white grouse. The black is larger than the red (see No. 1025), and is not so common, and therefore held in higher estimation. The red, however, is a bird of exquisite flavour, and is a native of the mountainous districts of Scotland and the north of England. It feeds on the tops of the heath and the berries that grow amongst them: its colour is a rich chestnut, striped with black. The woodland, or cock of the wood, is the largest among the bird tribes which pass under the denomination of game. It is smaller than the turkey, and was originally common in our mountains; but it is now to be found only in the mountains of Scotland, though it still 519 abounds in the north of Europe, Germany, and in the Alps. It is esteemed as delicious eating, and its plumage is extremely beautiful. The white grouse, or ptarmigan, is not a plentiful bird in Britain; but it is still found in the islands, and weighs about half a pound. The London market is supplied by Norway and Scotland; those from the former country being esteemed the best. When young, it is held in high estimation, being considered as little different from common grouse.
E1. Roast Hare.
ROAST HARE.
Choosing and Trussing.—Choose a young hare; which may be known by its smooth and sharp claws, and by the cleft in the lip not being much spread. To be eaten in perfection, it must hang for some time; and, if properly taken care of, it may be kept for several days. It is better to hang without being paunched; but should it be previously emptied, wipe the inside every day, and sprinkle over it a little pepper and ginger, to prevent the musty taste which long keeping in the damp occasions, and which also affects the stuffing. After it is skinned, wash it well, and soak for an hour in warm water to draw out the blood; if old, let it lie in vinegar for a short time, but wash it well afterwards in several waters. Make a forcemeat by recipe No. 417, wipe the hare dry, fill the belly with it, and sew it up. Bring the hind and fore legs close to the body towards the head, run a skewer through each, fix the head between the shoulders by means of another skewer, and be careful to leave the ears on. Pat a string round the body from skewer to skewer, and tie it above the back.
Mode.—The hare should be kept at a distance from the fire when it is first laid down, or the outside will become dry and hard before the inside is done. Baste it well with milk for a short time, and afterwards with butter; and particular attention must be paid to the basting, so as to preserve the meat on the back juicy and nutritive. When it is almost roasted enough, flour the hare, and baste well with butter. When nicely frothed, dish it, remove the skewers, and send it to table with a little gravy in the dish, and a tureen of the same. Red-currant jelly must also not be forgotten, as this is an indispensable accompaniment to roast hare. For economy, good beef dripping may be substituted for the milk and butter to baste with; but the basting, as we have before stated, must be continued without intermission. If the liver is good, it may be parboiled, minced, and mixed with the stuffing; but it should not be used unless quite fresh.—See coloured plate, E1.
Time.—A middling-sized hare, 1¼ hour; a large hare, 1½ to 2 hours.
Average cost, from 4s. to 6s.
520Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from September to the end of February.
THE HARE.
The Hare.—This little animal is found generally distributed over Europe, and, indeed, in most parts of the northern world. Its extreme timidity is the endowment which Providence has bestowed upon it as a means of defence; it is therefore attentive to every sound, and is supplied with ears both long and tubular, with which it can hear with great acuteness. Its eyes, also, are so constructed, and placed so prominent in its head, that it can see both before and behind it. It lives entirely upon vegetables, but its flesh is considered dry, notwithstanding that it is deemed, in many respects, superior to that of the rabbit, being more savoury, and of a much higher flavour. Its general time of feeding is the evening; but during the day, if not disturbed, it adheres closely to its form.
1028. Ingredients.—1 hare, a few slices of bacon, a large bunch of savoury herbs, 4 cloves, ½ teaspoonful of whole allspice, 2 carrots, 2 onions, salt and pepper to taste, 1 pint of water, 2 glasses of sherry.
Mode.—Skin, empty, and wash the hare; cut it down the middle, and put it into a stewpan, with a few slices of bacon under and over it; add the remaining ingredients, and stew very gently until the hare is tender, and the flesh will separate easily from the bones. When done enough, take it up, remove the bones, and pound the meat, with the bacon, in a mortar, until reduced to a perfectly smooth paste. Should it not be sufficiently seasoned, add a little cayenne, salt, and pounded mace, but be careful that these are well mixed with the other ingredients. Press the meat into potting-pots, pour over clarified butter, and keep in a dry place. The liquor that the hare was stewed in, should be saved for hashes, soups, &c. &c.
Time.—About 2½ hours to stew the hare.
Seasonable from September to the end of February.
1029. Ingredients.—The leg and shoulders of a roast hare, cayenne and salt to taste, a little butter.
Mode.—Cut the legs and shoulders from a roast hare, season them highly with salt and cayenne, and broil them over a very clear fire for 5 minutes. Dish them on a hot dish, rub over them a little cold butter, and send to table very quickly.
Time.—5 minutes.
Seasonable from September to the end of February.
5211030. Ingredients.—The remains of cold roast hare, 1 blade of pounded mace, 2 or 3 allspice, pepper and salt to taste, 1 onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, 3 tablespoonfuls of port wine, thickening of butter and flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup.
Mode.—Cut the cold hare into neat slices, and put the head, bones, and trimmings into a stewpan, with ¾ pint of water; add the mace, allspice, seasoning, onion, and herbs, and stew for nearly an hour, and strain the gravy; thicken it with butter and flour, add the wine and ketchup, and lay in the pieces of hare, with any stuffing that may be left. Let the whole gradually heat by the side of the fire, and, when it has simmered for about 5 minutes, serve, and garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread. Send red-currant jelly to table with it.
Time.—Rather more than 1 hour.
Average cost, exclusive of the cold hare, 6d.
Seasonable from September to the end of February.
1031. Ingredients.—1 hare, 1½ lb. of gravy beef, ½ lb. of butter, 1 onion, 1 lemon, 6 cloves; pepper, cayenne, and salt to taste; ½ pint of port wine.
Mode.—Skin, paunch, and wash the hare, cut it into pieces, dredge them with flour, and fry in boiling butter. Have ready 1½ pint of gravy, made from the above proportion of beef, and thickened with a little flour. Put this into a jar; add the pieces of fried hare, an onion stuck with six cloves, a lemon peeled and cut in half, and a good seasoning of pepper, cayenne, and salt; cover the jar down tightly, put it up to the neck into a stewpan of boiling water, and let it stew until the hare is quite tender, taking care to keep the water boiling. When nearly done, pour in the wine, and add a few forcemeat balls, made by recipe No. 417: these must be fried or baked in the oven for a few minutes before they are put to the gravy. Serve with red-currant jelly.
Time. 3½ to 4 hours. If the hare is very old, allow 4½ hours.
Average cost, 7s.
Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable from September to the end of February.
5221032. Ingredients.—1 hare, a bunch of sweet herbs, 2 onions, each stuck with 3 cloves, 6 whole allspice, ½ teaspoonful of black pepper, a strip of lemon-peel, thickening of butter and flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, ¼ pint of port wine.
Mode.—Wash the hare nicely, cut it up into joints (not too large), and flour and brown them as in the preceding recipe; then put them into a stewpan with the herbs, onions, cloves, allspice, pepper, and lemon-peel; cover with hot water, and when it boils, carefully remove all the scum, and let it simmer gently till tender, which will be in about 1¾ hour, or longer, should the hare be very old. Take out the pieces of hare, thicken the gravy with flour and butter, add the ketchup and port wine, let it boil for about 10 minutes, strain it through a sieve over the hare, and serve. A few fried forcemeat balls should be added at the moment of serving, or instead of frying them, they may be stewed in the gravy, about 10 minutes before the hare is wanted for table. Do not omit to serve red-currant jelly with it.
Time.—Altogether 2 hours.
Average cost, 5s. 6d.
Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable from September to the end of February.
Note.—Should there be any left, rewarm it the next day by putting the hare, &c. into a covered jar, and placing this jar in a saucepan of boiling water: this method prevents a great deal of waste.
1033. Ingredients.—3 or 4 birds, butter, fried bread crumbs.
LANDRAILS.
Mode.—Pluck and draw the birds, wipe them inside and out with damp cloths, and truss them in the following manner:—Bring the head round under the wing, and the thighs close to the sides; pass a skewer through them and the body, and keep the legs straight. Roast them before a clear fire, keep them well basted, and serve on fried bread crumbs, with a tureen of brown gravy. When liked, bread-sauce may also be sent to table with them.
