10. The ortolans.

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. 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 Abrantès, 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 “à 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 two-thirds 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 consommé. This preparation, which should be seasoned as for the ordinary truffling (No. 1956), ought to be quite cold when inserted into the pheasant. Wrap the bird in slices of bacon; roast it gently for three-quarters of an hour, and take care to remove the slices of bacon seven or eight minutes before the cooking is completed, that the outside of the piece may be coloured. Set on a long dish, and serve a Périgueux sauce at the same time. 1831—FAISAN A LA BOHÉMIENNE Season a small foie gras with salt and paprika; stud it with raw quartered truffles, and poach it in Madeira for twenty minutes. When it is cold, insert it into the pheasant, which should be high. Truss the bird, and cook it in butter in a saucepan or a _cocotte_ for forty-five minutes. When about to serve, remove some of the butter used in cooking; sprinkle the pheasant with a glassful of burnt brandy, and add a few tablespoonfuls of reduced game gravy to the cooking-liquor. Serve the pheasant in its cooking utensil. 1832—FAISAN EN CASSEROLE Truss the pheasant as for an entrée, and _poële_ it in butter only. This done, swill the saucepan with a few drops of brandy and a tablespoonful of game gravy. Cover the utensil, and serve the dish burning hot. 1833—FAISAN EN COCOTTE Proceed exactly as for pheasant “_en casserole_,” and, when the cooking is two-thirds done, surround it with a garnish of small onions cooked in butter; small, cooked mushroom-heads and olive-shaped truffles, the latter taking the place of the potatoes, which are one of the garnishing ingredients of fowls “_en cocotte_.” 1834—FAISAN EN CHARTREUSE Parboil a fine, round-headed, quartered cabbage, and braise it as directed under No. 2100, adding thereto an old, oven-browned pheasant. The _chartreuse_ may be made with the pheasant kept whole or cut into pieces, but in any case, roasted or _poëled_, it should be very tender and only just cooked. The old pheasant put in with the cabbage only serves in imparting its flavour to the latter, but it must not and cannot be used for the _chartreuse_. If the _chartreuse_ be made with a cut-up pheasant, proceed as in the case of No. 1778. If whole, line an oval mould _chartreuse_-fashion; coat the inside with a portion of the braised cabbage, which should be slightly pressed; set the pheasant, breast undermost, in the mould; cover it with what remains of the cabbage, and then turn it out on a dish. Send a sauceboat of excellent half-glaze, flavoured with pheasant _fumet_, separately. 1835—FAISAN A LA CHOUCROÛTE Prepare the sauerkraut after No. 2097, and bear in mind that when it is specially prepared to accompany a pheasant, it is considerably improved by being braised with foie-gras fat. _Poële_ a very tender pheasant, and only just cook it. Lay the well-drained sauerkraut on a long dish; set the pheasant upon it, and surround it with a border consisting of rectangles of bacon, cooked in the sauerkraut. Serve separately the _poëling_-liquor combined with a little game _fumet_, strained, and kept somewhat greasy. 1836—FAISAN A LA CRÈME Cook the pheasant in butter, in a saucepan, with a medium-sized, quartered onion. When the cooking is three-parts done, sprinkle the bird with one-quarter pint of cream (sour if possible), or with ordinary cream, acidulated by means of a few drops of lemon juice. Finish the cooking, basting the piece the while with cream and serve in the saucepan. 1837—FAISAN DEMIDOFF Proceed exactly as directed under “Poulet à la Demidoff” (No. 1464). 