A guide to modern cookery

The birds of Classes 1 and 4 are better high—that is to say, they should be hung for a few days, before being plucked, in a moderate draught, that they may begin to decompose, and that the particular flavour of their flesh may be accentuated, a process which increases their culinary value. Whatever opinion may be held in regard to the gaminess of these birds, one thing is quite certain—namely, that the meat of a fresh pheasant and that of a high one are two totally different things. When fresh, the meat is flavourless, whereas when it is reasonably high it is tender, full of taste, and of an incomparable flavour. Formerly, it was the custom to lard the birds of Class 1, especially when they were to be roasted. But this practice should be resolutely discarded, for, if the bird be young, it can only impair the latter’s flavour, and, if it be old, it cannot possibly restore those qualities to it which it has already lost. PP 2 Besides, an old bird should never be served; it ought only to be used in the preparation of game stock or forcemeats. The birds belonging to the remaining classes are prepared fresh; or, if it be thought necessary to let them hang for a few days, at least they should not be allowed to get high, more particularly the aquatic ones, because gaminess is, if anything, deleterious to the flavour of their flesh. 1828—PHEASANT (FAISAN) When this bird is young, its legs are grey and the ventral end of the sternum is tender and flexible. But with pheasants, as with partridges, an infallible sign of youth may be discovered at the extremity of the last large feather in the wing. If this feather be pointed, the bird is young; if it be round, the reverse is the case. 1829—FAISAN A LA MODE D’ALCANTARA This recipe comes from the famous Alcantara convent. History tells us that at the beginning of the Portuguese campaign in 1807 the convent’s library was pillaged by Junot’s soldiers, and its precious manuscripts were used in the making of cartridges. Now it happened that an officer of the commissariat who was witnessing the event found, among a collection of recipes selected by the monks, the particular one now under our notice, which was applied only to partridges. It struck him as interesting, and after trying it when he returned to France in the following year, he surrendered it to the Duchess of Abrantés, who noted it in her memoirs. It represents, perhaps, the only good thing the French derived from that unfortunate campaign, and it would tend to prove that foie gras and truffles, which had been known for so long in Languedoc and Gascony, were also known in Estremadura, where, even at the present day, tolerably good truffles are to be found. The procedure is as follows :— Empty the pheasant from the front; bone its breast, and stuff it with fine ducks’ foies gras, mixed with quartered truffles, cooked in port wine. Marinade the pheasant for three days in port wine, taking care that it be well covered therewith. This done, cook it ‘‘ en casserole ’’ (the original recipe says on the spit, but the saucepan is more suitable). Reduce the port wine of the marinade; add to it a dozen medium-sized truffles; set the pheasant on these truffles, and heat for a further ten minutes. N.B.—This last part of the recipe may be advantageously replaced by the ‘‘a la Souvaroff’’ treatment—that is to say, having placed the pheasant and the truffles in a terrine, sprinkle them with the reduced port combined with slightly buttered game glaze; then hermetically seal down the lid of the terrine, and complete the cooking in the oven. 1830—FAISAN A L’ANGOUMOISE Stuff the pheasant with a preparation consisting of twothirds lb. of very fresh pork fat, rubbed through a sieve; four oz. of raw, peeled, and quartered truffles, and four oz. of fine chestnuts, cooked in consommeé.