Time.—12 to 20 minutes.
Average cost.—Seldom bought.
Sufficient.—Allow 4 for a dish.
Seasonable from August 12th to the middle of September.
523
THE LANDRAIL.
The Landrail, or Corn-Crake.—This bird is migratory in its habits, yet from its formation, it seems ill adapted for long aërial passages, its wings being short, and placed so forward out of the centre of gravity, that it flies in an extremely heavy and embarrassed manner, and with its legs hanging down. When it alights, it can hardly be sprung a second time, as it runs very fast, and seems to depend for its safety more on the swiftness of its feet than the celerity of its wings. It makes its appearance in England about the same time as the quail, that is, in the months of April and May, and frequents the same places. Its singular cry is first heard when the grass becomes long enough to shelter it, and it continues to be heard until the grass is cut. The bird, however, is seldom seen, for it constantly skulks among the thickest portions of the herbage, and runs so nimbly through it, doubling and winding in every direction, that it is difficult to get near it. It leaves this island before the winter, and repairs to other countries in search of its food, which principally consists of slugs, large numbers of which it destroys. It is very common in Ireland, and, whilst migrating to this country, is seen in great numbers in the island of Anglesea. On its first arrival in England, it is so lean as scarcely to weigh above five or six ounces; before its departure, however, it has been known to exceed eight ounces, and is then most delicious eating.
1034. Ingredients.—2 leverets, butter, flour.
Mode.—Leverets should be trussed in the same manner as a hare, but they do not require stuffing. Roast them before a clear fire, and keep them well basted all the time they are cooking. A few minutes before serving, dredge them lightly with flour, and froth them nicely. Serve with plain gravy in the dish, and send to table red-currant jelly with them.
Time.—½ to ¾ hour.
Average cost, in full season, 4s. each.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from May to August, but cheapest in July and August.
1035. Ingredients.—3 partridges, salt and cayenne to taste, a small piece of butter, brown gravy or mushroom sauce.
Mode.—Pluck, draw, and cut the partridges in half, and wipe the inside thoroughly with a damp cloth. Season them with salt and cayenne, broil them over a very clear fire, and dish them on a hot dish; rub a small piece of butter over each half, and send them to table with brown gravy or mushroom sauce.
Time.—About ¼ hour.
Average cost, 1s. 6d. to 2s. a brace.
Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.
Seasonable from the 1st of September to the beginning of February.
5241036. Ingredients.—3 partridges, pepper and salt to taste, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley (when obtainable, a few mushrooms), ¾ lb. of veal cutlet, a slice of ham, ½ pint of stock, puff paste.
Mode.—Line a pie-dish with a veal cutlet; over that place a slice of ham and a seasoning of pepper and salt. Pluck, draw, and wipe the partridges; cut off the legs at the first joint, and season them inside with pepper, salt, minced parsley, and a small piece of butter; place them in the dish, and pour over the stock; line the edges of the dish with puff paste, cover with the same, brush it over with the yolk of an egg, and bake for ¾ to 1 hour.
Time.—¾ to 1 hour.
Average cost, 1s. 6d. to 2s. a brace.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from the 1st of September to the beginning of February.
Note.—Should the partridges be very large, split them in half; they will then lie in the dish more compactly. When at hand, a few mushrooms should always be added.
D1. Partridge.
1037. Ingredients.—Partridges; seasoning to taste of mace, allspice, white pepper, and salt; butter, coarse paste.
Mode.—Pluck and draw the birds, and wipe them inside with a damp cloth. Pound well some mace, allspice, white pepper, and salt; mix together, and rub every part of the partridges with this. Pack the birds as closely as possible in a baking-pan, with plenty of butter over them, and cover with a coarse flour and water crust. Tie a paper over this, and bake for rather more than hour; let the birds get cold, then cut them into pieces for keeping, pack them closely into a large potting-pot, and cover with clarified butter. This should be kept in a cool dry place. The butter used for potted things will answer for basting, or for paste for meat pies.—See coloured plate, D1.
Time.—1½ hour.
Seasonable from the 1st of September to the beginning of February.
1038. Ingredients.—3 young partridges, 3 shalots, a slice of lean ham, 1 carrot, 3 or 4 mushrooms, a bunch of savoury herbs, 2 cloves, 6 whole peppers, ¾ pint of stock, 1 glass of sherry or Madeira, a small lump of sugar.
Mode.—After the partridges are plucked and drawn, roast them 525 rather underdone, and cover them with paper, as they should not be browned; cut them into joints, take off the skin from the wings, legs, and breasts; put these into a stewpan, cover them up, and set by until the gravy is ready. Cut a slice of ham into small pieces, and put them, with the carrots sliced, the shalots, mushrooms, herbs, cloves, and pepper, into a stewpan; fry them lightly in a little butter, pour in the stock, add the bones and trimming from the partridges, and simmer for ¼ hour. Strain the gravy, let it cool, and skim off every particle of fat; put it to the legs, wings, and breasts, add a glass of sherry or Madeira and a small lump of sugar, let all gradually warm through by the side of the fire, and when on the point of boiling, serve, and garnish the dish with croûtons. The remains of roast partridge answer very well dressed in this way, although not so good as when the birds are in the first instance only half-roasted. This recipe is equally suitable for pheasants, moor-game, &c.; but care must be taken always to skin the joints.
Time.—Altogether 1 hour.
Sufficient.—2 or 3 partridges for an entrée.
Seasonable from the 1st of September to the beginning of February.
1039. Ingredients.—Partridge; butter.
ROAST PARTRIDGE.
Choosing and Trussing.—Choose young birds, with dark-coloured bills and yellowish legs, and let them hang a few days, or there will be no flavour to the flesh, nor will it be tender. The time they should be kept, entirely depends on the taste of those for whom they are intended, as what some persons would consider delicious, would be to others disgusting and offensive. They may be trussed with or without the head, the latter mode being now considered the most fashionable. Pluck, draw, and wipe the partridge carefully inside and out; cut off the head, leaving sufficient skin on the neck to skewer back; bring the legs close to the breast, between it and the side-bones, and pass a skewer through the pinions and the thick part of the thighs. When the head is left on, it should be brought round and fixed on to the point of the skewer.
Mode.—When the bird is firmly and plumply trussed, roast it before a nice bright fire; keep it well basted, and a few minutes before serving, flour and froth it well. Dish it, and serve with gravy and bread sauce, and send to table hot and quickly. A little of the gravy should be poured over the bird.—See coloured plate, D1.
526Time.—25 to 35 minutes.
Average cost, 1s. 6d. to 2s. a brace.
Sufficient,—2 for a dish.
Seasonable from the 1st of September to the beginning of February.
PARTRIDGES.
The Partridge.—This bird is to be found in nearly all the temperate countries of Europe, but is most abundant in the Ukraine, although it is unable to bear the extremes of climate, whether hot or cold. It was formerly very common in France, and is considered a table luxury in England. The instinct of this bird is frequently exemplified in a remarkable manner, for the preservation of its young. “I have seen it often,” says a very celebrated writer, and an accurate observer of nature, “and once in particular, I saw an extraordinary instance of an old bird’s solicitude to save its brood. As I was hunting with a young pointer, the dog ran on a brood of very small partridges; the old bird cried, fluttered, and ran tumbling along just before the dog’s nose, till she had drawn him to a considerable distance, when she took wing, and flew still further off, but not out of the field; on this the dog returned to me, near the place where the young ones lay concealed in the grass, which the old bird no sooner perceived than she flew back to us, settled just before the dog’s nose again, and by rolling and tumbling about, drew off his attention from her young, and thus preserved her brood a second time. I have also seen, when a kite has been hovering over a covey of young partridges, the old birds fly up at the bird of prey, screaming and fighting with all their might to preserve their brood.” Partridges should be chosen young; if old, they are valueless. The young ones are generally known by their yellow legs and dark-coloured bills.
1040. Ingredients.—2 or 3 pheasants, egg and bread crumbs, cayenne and salt to taste, brown gravy.
Mode.—Procure 3 young pheasants that have been hung a few days; pluck, draw, and wipe them inside; cut them into joints; remove the bones from the best of these; and the backbones, trimmings, &c., put into a stewpan, with a little stock, herbs, vegetables, seasoning, &c., to make the gravy. Flatten and trim the cutlets of a good shape, egg and bread crumb them, broil them over a clear fire, pile them high in the dish, and pour under them the gravy made from the bones, which should be strained, flavoured, and thickened. One of the small bones should be stuck on the point of each cutlet.