1838—FAISAN A LA GEORGIENNE Truss the pheasant as for an entrée, and put it into a saucepan with thirty fresh, halved, and well-peeled walnuts; the juice of two lbs. of grapes and of four oranges, pressed on a sieve; a wineglassful of Malmsey wine; a glassful of strong, green tea; one and one-half oz. of butter, and the necessary seasoning. Poach the pheasant in this preparation for about thirty minutes, and colour it when it is almost cooked. When about to serve, dish it and surround it with fresh walnuts. Strain the cooking-liquor through a napkin; add thereto one-third pint of game Espagnole, and reduce to half. Slightly coat the pheasant and its garnish with the sauce, and serve what remains of the latter separately. 1839—FAISAN GRILLÉ DIABLE For this preparation only young pheasants are used; although, provided they be tender, adult pheasants will answer the purpose. The procedure is precisely the same as that described under “Poulet Grillé” (No. 1636). 1840—FAISAN KOTSCHOUBEY Cook the pheasant “_en casserole_,” and add to it, when it is almost done, two oz. of fine, raw truffle slices, and a little excellent game glaze, clear and well buttered. Serve the following garnish separately:—Fry in butter four oz. of _blanched_, fresh breast of bacon, cut into dice. When the pieces are properly frizzled, add to them one lb. of freshly-cooked, well-drained, uncooled, and roughly-chopped Brussels sprouts. Add two oz. of fresh butter, a little pepper and grated nutmeg, and stew gently for one-half hour, that the garnish may just be ready in time for dishing. 1841—FAISAN A LA NORMANDE Colour the pheasant in butter. Meanwhile quarter, peel, mince, and slightly toss in butter six medium-sized apples. Garnish the bottom of a _terrine_ with a layer of these apples; set the browned pheasant thereon; surround it with what remains of the apples; sprinkle it with a few tablespoonfuls of fresh cream; cover the _terrine_, and cook in the oven for from twenty to twenty-eight minutes. Serve the preparation in the _terrine_. 1842—FAISAN A LA PÉRIGUEUX Stuff the pheasant with truffles, proceeding as for ordinary truffling (No. 1956). _Poële_ it in Madeira; dish, and surround it with a border of quenelles consisting of truffled game forcemeat, moulded by means of a coffeespoon, and poached at the last moment. Serve separately a Périgueux sauce combined with the reduced _poëling_-liquor, cleared of all grease. 1843—FAISAN A LA RÉGENCE _Poële_ the pheasant, and dish it on a low _croûton_, carved from a sandwich-loaf and fried in butter. Surround it with small, decorated, round game quenelles; large, grooved, cooked mushrooms; and cocks’ kidneys; all three arranged alternately. Serve separately a Salmis sauce, flavoured with truffle essence, and combined with the strained and reduced _poëling_-liquor, cleared of all grease. 1844—FAISAN A LA SAINTE-ALLIANCE Bone two woodcocks, and put their livers and intestines aside. Chop up their meat, together with a quarter of its weight of poached and cooled beef-marrow, and as much fresh, fat bacon; salt, pepper, and herbs. Add to this hash six oz. of raw, peeled, and quartered truffles, slightly cooked in butter. Stuff the pheasant with this preparation; truss it; wrap it in slices of bacon, and keep it in the cool for twenty-four hours, that the aroma of the truffles may be concentrated. Roast the pheasant on the spit, or, if in the oven, set it on a somewhat high stand in a baking-pan. Cut a large _croûton_ from a sandwich-loaf, and fry it in clarified butter. Pound the woodcocks’ livers and intestines with an equal weight of grated fresh fat bacon, the well-washed fillets of an anchovy, one oz. of butter, and one-half oz. of raw truffle. When this forcemeat is very smooth and all its ingredients thoroughly mixed, spread it over the fried _croûtons_. When the pheasant is two-thirds cooked, set this coated _croûton_ under the bird in such wise as to allow the juices escaping from the latter to drop upon the _croûton_. Complete the cooking, and dish the pheasant on the _croûton_. Surround with slices of bitter orange, and send the gravy separately. When serving, accompany each piece of pheasant with a slice of orange and a small slice of the coated _croûton_. 