Time.—10 minutes.
Average cost, 2s. 6d. to 3s. each.
Sufficient for 2 entrées.
Seasonable from the 1st of October to the beginning of February.
F1. Pheasant.
1041. Ingredients.—Pheasant, flour, butter.
ROAST PHEASANT.
Choosing and Trussing.—Old pheasants may be known by the length 527 and sharpness of their spurs; in young ones they are short and blunt. The cock bird is generally reckoned the best, except when the hen is with egg. They should hang some time before they are dressed, as, if they are cooked fresh, the flesh will be exceedingly dry and tasteless. After the bird is plucked and drawn, wipe the inside with a damp cloth, and truss it in the same manner as partridge, No. 1039. If the head is left on, as shown in the engraving, bring it round under the wing, and fix it on to the point of the skewer.
Mode.—Roast it before a brisk fire, keep it well basted, and flour and froth it nicely. Serve with brown gravy, a little of which should be poured round the bird, and a tureen of bread sauce. 2 or 3 of the pheasant’s best tail-feathers are sometimes stuck in the tail as an ornament; but the fashion is not much to be commended.—See coloured plate, F1.
Time.—½ to 1 hour, according to the size.
Average cost, 2s. 6d. to 3s. each.
Sufficient,—1 for a dish.
Seasonable from the 1st of October to the beginning of February.
THE PHEASANT.
The Pheasant.—This beautiful bird is said to have been discovered by the Argonauts on the banks of the Phasis, near Mount Ararat, in their expedition to Colchis. It is common, however, in almost all the southern parts of the European continent, and has been long naturalized in the warmest and most woody counties of England. It is very common in France; indeed, so common as to be esteemed a nuisance by the farmers. Although it has been domesticated, this is not easily accomplished, nor is its flesh so palatable then as it is in the wild state. Mr. Ude says—“It is not often that pheasants are met with possessing that exquisite taste which is acquired only by long keeping, as the damp of this climate prevents their being kept as long as they are in other countries. The hens, in general, are the most delicate. The cocks show their age by their spurs. 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.”
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 528 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 butter 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.
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 trimmings have been stewed.
Time.—Altogether ½ 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 circumstances: 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 surpass 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.
1044. Ingredients.—3 plovers, butter, 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 bastard 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 529 2M made into a ragoût, 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 ¼ 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.
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 woodcock. It has generally been classed 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 woodcock. 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.
1045. Ingredients.—2 or 3 birds; butter, 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 buttered toast, with a tureen of brown gravy. Bread sauce, when liked, may be sent to table with them, and fried bread crumbs substituted for the toasted bread.
Time.—About ½ hour.
Sufficient,—2 for a dish.
Seasonable from the beginning of February to the end of April.
530
THE PTARMIGAN.
The Ptarmigan, or White Grouse.—This bird is nearly the same size as red grouse, and is fond of lofty situations, where it braves the severest weather, and is found in most parts of Europe, as well as in Greenland. At Hudson’s Bay they appear in such multitudes that so many as sixty or seventy are frequently taken at once in a net. As they are as tame as chickens, this is done without difficulty. Buffon says that the Ptarmigan avoids the solar heat, and prefers the frosts of the summits of the mountains; for, as the snow melts on the sides of the mountains, it ascends till it gains the top, where it makes a hole, and burrows in the snow. In winter, it flies in flocks, and feeds on the wild vegetation of the hills, which imparts to its flesh a bitter, but not altogether an unpalatable taste. It is dark-coloured, and has something of the flavour of the hare, and is greatly relished, and much sought after by some sportsmen.
1046. Ingredients.—Quails, butter, toast.
Mode.—These birds keep good several days, and should be roasted without drawing. Truss them in the same manner as woodcocks, No. 1062; roast them before a clear fire, keep them well basted, and serve on toast.
Time.—About 20 minutes.
Average cost.—Seldom bought.
Sufficient 2 for a dish.
Seasonable from October to December.
THE QUAIL.
The Quail.—Quails are almost universally diffused over Europe, Asia, and Africa. Being birds of passage, they are seen in immense flocks, traversing the Mediterranean Sea from Europe to Africa, in the autumn, and returning again in the spring, frequently alighting in their passage on many of the islands of the Archipelago, which, with their vast numbers, they almost completely cover. On the western coasts of the kingdom of Naples, they have appeared in such prodigious numbers, that, within the compass of four or five miles, as many as a hundred thousand have been taken in a day. “From these circumstances,” says a writer on natural history, “it appears highly probable that the quails which supplied the Israelites with food during their journey through the wilderness, were sent thither, on their passage to the north, by a wind from the south-west, sweeping over Egypt and Ethiopia towards the shores of the Red Sea.” In England they are not very numerous, although they breed in it; and many of them are said to remain throughout the year, changing their quarters from the interior parts of the country for the seacoast.
M1. Snipe.
ROAST SNIPE.
1047. Ingredients.—Snipes, butter, flour, toast.
Mode.—These, like woodcocks, should be dressed without being drawn. Pluck, and wipe them outside, and truss them with the head 531 under the wing, having previously skinned that and the neck. Twist the legs at the first joint, press the feet upon the thighs, and pass a skewer through these and the body. Place four on a skewer, tie them on to the jack or spit, and roast before a clear fire for about ¼ hour. Put some pieces of buttered toast into the dripping-pan to catch the trails; flour and froth the birds nicely, dish the pieces of toast with the snipes on them, and pour round, but not over them, a little good brown gravy. They should be sent to table very hot and expeditiously, or they will not be worth eating.—See coloured plate M1.
Time.—About ¼ hour.
Average cost, 1s. 6d. to 2s. the brace.
Sufficient,—4 for a dish.
Seasonable from November to February.
Note.—Ortolans are trussed and dressed in the same manner.
THE SNIPE.
The Snipe.—This is a migratory bird, and is generally distributed over Europe. It is found in most parts of England, in the high as well as the low lands, depending much on the weather. In very wet seasons it resorts to the hills, but at other times frequents marshes, where it can penetrate the earth with its bill, hunting for worms, which form its principal food. In the Hebrides and the Orkneys snipes are plentiful, and they are fattest in frosty weather. In the breeding season the snipe changes its note entirely from that which it has in the winter. The male will keep on wing for an hour together, mounting like a lark, and uttering a shrill piping noise; then, with a bleating sound, not unlike that made by an old goat, it will descend with great velocity, especially if the female be sitting in her nest, from which it will not wander far.
1048. Ingredients.—Teal, butter, a little flour.
Mode.—Choose fat plump birds, after the frost has set in, as they are generally better flavoured; truss them in the same manner as wild duck, No. 1022; roast them before a brisk fire, and keep them well basted. Serve with brown or orange gravy, water-cresses, and a cut lemon. The remains of teal make excellent hash.
Time.—From 9 to 15 minutes.
Average cost, 1s. each; but seldom bought.
Sufficient,—2 for a dish.
Seasonable from October to February.
1049. Ingredients.—Venison, coarse flour-and-water paste, a little flour.
532
ROAST HAUNCH OF VENISON.
Mode.—Choose a haunch with clear, bright, and thick fat, and the cleft of the hoof smooth and close; the greater quantity of fat there is, the better quality will the meat be. As many people object to venison when it has too much haut goût, ascertain how long it has been kept, by running a sharp skewer into the meat close to the bone: when this is withdrawn, its sweetness can be judged of. With care and attention, it will keep good a fortnight, unless the weather is very mild. Keep it perfectly dry by wiping it with clean cloths till not the least damp remains, and sprinkle over powdered ginger or pepper, as a preventative against the fly. When required for use, wash it in warm water, and dry it well with a cloth; butter a sheet of white paper, put it over the fat, lay a coarse paste, about ½ inch in thickness, over this, and then a sheet or two of strong paper. Tie the whole firmly on to the haunch with twine, and put the joint down to a strong close fire; baste the venison immediately, to prevent the paper and string from burning, and continue this operation, without intermission, the whole of the time it is cooking. About 20 minutes before it is done, carefully remove the paste and paper, dredge the joint with flour, and baste well with butter until it is nicely frothed, and of a nice pale-brown colour; garnish the knuckle-bone with a frill of white paper, and serve with a good, strong, but unflavoured gravy, in a tureen, and currant jelly; or melt the jelly with a little port wine, and serve that also in a tureen. As the principal object in roasting venison is to preserve the fat, the above is the best mode of doing so where expense is not objected to; but, in ordinary cases, the paste may be dispensed with, and a double paper placed over the roast instead: it will not require so long cooking without the paste. Do not omit to send very hot plates to table, as the venison fat so soon freezes: to be thoroughly enjoyed by epicures, it should be eaten on hot-water plates. The neck and shoulder may be roasted in the same manner.