1845—FAISAN SOUVAROFF Cook six fair-sized truffles for five minutes in a glassful of Madeira and an equal quantity of light meat glaze. Withdraw the truffles and put them in the _terrine_ in which the pheasant will complete its cooking. Cut one-half lb. of foie gras into large dice; stiffen these in the truffles’ cooking-liquor, and stuff the pheasant therewith. Truss the latter; wrap it in slices of bacon, and two-thirds _poële_ it. This done, put it into the _terrine_ containing the truffles; add the _poëling_-liquor, a small glassful of Madeira, and the same quantity of game gravy; hermetically close the _terrine_, and continue cooking for about a quarter of an hour. Serve the preparation as it stands. 1846—SUPRÊMES, CÔTELETTES ET FILETS DE FAISAN Pheasant Suprêmes, Cutlets and Fillets, allow of the same garnishes as those of fowl. But, whereas in the case of the latter, they are raised raw, and then poached, my advice in regard to pheasant is, that it should be previously roasted or _poëled_ (keeping it just underdone) and that the _suprêmes_ be only raised at the last moment. By this means, a much better result is obtained than by the poaching of raw fillets; which, once cooked, are generally dry if they have to wait but a few seconds. I also advise, when the garnish consists only of foie-gras collops and truffles (as in the case of the _Rossini_ garnish), the sending separately of a small timbale of noodles with cream. 1847—SALMIS DE FAISAN Salmis is perhaps the most delicate and most perfect of the game preparations bequeathed to us by old-fashioned cookery. If it be less highly esteemed nowadays, it is owing to the fact that this recipe has been literally spoiled by the haphazard fashion in which it has been applied right and left to game already cooked, and cooked again for the purpose. But the Salmis given above may always be included in any menu, however sumptuous. It is applied more particularly to game of the 1st and 2nd classes, which should be somewhat high when treated. The recipe I give may be applied to all the birds in the two classes referred to. Roast the pheasant, keeping it moderately underdone. Quickly cut it into eight pieces, thus: two legs, two wings (separated from the pinions), and the breast cut into four lengthwise. Skin the pieces; trim them neatly, and keep them at a temperate heat in a covered vegetable-pan, with a few drops of burnt brandy and a little clear melted meat glaze. Pound the carcass and the trimmings, and add to them half a bottleful of red wine (almost entirely reduced), three chopped shallots and a few mignonette pepper. Add one-quarter pint of good game Espagnole sauce; cook for ten minutes; rub through a sieve, pressing well the while, and then strain through a strainer. Reduce this sauce to about one-third, and despumate it; strain it once more through a close strainer; add a small quantity of butter, and pour it over the pieces of pheasant, to which add a fine, sliced truffle and six grooved mushroom-heads. I advise the discarding of the old method of dishing upon a cushion of bread fried in butter, as also of the triangular _croûtons_ fried in butter and coated with _gratin_ forcemeat, which usually accompanied the Salmis. A speedy preparation and a simple method of dishing, which facilitate the service and allow of the Salmis being eaten hot, are the only necessary conditions. Moreover, the goodness of the preparation is such as to be independent of a fantastic method of dishing. 1848—SAUTÉ DE FAISAN Unless it be prepared with the greatest care, _sautéd_ pheasant is always dry. I therefore do not recommend it; but, should it be necessary to make a dish of it, care should be observed in selecting a young, plump bird. It should be cut up like a fowl, cooked in butter on a moderate fire and kept somewhat underdone. Dish it after the manner of a “poulet sauté” and cover it. Swill the sautépan and prepare a sauce after the recipe in common use. This sauce must always be short, and it should be poured over the pheasant just before serving it. 1849—PÂTÉ CHAUD DE FAISAN The preparation of hot, raised pheasant pies is the same as usual; the ingredients alone changing. The reader will, therefore, kindly refer to “Pâté chaud de Canard” (No. 1752), and duly note the following modifications:— (1) Use a _gratin_ forcemeat (No. 202) prepared from game livers and meat. (2) Roast the pheasant, keeping it underdone, and mix the pieces of cooked mushroom with the sliced truffles. (3) Accompany the pie by a Salmis sauce, prepared from the pheasant’s carcass and remains. 