Time.—A large haunch of buck venison, with the paste, 4 to 5 hours; haunch of doe venison, 3¼ to 3¾ hours. Allow less time without the paste.
Average cost, 1s. 4d. to 1s. 6d. per lb.
Sufficient for 18 persons.
Seasonable.—Buck venison in greatest perfection from June to Michaelmas; doe venison from November to the end of January.
The Deer.—This active tribe of animals principally inhabit wild and woody regions. In their contentions, both with each other and the rest of the brute creation, these 533 animals not only use their horns, but strike very furiously with their fore feet. Some of the species are employed as beasts of draught, whilst the flesh of the whole is wholesome, and that of some of the kinds, under the name of “venison,” is considered very delicious. Persons fond of hunting have invented peculiar terms by which the objects of their pursuit are characterized: thus the stag is called, the first year, a calf, or hind-calf; the second, a knobber; the third, a brock; the fourth, a staggard; the fifth, a stag; and the sixth, a hart. The female is, the first year, called a calf; the second, a hearse; and the third, a hind. In Britain, the stag has become scarcer than it formerly was; but, in the Highlands of Scotland, herds of four or five hundred may still be seen, ranging over the vast mountains of the north; and some of the stags of a great size. In former times, the great feudal chieftains used to hunt with all the pomp of eastern sovereigns, assembling some thousands of their clans, who drove the deer into the toils, or to such stations as were occupied by their chiefs. As this sport, however, was occasionally used as a means for collecting their vassals together for the purpose of concocting rebellion, an act was passed prohibitory of such assemblages. In the “Waverley” of Sir Walter Scott, a deer-hunting scene of this kind is admirably described.
Venison.—This is the name given to the flesh of some kinds of deer, and is esteemed as very delicious. Different species of deer are found in warm as well as cold climates, and are in several instances invaluable to man. This is especially the case with the Laplander, whose reindeer constitutes a large proportion of his wealth. There—
“The reindeer unharness’d in freedom can play,
And safely o’er Odin’s steep precipice stray,
Whilst the wolf to the forest recesses may fly,
And howl to the moon as she glides through the sky.”
In that country it is the substitute for the horse, the cow, the goat, and the sheep. From its milk is produced cheese; from its skin, clothing; from its tendons, bowstrings and thread; from its horns, glue; from its bones, spoons; and its flesh furnishes food. In England we have the stag, an animal of great beauty, and much admired. He is a native of many parts of Europe, and is supposed to have been originally introduced into this country from France. About a century back he was to be found wild in some of the rough and mountainous parts of Wales, as well as in the forests of Exmoor, in Devonshire, and the woods on the banks of the Tamar. In the middle ages the deer formed food for the not over abstemious monks, as represented by Friar Tuck’s larder, in the admirable fiction of “Ivanhoe;” and at a later period it was a deer-stealing adventure that drove the “ingenious” William Shakspeare to London, to become a common player, and the greatest dramatist that ever lived.
1050. Ingredients.—The remains of roast venison, its own or mutton gravy, thickening of butter and flour.
Mode.—Cut the meat from the bones in neat slices, and, if there is sufficient of its own gravy left, put the meat into this, as it is preferable to any other. Should there not be enough, put the bones and trimmings into a stewpan, with about a pint of mutton gravy; let them stew gently for an hour, and strain the gravy. Put a little flour and butter into the stewpan, keep stirring until brown, then add the strained gravy, and give it a boil up; skim and strain again, and, when a little cool, put in the slices of venison. Place the stewpan by the side of the fire, and, when on the point of simmering, serve: do not allow it to boil, or the meat will be hard. Send red-currant jelly to table with it.
Time.—Altogether, 1½ hour.
Seasonable—Buck venison, from June to Michaelmas; doe venison, from November to the end of January.
Note.—A small quantity of Harvey’s sauce, ketchup, or port wine, may be 534 added to enrich the gravy: these ingredients must, however, be used very sparingly, or they will overpower the flavour of the venison.
FALLOW-DEER (BUCK).
FALLOW-DEER (DOE).
The Fallow-Deer.—This is the domestic or park deer; and no two animals can make a nearer approach to each other than the stag and it, and yet no two animals keep more distinct, or avoid each other with a more inveterate animosity. They never herd or intermix together, and consequently never give rise to an intermediate race: it is even rare, unless they have been transported thither, to find fallow-deer in a country where stags are numerous. He is very easily tamed, and feeds upon many things which the stag refuses: he also browzes closer than the stag, and preserves his venison better. The doe produces one fawn, sometimes two, but rarely three. In short, they resemble the stag in all his natural habits, and the greatest difference between them is the duration of their lives: the stag, it is said, lives to the age of thirty-five or forty years, and the fallow-deer does not live more than twenty. As they are smaller than the stag, it is probable that their growth is sooner completed.
1051. Ingredients.—A shoulder of venison, a few slices of mutton fat, 2 glasses of port wine, pepper and allspice to taste, 1½ pint of weak stock or gravy, ½ teaspoonful of whole pepper, ½ teaspoonful of whole allspice.
Mode.—Hang the venison till tender; take out the bone, flatten the meat with a rolling-pin, and place over it a few slices of mutton fat, which have been previously soaked for 2 or 3 hours in port wine; sprinkle these with a little fine allspice and pepper, roll the meat up, and bind and tie it securely. Put it into a stewpan with the bone and the above proportion of weak stock or gravy, whole allspice, black pepper, and port wine; cover the lid down closely, and simmer, very gently, from 3½ to 4 hours. When quite tender, take off the tape, and dish the meat; strain the gravy over it, and send it to table with red-currant 535 jelly. Unless the joint is very fat, the above is the best mode of cooking it.
Time.—3½ to 4 hours.
Average cost, 1s. 4d. to 1s. 6d. per lb.
Sufficient for 10 or 12 persons.
Seasonable.—Buck venison, from June to Michaelmas; doe venison, from November to the end of January.
THE ROEBUCK.
The Roebuck.—This is the Cervus capreolus, or common roe, and is of a reddish-brown colour. It is an inhabitant of Asia, as well as of Europe. It has great grace in its movements, and stands about two feet seven inches high, and has a length of about three feet nine. The extent of its horns is from six to eight inches.
THE STAG.
THE HIND.
The Stag.—The stag, or hart, is the male of the red deer, and the hind is the female. He is much larger than the fallow-deer, and his age is indicated by his horns, which are round instead of being palmated, like those of the fallow-deer. During the first year he has no horns, but a horny excrescence, which is short and rough, and covered with a thin hairy skin. The next year, the horns are single and straight; and in the third they have two antlers, three the fourth, four the fifth, and five the sixth year; although this number is not always certain, for sometimes they are more, and often less. After the sixth year, the antlers do not always increase; and, although in 536 number they may amount to six or seven on each side, yet the animal’s age is then estimated rather by the size of the antlers and the thickness of the branch which sustains them, than by their variety. Large as these horns seem, however, they are shed every year, and their place supplied by new ones. This usually takes place in the spring. When the old horns have fallen off, the new ones do not make their appearance immediately; but the bones of the skull are seen covered with a transparent periosteum, or skin, which enwraps the bones of all animals. After a short time, however, the skin begins to swell, and to form a sort of tumour. From this, by-and-by, rising from the head, shoot forth the antlers from each side; and, in a short time, in proportion as the animal is in condition, the entire horns are completed. The solidity of the extremities, however, is not perfect until the horns have arrived at their full growth. Old stags usually shed their horns first, which generally happens towards the latter end of February or the beginning of March. Such as are between five and six years old shed them about the middle or latter end of March; those still younger in the month of April; and the youngest of all not till the middle or latter end of May. These rules, though generally true, are subject to variations; for a severe winter will retard the shedding of the horns.—The Hind has no horns, and is less fitted for being hunted than the male. She takes the greatest care of her young, and secretes them in the most obscure thickets, lest they become a prey to their numerous enemies. All the rapacious family of the cat kind, with the wolf, the dog, the eagle, and the falcon, are continually endeavouring to find her retreat, whilst the stag himself is the foe of his own offspring. When she has young, therefore, it would seem that the courage of the male is transferred to the female, for she defends them with the most resolute bravery. If pursued by the hunter, she will fly before the hounds for half the day, and then return to her young, whose life she has thus preserved at the hazard of her own.
ELAND (BULL).
ELAND (COW).
The New Venison.—The deer population of our splendid English parks was, until a few years since, limited to two species, the fallow and the red. But as the fallow-deer itself was an acclimated animal, of comparatively recent introduction, it came to be a question why might not the proprietor of any deer-park in England have the luxury of at least half a dozen species of deer and antelopes, to adorn the hills, dales, ferny brakes, and rich pastures of his domain? The temperate regions of the whole world might be made to yield specimens of the noble ruminant, valuable either for their individual beauty, or for their availability to gastronomic purposes.
During the last four or five years a few spirited English noblemen have made the experiment of breeding foreign deer in their parks, and have obtained such a decided success, that it may be hoped their example will induce others to follow in a course which will eventually give to England’s rural scenery a new element of beauty, and to English tables a fresh viand of the choicest character.
A practical solution of this interesting question was made by viscount Hill, at Hawkestone Park, Salop, in January, 1859. On that occasion a magnificent eland, an acclimated scion of the species whose native home is the South African wilderness, was killed for the table. The noble beast was thus described:—“He weighed 1,176 lbs. as he dropped; huge as a short-horn, but with bone not half the size; active as a deer, stately in all his paces, perfect in form, bright in colour, with a vast dewlap, and strong sculptured horn. This eland in his lifetime strode majestic on the hill-side, where he dwelt with his mates and their progeny, all English-born, like himself.” Three pairs of the same species of deer were left to roam at large on the picturesque slopes throughout the day, 537 and to return to their home at pleasure. “Here, during winter, they are assisted with roots and hay, but in summer they have nothing but the pasture of the park; so that, in point of expense, they cost no more than cattle of the best description.” Travellers and sportsmen say that the male eland is unapproached in the quality of his flesh by any ruminant in South Africa; that it grows to an enormous size, and lays on fat with as great facility as a true short-horn; while in texture and flavour it is infinitely superior. The lean is remarkably fine, the fat firm and delicate. It was tried in every fashion,—braised brisket, roasted ribs, broiled steaks, filet sauté, boiled aitchbone, &c.,—and in all, gave evidence of the fact, that a new meat of surpassing value had been added to the products of the English park.
When we hear such a gratifying account of the eland, it is pleasing to record that Lord Hastings has a herd of the Canadian wapiti, a herd of Indian nylghaus, and another of the small Indian hog-deer; that the Earl of Ducie has been successful in breeding the magnificent Persian deer. The eland was first acclimated in England by the late Earl of Derby, between the years 1835–1851, at his menagerie at Knowsley. On his death in 1851, he bequeathed to the Zoological Society his breed of elands, consisting of two males and three females. Here the animals have been treated with the greatest success, and from the year 1853 to the present time, the females have regularly reproduced, without the loss of a single calf.
MODERN MODE OF SERVING DISHES.
H1. Pigeon. I1. Woodcock. K1. Roast Goose. L1. Grouse. M1. Snipe.
1052. Ingredients.—Widgeons, a little flour, butter.
Mode.—These are trussed in the same manner as wild duck, No. 1022, but must not be kept so long before they are dressed. Put them down to a brisk fire; flour, and baste them continually with butter, and, when browned and nicely frothed, send them to table hot and quickly. Serve with brown gravy, or orange gravy, No. 488, and a cut lemon.
Time.—¼ hour; if liked well done, 20 minutes.
Average cost, 1s. each; but seldom bought.
Sufficient,—2 for a dish.
Seasonable from October to February.
I1. Woodcock.
ROAST WOODCOCK.
1053. Ingredients.—Woodcocks; butter, flour, toast.
Mode.—Woodcocks should not be drawn, as the trails are, by epicures, considered a great delicacy. Pluck, and wipe them well outside; truss them with the legs close to the body, and the feet pressing upon the thighs; skin the neck and head, and bring the beak round under the wing. Place some slices of toast in the dripping-pan to catch the trails, allowing a piece of toast for each bird. Roast before a clear fire from 15 to 25 minutes; keep them well basted, and flour and froth them nicely. When done, dish the pieces of toast with the birds upon them, and pour round a very little gravy; send some more to table in a tureen. These are most delicious birds when well cooked, but they should not be kept too long: when the feathers drop, or easily come out, they are fit for table.—See coloured plate, I1.
538Time.—When liked underdone, 15 to 20 minutes; if liked well done, allow an extra 5 minutes.
Average cost.—Seldom bought.
Sufficient,—2 for a dish.
Seasonable from November to February.
THE WOODCOCK.
The Woodcock.—This bird being migratory in its habits, has, consequently, no settled habitation; it cannot be considered as the property of any one, and is, therefore, not game by law. It breeds in high northern latitudes, and the time of its appearance and disappearance in Sweden coincides exactly with that of its arrival in and return from Great Britain. On the coast of Suffolk its vernal and autumnal visits have been accurately observed. In the first week of October it makes its appearance in small numbers, but in November and December it appears in larger numbers, and always after sunset, and most gregariously. In the same manner as woodcocks take their leave of us, they quit France, Germany, and Italy, making the northern and colder climates their summer rendezvous. They visit Burgundy in the latter part of October, but continue there only a few weeks, the country being hard, and unable to supply them with such sustenance as they require. In the winter, they are found as far south as Smyrna and Aleppo, and, during the same season, in Barbary, where the Africans name them “the ass of the partridge.” It has been asserted that they have been seen as far south as Egypt, which is the most remote region to which they can be traced on that side of the eastern world; on the other side, they are common in Japan. Those which resort to the countries of the Levant are supposed to come from the mountains of Armenia, or the deserts of Tartary or Siberia. The flesh of the woodcock is held in high estimation; hence the bird is eagerly sought after by the sportsman.
BLACKCOCK.
1054. Skilful carving of game undoubtedly adds to the pleasure of the guests at a dinner-table; for game seems pre-eminently to be composed of such delicate limbs and tender flesh that an inapt practitioner appears to more disadvantage when mauling these pretty and favourite dishes, than larger and more robust pièces de résistance. As described at recipe No. 1019, this bird is variously served with or without the head on; and although we do not personally object to the appearance of the head as shown in the woodcut, yet it seems to be more in vogue to serve it without. The carving is not difficult, but should be elegantly and deftly done. Slices from the breast, cut in the direction of the dotted line from 2 to 1, should be taken off, the merrythought displaced, and the leg and wing removed by running the knife along from 3 to 4, and following the directions given under the head of boiled 539 fowl, No. 1000, reserving the thigh, which is considered a great delicacy, for the most honoured guests, some of whom may also esteem the brains of this bird.
WILD DUCK.
1055. As game is almost universally served as a dainty, and not as a dish to stand the assaults of an altogether fresh appetite, these dishes are not usually cut up entirely, but only those parts are served of each, which are considered the best-flavoured and the primest. Of wild-fowl, the breast alone is considered by epicures worth eating, and slices are cut from this, in the direction indicated by the lines, from 1 to 2; if necessary, the leg and wing can be taken of: by passing the knife from 3 to 4, and by generally following the directions described for carving boiled fowl, No. 1000.
ROAST HARE.