1850—MOUSSES ET MOUSSELINES DE FAISAN As already stated in various parts of this work, the constituents and their quantities are the same for _mousses_ and _mousselines_, and but for the basic ingredient, which is pheasant in this case, the procedure does not differ from that already described. The base of the sauces served with these _mousses_ and _mousselines_ is a _fumet_ made from the carcasses and remains. 1851—SOUFFLÉ DE FAISAN Prepare a very light, _mousseline_ forcemeat of pheasant. Set in a buttered _soufflé_ saucepan, and cook in a moderate oven. Send a fine, half-glaze sauce, flavoured with game essence, at the same time. =Cold Pheasant= 1852—FAISAN A LA BOHÉMIENNE Proceed as for “Faisan à la Bohémienne” hot (No. 1831). Cook it in an earthenware _terrine_, and add thereto, at the same time as the prescribed brandy, enough succulent, savoury jelly to fill up the _terrine_. Leave to cool for a day or two, and, when about to serve, remove the grease that has settled on the surface, by means of a spoon. Remove the last vestiges of grease by repeated scaldings; carefully wipe the _terrine_, and serve it incrusted in a block of ice. 1853—CHAUD-FROID DE FAISAN Proceed exactly as for “Chaud-froid de Volaille” (No. 1689), and use a brown chaud-froid sauce, flavoured with pheasant _fumet_. In regard to the decoration, dishing, &c., follow the recipe already referred to. 1854—CHAUD-FROID DE FAISAN A LA BULOZ _Poële_ a pheasant, keeping it underdone; raise its _suprêmes_, and cut these into thin collops. With a _fumet_ prepared from the carcass and the _poëling_-liquor, prepare a brown chaud-froid sauce. Coat the collops with this sauce, and also coat ten cooked and grooved mushrooms with a white chaud-froid sauce. _Clothe_ a dome-mould with clear aspic jelly, and deck it with truffles. Set the collops of pheasant and the chaud-froid-coated truffles inside, alternating the two in so doing; fill up the mould with the same jelly, and let it set on ice. When about to serve, turn out after the manner of an aspic, on a low cushion of rice or semolina, lying on a round dish. Border with neatly-cut _croûtons_ of very clear aspic. 1855—FAISAN A LA CROIX DE BERNY Roast the pheasant and keep it underdone. When it is quite cold, raise its fillets and leave the legs and the wings attached to the carcass. By means of scissors, completely bone the carcass; garnish its inside with a truffled foie-gras Parfait, and cover it with a thin coat of foie-gras _Mousse_. Replace the fillets upon this _Mousse_, after having sliced them, and fill any gaps that may exist between the slices with some of the same _Mousse_: thus reconstructing the bird. Let the _Mousse_ set thoroughly, and glaze with aspic jelly. Meanwhile, coat eight boned, stuffed, poached and cold larks with brown chaud-froid sauce. Decorate them with pieces of truffle and salted tongue, and glaze them with aspic jelly. Dish the pheasant on a low cushion; surround it with the larks, and garnish the gaps between the latter with chopped and very clear aspic. 1856—FAISAN EN DAUBE Proceed as for “Terrine de Poularde à la gelée” (No. 1701), making due allowance, in the cooking, for the difference between the sizes of the two birds. 1857—CÔTELETTES DE FAISAN Proceed as for “Côtelettes froides de Volaille.” 1858—GALANTINE DE FAISAN See “Galantine de Volaille” (No. 1708). 1859—MOUSSE DE FAISAN Prepare the _Mousse_ according to the usual procedure, and mould it after the manner of “Mousse de Volaille” (No. 1711). 1860—PAIN DE FAISAN EN BELLE-VUE The procedure follows that of No. 1709, but for the difference in the basic ingredient, which in this case is pheasant. 1861—SUPRÊMES DE FAISAN CHÂTELAINE Raise the _suprêmes_ and prepare them exactly like the _suprêmes_ of fowl in “Chaud-froid Félix Faure” (No. 1691). Poach them; cool them, and cut them into medallions as explained. Cover half of these medallions with chicken _Mousse_, and the other half with pheasant _Mousse_. Keep on ice for some time that the _Mousse_ may set. This done, coat the first lot with brown chaud-froid sauce and the second lot with white chaud-froid sauce. Deck each medallion with small pieces of truffle. Set them in a deep, square dish (alternating the two colours), and cover with very clear, succulent aspic jelly. Leave to set and serve on a block of ice. 1862—SUPRÊMES DE FAISAN GASTRONOME _Poële_ the pheasant in Madeira and let it cool. Raise the fillets; cut them into thin, regular slices; coat them with brown chaud-froid sauce, and decorate according to fancy. With the trimmings and the meat of the legs, prepare a pheasant _Mousse_ after the manner described under No. 1711, and mould it in a Parfait mould which should have the depth of the chaud-froid-coated slices. When this _Mousse_ has set, turn it out on a dish and place the slices all round, standing them upright and letting them lean one against the other. Surround with a crown of fine, fair-sized, peeled truffles, cooked in Champagne, and set one of them on the top of the _Mousse_, fixing it there by means of a _hatelet_. Border the dish with fine _croûtons_ of aspic. 1863—TERRINE DE FAISAN Prepare it after the manner of the “Terrine de Lièvre” (No. 1825), and take care to make due allowance, in the cooking, for the difference, in the matter of tenderness, between the two meats. But the explanations already given on this subject ought to suffice for ascertaining whether or not the patty have cooked sufficiently. PARTRIDGE (PERDRIX ET PERDREAUX) Three kinds of partridges are used in Cookery:—the Grey Partridge, which is commonest in flat country, and which is also the most highly esteemed; the Red Partridge, which is to be found in hilly and wooded country; and the Bartavelle (perdix vertevella), which is a somewhat larger species than the two former. To these three kinds may be added the American Colin (Ortix Virginianus), an excellent bird sometimes seen in English markets. All the recipes given for pheasants may be applied to partridge, and below, I shall only give those which are proper to the latter. 1864—PERDREAU A LA BOURGUIGNONNE Truss the partridge as for an entrée; three-parts _poële_ it, and place it in a _terrine_ with six small glazed onions and as many small, cooked mushroom heads. Swill the saucepan with a glassful of red wine; reduce it two-thirds, and add a tablespoonful of game half-glaze. Strain; clear of grease; pour this sauce over the partridge, and complete the latter’s cooking for seven or eight minutes. 1865—PERDREAU EN DEMI-DEUIL Bone the breast and fill the partridge with truffled partridge forcemeat, prepared with panada or butter. Between the skin and the fillets, slip a few slices of very black truffle; truss as for an entrée; wrap the piece in muslin, and poach it for thirty minutes in a game _fumet_. When about to serve, remove the muslin; take the string off, and dish the partridge. Reduce the _fumet_ in which the partridge has poached; strain it; add thereto a liqueur-glassful of burnt liqueur-brandy, and send this reduced _fumet_ separately. 1866—PERDREAU EN ESTOUFFADE Brown the partridge in the oven and set in a _terrine_ just large enough to hold it, with a tablespoonful of Matignon (No. 227) and one crushed juniper berry, on top and beneath. Add one-half oz. of butter, a liqueur-glassful of burnt brandy, and twice that amount of game _fumet_. Close the _terrine_; seal down the lid with a strip of paste; bake in a hot oven for twenty-five minutes and serve the dish as it stands. 1867—PERDREAU A LA LAUTREC Select a young partridge; open its back; slightly flatten it with a butcher’s beater; pierce it through with a skewer; season it with salt, pepper and melted butter, and gently grill. At the same time grill six small mushroom-heads. Dish the partridge; on either side of it set the mushrooms, each of which should be garnished with a coffeespoonful of Maître-d’hôtel butter; surround the mushrooms with a thread of melted meat glaze and sprinkle the partridge with a few drops of lemon juice. 