1056. The “Grand Carver” of olden times, a functionary of no ordinary dignity, was pleased when he had a hare to manipulate, for his skill and grace had an opportunity of display. Diners à la Russe may possibly, erewhile, save modern gentlemen the necessity of learning the art which was in auld lang syne one of the necessary accomplishments of the youthful squire; but, until side-tables become universal, or till we see the office of “grand carver” once more instituted, it will be well for all to learn how to assist at the carving of this dish, which, if not the most elegant in appearance, is a very general favourite. The hare, having its head to the left, as shown in the woodcut, should be first served by cutting slices from each side of the backbone, in the direction of the lines from 3 to 4. After these prime parts are disposed of, the leg should next be disengaged by cutting round the line indicated by the figures 5 to 6. The shoulders will then be taken off by passing the knife round from 7 to 8. The back of the hare should now be divided by cutting quite through its spine, as shown by the line 1 to 2, taking care to feel with the point of the knife for a joint where the back may be readily penetrated. It is the usual plan not to serve any bone in helping hare; and thus the flesh should be sliced from the legs and placed alone on the plate. In large establishments, and where men-cooks are kept, it is often the case that the backbone of the hare, especially 540 in old animals, is taken out, and then the process of carving is, of course, considerably facilitated. A great point to be remembered in connection with carving hare is, that plenty of gravy should accompany each helping; otherwise this dish, which is naturally dry, will lose half its flavour, and so become a failure. Stuffing is also served with it; and the ears, which should be nicely crisp, and the brains of the hare, are esteemed as delicacies by many connoisseurs.
ROAST PARTRIDGES.
1057. There are several ways of carving this most familiar game bird. The more usual and summary mode is to carry the knife sharply along the top of the breastbone of the bird, and cut it quite through, thus dividing it into two precisely equal and similar parts, in the same manner as carving a pigeon, No. 1003. Another plan is to cut it into three pieces; viz., by severing a small wing and leg on either side from the body, by following the line 1 to 2 in the upper woodcut; thus making 2 helpings, when the breast will remain for a third plate. The most elegant manner is that of thrusting back the body from the legs, and then cutting through the breast in the direction shown by the line 1 to 2: this plan will give 4 or more small helpings. A little bread-sauce should be served to each guest.
1058. Grouse may be carved in the way first described in carving partridge. The backbone of the grouse is highly esteemed by many, and this part of many game birds is considered the finest flavoured.
ROAST PHEASANT.
1059. Fixing the fork in the breast, let the carver cut slices from it in the direction of the lines from 2 to 1: these are the prime pieces. If there be more guests to satisfy than these slices will serve, then let the legs and wings be disengaged in the same manner as described in carving boiled fowl, No. 1000, the point where the wing joins the neckbone being carefully found. The merrythought will come off in the same way as that of 541 a fowl. The most valued parts are the same as those which are most considered in a fowl.
SNIPE.
1060. One of these small but delicious birds may be given, whole, to a gentleman; but, in helping a lady, it will be better to cut them quite through the centre, from 1 to 2, completely dividing them into equal and like portions, and put only one half on the plate.
HAUNCH OF VENISON.
1061. Here is a grand dish for a knight of the carving-knife to exercise his skill upon, and, what will be pleasant for many to know, there is but little difficulty in the performance. An incision being made completely down to the bone, in the direction of the line 1 to 2, the gravy will then be able easily to flow; when slices, not too thick, should be cut along the haunch, as indicated by the line 4 to 3; that end of the joint marked 3 having been turned towards the carver, so that he may have a more complete command over the joint. Although some epicures affect to believe that some parts of the haunch are superior to others, yet we doubt if there is any difference between the slices cut above and below the line. It should be borne in mind to serve each guest with a portion of fat; and the most expeditious carver will be the best carver, as, like mutton, venison soon begins to chill, when it loses much of its charm.
WOODCOCK.
1062. This bird, like a partridge, may be carved by cutting it exactly into two like portions, or made into three helpings, as described in carving partridge (No. 1057). The backbone is considered the tit-bit of a woodcock, and by many the thigh is also thought a great delicacy. This bird is served in the manner advised by Brillat Savarin, in connection with the pheasant, viz., on toast which has received its drippings whilst roasting; and a piece of this toast should invariably accompany each plate.
5421063. Landrail, being trussed like Snipe, with the exception of its being drawn, may be carved in the same manner.—See No. 1060.
1064. Ptarmigan, being of much the same size, and trussed in the same manner, as the red-bird, may be carved in the manner described in Partridge and Grouse carving, Nos. 1057 and 1058.
1065. Quails, being trussed and served like Woodcock, may be similarly carved.—See No. 1062.
1066. Plovers may be carved like Quails or Woodcock, being trussed and served in the same way as those birds.—See No. 1055.
1067. Teal, being of the same character as Widgeon and Wild Duck, may be treated, in carving, in the same style.
1068. Widgeon may be carved in the same way as described in regard to Wild Duck, at No. 1055.
867. glory to the memory of old Holl Cromwell
text unchanged; expected “Noll”
876. about 4 tablespoonfuls of melted butter
text has “tablespoonsfuls”
founded principally on their habits of life
“f” in “of” invisible
919. nictating or winking membrane
spelling unchanged (carried over from the source, Bingley)]
927. cleanse them in luke-warm water
anomalous hyphen in the original
942. Average cost, exclusive of the cold fowl
[Printed Av. cost in order to squeeze it onto a single line with Time.]
962. the large development of its comb and wattle
hyphen in “develop/ment” missing at line break
deter rats from intruding within the rabbit-hutch,
“r” in “rabbit-hutch” invisible
1005. from 2 to 3
text has superfluous comma after “from”
Laillevant, cook of Charles VII.
[Printed as shown; the name is really Taillevant. It could be a misprint, but it’s equally likely that Mrs Beeton or her typesetter misread their hand-written notes.]
1022. until they are disturbed by the harvest-people.
text has “peole”
1031. from September to the end of February.
final . missing
he also browzes closer than the stag
spelling unchanged
In this chapter, many—but not all—informational passages are from Martin’s Cattle, published a year or so after The Pig.
856. Seasonable from March to October.
[With rare exceptions, every single recipe in the Veal section will say the same thing. Exceptions include any recipe involving green peas, which have a very short season.]
858. Breeding of Calves.
[The next few passages, through sec. 862, seem to have originated in the 1837 book British Husbandry by John French Burke. But I suspect there was an intermediary source. Mrs Beeton’s previous chapter (General Observations on the Calf) was critical of rearing calves on skimmed milk, while British Husbandry is all for it.]
859. Seasonable at any time.
[A doubly mystifying remark, since the recipe is flagged as “convenient for a picnic”.]
864. Time.—Rather more than 1½ hour.
[Unlike most recipes, this figure includes the time to prepare the sauce.]
The Calf in America.
[It is probably an exaggeration to call this formula the “American way” of rearing calves. It does seem to come from America, though. Among other places, I found it in a book published in Cincinnati in 1830, which in turn attributes it to a Boston author.]
871. Seasonable from May to October.
[Why, I wonder, can collops not be served in March and April? Do they require a more mature calf to start with?]
this was 60 years ago
[Says who? Ramsay’s dates are 1793–1872; his book was published in 1857. See Sources for his version of the Collops story.]
“Oh, d——n her decency: can she make good collops?”
[I’m going to put this on a T-shirt.]
877. [Illustration] HALF A CALF’S HEAD
[This is my favorite illustration-and-caption pair. Surely, once you know what a calf’s head looks like, you can extrapolate to half a calf’s head? It isn’t as if she’s showing the cut side, even.]
893. Birth of Calves.
[Martin’s Cattle joins his earlier Pig on the Beetons’ bookshelf. Or, at least, on the bookshelf of Isabella’s favorite encyclopedist; see Sources.]
897. A very Veal Dinner.
[My freshman dormitory was also fond of something called “veal”. It was popularly held to be horsemeat. Isabella Beeton probably got this story from Dean Ramsay’s Reminiscences—if not directly, then indirectly, as with the “collops” story. But it’s considerably older; see Sources.]
899. it will remain good some days
[In which case, it hardly seems worth the trouble of “potting” it in the first place.]
903. The Fattening of Calves.
[Ultimately from Martin’s Cattle.]
906. In full season from May to August.
[All three Sweetbreads recipes have the same phrase. What happens to sweetbreads in March-April, and again in September-October, to render them inedible even while the rest of the calf is fully available?]
909. Cow-Pox, or Variola.
[Ultimately from Martin’s Cattle.]
911. the fressure (which, as is known, comprises the heart, the mou, and the rate)
[The fry (which, as is known, comprises the heart, the lungs, and the spleen). As is known. Yup.]
his country’s weal will not suffer
[I expected a wordplay involving “veal”, didn’t you?]
Most of this chapter is lifted almost verbatim from Volume II of Bingley’s Animal Biography. See Sources for another Beetonian tour-de-force.