1868—PERDREAU LADY CLIFFORD Cook the partridge in butter in a saucepan. When it is three-parts done, surround it with two oz. of fine slices of raw truffle; add a liqueur-glassful of burnt brandy and one tablespoonful of clear melted meat glaze. Serve a Soubise sauce at the same time and separately. 1869—PERDREAU AUX CHOUX Prepare a garnish of braised cabbages as explained under No. 2100, and add thereto an old partridge, browned in the oven or on the spit. Meanwhile, roast or _poële_ a very tender young partridge and keep it underdone. Dish the cabbages, which should be well drained; set the young partridge upon them, and surround with small rectangles of very lean bacon, cooked with the cabbages, and a thread of half-glaze sauce, flavoured with game _fumet_. N.B.—This dish may be given a more decorative appearance by means of a sort of _Chartreuse_, which is prepared as follows:—Line a large bowl or a buttered, round-bottomed timbale with roundels of sausages; roundels of carrots arranged in superposed rows, separated by a line of French beans or peas; and small rectangles of bacon, laid side by side. Line the inside of the timbale with a thick layer of cabbages, and put the young partridge, breast undermost, in the middle (the partridge may also be carved up). Cover the cabbages and press the latter with a fork; turn the timbale out on a dish and tilt the latter that all the grease may fall before withdrawing the timbale, which answers the purpose of a mould. Surround with a thread of half-glaze sauce, flavoured with game _fumet_. 1870—CRÉPINETTES DE PERDREAUX After substituting the meat of a young partridge, cleared of all tendons, for the veal sweetbreads, and fresh bacon for calf’s udder, proceed exactly as directed (as regards quantities and other particulars) under “Crépinettes de ris de Veau” (No. 1222), taking care to add three oz. of chopped truffles per lb. of the forcemeat. Divide up the forcemeat into portions one and one-half oz. to two oz. in weight; wrap them in pig’s caul; roll them first in melted butter and then in bread-crumbs, and grill them gently. The usual accompaniment to these crépinettes is a light chestnut or lentil purée. 1871—EPIGRAMMES DE PERDREAU Raise the young partridge’s fillets, leaving the wing-bone attached to the carcass, and put them aside. From the minion fillets and the meat of the legs, prepare a _mousseline_ forcemeat; mould the latter in very small buttered cutlet moulds, and set to poach. Roll the fillets in melted butter and bread-crumbs, and grill them gently. Dip the cutlets in beaten egg; roll them in finely-chopped truffles; press upon the latter with the flat of a knife, that they may combine with the egg; adjust the shape of the cutlets, and toss them in butter. Dish in the form of a circle, alternating the fillets and the cutlets; pour in their midst a cullis prepared from the partridge’s carcasses, and serve a chestnut purée separately. 1872—TIMBALE DE PERDREAU DIANE Line a liberally-buttered, shallow mould with crescents of truffle arranged in superposed rows, and then completely cover the bottom and sides of the mould with a layer, two-thirds in. thick, of raw partridge forcemeat. Place the mould in the front of the oven that the forcemeat may be poached; and then spread another layer of _gratin_ forcemeat of game. Fill the utensil with a garnish of small quenelles consisting of truffled partridge forcemeat, mushrooms and slices of truffles, cohered with a reduced Madeira sauce. Cover the garnish with a small coat of forcemeat, and poach in the _bain-marie_ for from thirty to thirty-five minutes. When about to serve, turn out on a dish, and deck the timbale with a crown of partridges’ _suprêmes_, raised from birds fresh from the spit or the oven. Surround the base of the timbale with a thread of Diane sauce, and send a sauceboat of the latter separately. 