917. The Pelican Island.
[Nope, I’d never heard of it either. It turns out to be a book-length poem by James Montgomery, writing in 1828.]
According to Mr. Vigors, there are five orders . . . respectively designated as Birds of Prey, Perchers, Walkers, Waders, and Swimmers
[Just when you thought 19th-century biology couldn’t get any loopier, we come to the Quinary or Quinarian System. Nothing could be simpler, or more symmetrical: each of the five classes of animals (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes) was divided into five orders, which in turn had five families, which had five subfamilies, and so on. Lawyer-ornithologist Nicholas Vigors (1785–1840 or possibly 1786–1854) loved this system. You will be relieved to hear that it never made its way into the scientific mainstream. It wasn’t in Bingley, either.]
“In birds,” says a writer on this subject
[Still Bingley—from the same part of the same book as everything else in this section. It is noteworthy, though, that the entire passage in quotation marks was added for Bingley’s second edition.]
920. were it possible for a man to move with the swiftness of a swallow . . . the resistance of the air would soon suffocate him
[You don’t say. This is still Bingley speaking; see Sources.]
922. “Many well-authenticated facts,” says an ingenious writer
[The selective-quotation-marks trick again.]
925. “Each circumstance / Most artfully contrived . . .”
[Grahame, Birds of Scotland (poems), 1806. Bingley has a different poet.]
The Editress must have been in a hurry preparing this chapter. In at least four different passages, the informational paragraphs say baldly “I” (“I much prefer”, “I have seen”) as if she were writing about her own poultry-keeping experience. In the rest of the book, “I” statements are only found within quoted material.
Much of this chapter is ultimately from Moubray, though the direct source tends to be Martin’s Poultry—yes, the same Martin who gave us Cattle and The Pig.
926. Brillat Savarin, pre-eminent in gastronomic taste, says . . .
[He sure does—or at least his translator, Fayette Robinson, does. Brillat-Savarin’s version is even better, though the Editress couldn’t bring herself to trim very much; see Sources.]
The Common or Domestic Fowl.
[Oh, hello there, Mr. Webster. I’d almost forgotten your existence.]
927. Some hens are very capricious
[Source unidentified, but it’s got to be the same as the inimitable “moping and making odious comparisons” author.]
928. An able writer says
[Moubray’s Poultry. In spite of the close quote at the end of Mrs. Beeton’s paragraph, the following paragraph is a continuation of the same passage.]
931. There is scarcely to be found a more delicious animal than a well-fed, well-dressed capon
[With chickens, as with quadrupeds, Mrs. Beeton never explains what makes a capon. Does she assume everyone knows—or was there simply no way, in 1859, to say it? Webster, sec. 2027, says baldly: “When deprived of the faculty of procreation, he becomes a capon.”]
932. The Duck.
[The first part of this paragraph comes from Bingley—another source we haven’t seen in a while—where it forms a footnote to his description of The Duck Tribe. It is followed by a slab of Webster, and finally a quotation from Ude. In full: “Ducks are only fit to be sent up for entrées, when they begin to be plump; they are good towards November, when they are plump and fat, but those that are sold in London in May, June, or July, are nothing but skin and bone.”]
The Duck . . . belongs to the order of Natatores, or Swimmers; the most familiar tribes of which are
[If you are thinking that what follows is a fairly motley assortment, you are right. Ducks and auks, for example, are just about as distantly related as it is possible for two birds to be. There must have been something with Nicholas Vigors’s name on it sitting on a handy shelf in the Beeton home.]
934. domestication has seriously deteriorated the moral character of the duck
[Funny how that works.]
935. 2 pints of thin gravy, 1
[With over a thousand pages to get through, some editing oversights are inevitable. In the present book, gravy recipes are numbered 433 and up; none of them have subheads (I, II).]
937. The Wild Duck.
[Webster, making another brief appearance.]
a work entitled the “Feathered Tribes.”
[The Feathered Tribes of the British Islands by Robert Mudie (1777–1842).]
938. parson’s nose
[Word For The Day: pygostyle, that mysterious fleshy triangular blob at the back end of a whole chicken.]
Pliny says, respecting the domestic cock
[The quotation appears in Cuvier, Animal Kingdom, which in turn was reprinted in assorted mid-19th-century encyclopedias.]
939. A friend of the writer’s
[Not to be confused with a friend of the Editress, or a reader of the EDM. The identity of the “writer” is anyone’s guess.]
Pincher’s capacious maw
[Reminder: “maw” does not mean mouth; it means stomach (German Magen and similar).]
941. just before serving, add the above proportion of hot cream and lemon-juice
[Inquiring minds want to know: How does the inexperienced cook prevent it from curdling?]
the experienced brooder would take good care to send the eggs of his everlasting layers to market, and not use them for home consumption, as . . . the amount of nutriment contained in them is not nearly so great
[An interesting insight into the mindset of the poultry farmer.]
five hens laid 503 eggs
[For comparison purposes, today’s commercially farmed hen can lay up to 300 eggs in her first year. Even a free-range hen kept in your back yard can lay 200–250 eggs in a year.]
943. a few bunches of boiled brocoli or cauliflower
[This is the first mention of broc(c)oli in a recipe. Cursory research reveals that broccoli—a specially bred cabbage variant—first appeared in England around 1720. Apparently it took a while longer to make its way into cookery books. Cauliflower, which has a similar history, caught on much faster, at least among Mrs. Beeton’s culinary sources.]
you may pluck a fowl’s wing-joints as bare as a pumpkin
[As with the earlier section on runt piglets, I would dearly like to know the source of this borrowing. Possibly a serial publication, judging by the editorial “We” earlier in the passage. “As bare as a pumpkin” seems to have been an established idiom. So was “prison-bird”, which means the same as “jailbird”.]
948. against which supposition the chances are 10,000 to 1
[The writer (unidentified) gets several thousand bonus points for understanding the difference between the chances of a thing happening, and the chances against.]
949. A Fowl à la Marengo.
[I’ll be darned. I thought the small capitals available to the typesetter didn’t come with diacritics. Maybe it’s a felicitously placed flyspeck:]
the origin of the well-known dish
[In order to accept this version of the story, it is necessary to believe that, prior to the year 1800, it had never occurred to any French cook that chicken could be fried in olive oil instead of butter.]
950. Mowbray is exactly of our opinion
[If only there were a prize for Sheer Brazenness.]
955. Mowbray tells of
[And why shouldn’t he, when he has already provided at least half of this chapter’s informational passages—whether directly, or filtered through Martin? See Sources for his version.]
960. sautez or fry the fowl
[Was someone, possibly Isabella herself, translating directly from the French?]
961. boudins of a long shape
[It is tempting to think that Mrs Beeton herself couldn’t figure out what a boudin is, so she blithely left the word untranslated.]
963. (an Indian Dish)
[Apart from the bacon, which is decidedly iffy, and some procedural details (shouldn’t the bird be jointed rather than cooked whole?), this recipe feels perfectly legit. Note, in particular, the absence of “curry powder”. Wonder where Soyer got it?]
966. The Brent Goose
[A new source presents itself: Yarrell’s History of British Birds. He’s the one quoting Selby.]
968. The Goose.
[Webster returns—but only briefly, before yielding to Kitchiner-note-spelling.]
Queen Elizabeth . . . . happened to dine on one at the table of an English baronet
[A rather impressive feat, since the title of Baronet would not be created until several years after Elizabeth’s death.]
969. Vielpanser is the goose of the Nile
[Evidently something got garbled in the (hand-written) transmission; the word—via Yarrell again—is really vulpanser.]
970. The Guinea-Fowl.
[From Webster.]
974. The Pigeon.
[This section combines bits of Bingley and Webster. After that, we revert to Moubray.]
if a room be selected for the purpose, it is usual to break a hole in the roof of the building for the passage of the pigeons
[Get your landlord’s written permission first. —Ed.]
they may be seen upon the house-tops waiting upon [rain]
[Well, darn. Here I was, thinking that “wait on” for “wait for” is strictly a modern abomination.]
the masculine forwardness and action of the cock is generally so remarkable, that he is easily ascertained
[Give or take an adjective, modern sources say the same thing: the best clue to sexing pigeons is behavioral. Once you’ve mastered pigeons, you can move on to African gray parrots.]
975. Epsom Grand-Stand Recipe
[We know where Isabella got that one, at least.]
The Wood, or Wild Pigeon.
[See Sources for how the Editress spliced together Moubray and Bingley.]
977. The Rabbit.
[Rabbits may be Poultry, but they are obviously not Birds. So this and the next few passages—through 979—are again from Webster.]
977. Mr. Harrison Weir, our artist
[Step forward and take a bow, Mr. Weir. It is the only credit you are going to get.]
Rabbits are divided into four kinds
[At mid-paragraph the Editress sets aside Webster and turns to Moubray, here quoting a nameless “connoisseur”.]
981. Fecundity of the Rabbit.
[This passage is from Bingley. After that we revert to Moubray.]
[rabbits] once infested the Balearic islands to such an extent, that the inhabitants were obliged to implore the assistance of a military force from Augustus to exterminate them
[This may be the only remedy Australia has not yet tried.]
982. Forty years ago
[The source—Moubray’s Poultry, first published in 1813—has “thirty or forty years ago”.]
984. The same authority
[Unidentified; I suspect an encyclopedia. I found most of this passage in the book Bees, Pigeons, Rabbits, and the Canary Bird, Familiarly Described, by one Peter Boswell, published in New York in 1842. The passage in quotation marks is verbatim. But it seems awfully unlikely that this was Isabella Beeton’s direct source.]
985. We are not aware whether
[And phooey again. I thought this usage was a recent form of copspeak.]
From the earth-tunnelling powers of this little animal, Martial declares
[This final sentence is, predictably, adapted from Pantropheon.]
986. The Turkey.
[Condensed from Brillat-Savarin, whose language is as usual more colorful.]
987. The Wild Turkey.
[This and the next few paragraphs—through 998, with a few exceptions—are from Bingley.]
988. According to Tusser’s “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry,”
[Mrs. Beeton has forgotten that she cited this identical passage (Bingley II:385–386) about two months ago, in section 188. This time she goes on at greater length.]
990. There are three varieties of the turkey
[After grabbing the reader’s attention with Bingley’s lively prose, the Editress switches in mid-paragraph to more prosaic information gleaned from Webster.]
992. Miss Acton’s Recipe.
[She’s not kidding. Sections 992 and 994 are taken verbatim from Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery. The merrythought, incidentally, is another name for the wishbone.]
994. The bird thus prepared may . . . be restored to its original form, by filling the legs and wings with forcemeat, and the body with . . . aught else of good flavour, which will give a marbled appearance to the fowl when it is carved
[Eat your heart out, turducken.]
997. The Guinea-Pig.—This common hutch-companion of the rabbit
[Go ahead. Modern sources often suggest rabbits and guinea pigs as two kinds of pet that get along well together. ]
[guinea pigs] have been tasted, however, we presume by some enthusiast eager to advance the cause of science, or by some eccentric epicure
[Also by the entire population of those parts of South America where the guinea pig is indigenous. Like the rabbit, it exists in parallel as food and pet.]
998. “fallen from its high estate”
[Dryden, Alexander’s Feast: “Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen— / Fallen from his high estate,— / And weltering in his blood;” Thanks to some intermediary paraphrasing, “fallen from its high estate” was perilously close to a 19th-century meme.]
Between her white wings mantling, proudly rows
[Milton, Paradise Lost, though sources disagree on whether the comma goes before or after “proudly”. Bingley quotes this exact passage, beginning “The Swan, with arched neck”. It also appears in Yarrell, who—possibly not trusting his readers—identifies the source.]
1000. Byron gave it as one reason why he did not like dining with ladies
[I’ll make you a deal, George. You persuade your friends to give me the vote, and I’ll agree to share the white meat equally.]
a form which seems to have a special attraction at a bachelor’s supper-table,—we mean devilled
[Don’t bother looking. Mrs Beeton nowhere gives a recipe for devilled . . . anything, let alone turkey legs.]
1013. he killed 5 bears, 1,820 boars, 1,950 deer, 1,145 does, 1,625 roebucks, 11,121 rabbits, 13 wolves, 17 badgers, 16,354 hares, and 354 foxes
[“Slow week, eh?” —T. Roosevelt]
1016. says Monsieur Soyer
[In Pantropheon. In fact, this is the source of the whole paragraph, not only the part in quotation marks.]
1017. In Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy” we find a humorous story, told by Poggius
[See Sources.]
1018. Julius Firmicus, who lived about that time, is, so far as we can find, the first Latin author who speaks of falconers
[The word “we” here means “all 19th-century encyclopedias, cribbing from each other in a manner that makes the original source impossible to pin down”. Surprisingly, Julius Firmicus does seem to have lived in the 4th century.]
1025. Russia, Siberia, and other northern countries
[Siberia has been part of Russia since 1598. I doubt Mrs Beeton’s source was older than that.]
1026. [The Capercalzie] was to be met with formerly both in Ireland and Scotland, but is now extinct.
[This is a slight exaggeration, though the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds does not have high hopes.]
The Grouse.
[See Sources for Webster’s version..]
The white grouse, or ptarmigan . . . weighs about half a pound.
[In Webster’s Encyclopædia, the ptarmigan is said to weigh a pound and a half—three times as much.]
1027. The Hare.
[This passage from Bingley makes a repeat appearance; we first met it as “The common Hare” in Sec. 170.]
1033. its food . . . principally consists of slugs, large numbers of which it destroys
[This does not strike me as a compelling argument in favor of killing, let alone eating, the bird in question.]
1037. See coloured plate, D1.
[This is probably a mistake; Plate D1 will be referenced again in section 1039 (Roast Partridge). I put the picture here because 1039 already has an illustration of its own.]
1039. The Partridge.
[More splicing: the first part is Webster, the second part Bingley. But in this case Bingley may not have been the Editress’s direct source. The quotation the BOHM attributes to “a celebrated writer” is longer than in Bingley, who identifies his source as “Mr. Markwick”.]
1041. Mr. Ude says
[Or, at least, Webster says that Ude says.]
1042. BRILLAT SAVARIN’S RECIPE
[See Sources for Brillat-Savarin’s original. The following paragraph, “The Height of Excellence in a Pheasant”, is also from Brillat-Savarin, immediately before the recipe]
1044. The Plover.
[This and the next few paragraphs, through 1047, are from Webster.]
1049. too much haut goût
[“Haut goût” is a favorite phrase of Kitchiner’s.]
continue this operation, without intermission, the whole of the time it is cooking
[Mrs Beeton generally avoids this kind of impossible instruction (“simmer for two hours, stirring constantly”).]
The Deer and Venison
[Both are from Bingley.]
The reindeer unharness’d
[Hoo boy. Though not as celebrated as Ossian, this is another of the great literary hoaxes of the late 18th century. The “song”—really a poem, since there is no associated melody—first appeared in the Newcastle Courant in 1786, signed “T.S.” (since identified as George Pickering, who also wrote “Donocht Head”, the poem Scott wished he’d written). Before long, the poem was attributed to Sir Matthew White Ridley (Bt.). A few years later it picked up its permanent association with Matthew Consett:
A Tour Through Sweden, Swedish-Lapland, Finland and Denmark (1789 and later), pg 63ff. From there, it was widely republished—sometimes attributed to Consett, sometimes with no attribution.
Incidentally, though “Odin’s” is an understandable mistake, the poem really says “Odon’s”. As usual, Bingley gives 16 lines to the BOHM’s four.]
1050. The remains of roast venison, its own or mutton gravy
[Is it just me or . . . does venison with mutton gravy sound like the 1859 equivalent of putting ketchup on filet mignon?]
1051. The Stag.
[Sources: mixed Bingley and Webster.]
The stag, or hart, is the male of the red deer
[Outside of the British Isles you are welcome to call a “red deer” an elk. They’re both subspecies of Cervus elaphus.]
The New Venison.
[An article with this title appeared in the Saturday Review in 1859. It was reprinted in many other periodicals, including The Horticulturist.]
The eland was first acclimated in England by the late Earl of Derby
[Do not look for eland on your dinner table any time soon. You might find the odd giant eland (also known, fittingly, as “Lord Derby’s eland”) in safari parks in England, but the rest of them are in Africa where they belong.]
1053. The Woodcock.
[Source: Webster.]
The original of this text is in the public domain—at least in the U.S.
My notes are copyright, as are all under-the-hood elements.
If in doubt, ask.