1873—PERDREAUX FROIDS The various recipes given for cold pheasant also suit cold partridge; it is only necessary therefore to replace the word “pheasant” by “partridge” in the formulæ referred to. 1874—WOODCOCK AND SNIPE (BÉCASSE ET BÉCASSINES) If grouse, which can only be thoroughly appreciated in its native country, were extinct, woodcock would be the leading feathered game. But the latter have this advantage over the former, namely: that their _fumet_ is not so fugitive, and that they may be kept much longer. Woodcock does not yield its full quality unless it be moderately high. 1875—BÉCASSE DE CARÊME Sprinkle the woodcock with a few drops of oil, and roast it, keeping it underdone. As soon as it is cooked, divide it into two lengthwise, and cut each half of the breast into two collops. Mix half a coffeespoonful of French mustard in a small vegetable-pan, with a few drops of lemon juice. Roll the pieces of woodcock in this mustard, and keep them hot. Chop up the carcass and the intestines; sprinkle with a glassful of burnt liqueur brandy; reduce; add a tablespoonful of game _fumet_, and cook for five minutes. Strain through a strainer, pressing on the pieces of woodcock in so doing, and rock the saucepan, that the pieces may be coated with the cullis. Dish in a hot timbale, and, upon the pieces, set the woodcock’s head. N.B.—_Bécasse à la fine Champagne_ is prepared in the same way, but without mustard. Cut it into six pieces: wings, legs and two halves of the breast, and put these pieces into a round _cocotte_. Swill the saucepan with burnt liqueur brandy; add the chopped intestines, mixed with the juices of the pressed carcass; add a tablespoonful of _fumet_, a little lemon juice, and a little cayenne, and pour this cullis (heated but not boiled) over the pieces. _Bécasse à la Riche_ is prepared in the same way, but:—(1) the pieces are dished on a _croûton_ of fried bread, coated with _gratin_ forcemeat of game; (2) the sauce is thickened with a little foie-gras purée and one oz. of butter, and then strained over the pieces through a coarse strainer, during which process the operator should press with a spoon or a whisk. 1876—BÉCASSE A LA FAVART Proceed as for “Caneton Rouennais Soufflé” (No. 1764), and remember to add the woodcock’s intestines to the forcemeat. When the carcass is garnished, set the sliced _suprêmes_ on the forcemeat, with a row of sliced truffles in the middle. The forcemeat should poach for about twenty minutes. Serve at the same time a half-glaze sauce, flavoured with woodcock _fumet_. 1877—SALMIS DE BÉCASSE Under the article “Pheasant,” I gave the generic recipe for Salmis, which may be applied to all feathered game. In regard to the Woodcock Salmis, the operator should remember to add the bird’s intestines to the sauce, and to keep the meat rather under- than overdone. 1878—BÉCASSE SOUVAROFF Proceed exactly as for “Faisan à la Souvaroff” (No. 1845), after making due allowance for the size of the bird in regard to the quantity of truffles and foie gras. 1879—MOUSSES ET MOUSSELINES DE BÉCASSE Proceed as indicated in No. 1850. 1880—TIMBALE DE BÉCASSE METTERNICH Prepare a somewhat shallow, decorated timbale crust. Roast the woodcocks and keep them underdone. Raise the _suprêmes_ and put them in the timbale, separating them by collops of fresh foie gras, _sautéd_ at the last moment. Pound the remains of the woodcocks, including their carcasses; thin the purée with truffle essence; rub it through a sieve, pressing heavily the while, and then rub it through tammy. Heat the cullis thus obtained, without letting it boil; finish it with a little lemon juice, liqueur-brandy and butter, and pour it into the timbale over the pieces of woodcock and the foie gras collops. Dish the timbale on a folded napkin, lying on a round dish. 1881—TIMBALE DE BÉCASSE NESSELRODE _Poële_ the woodcocks and keep them underdone. As soon as they are cooked, raise their fillets and put these aside. Bone the remains, and pound the meat thus obtained, together with a quarter of its weight of raw foie gras. Rub through a sieve, and add an equal weight of game forcemeat, prepared with panada and butter. Add the chopped carcasses and a glassful of liqueur brandy to the _poëling_-liquor; cook for a few minutes; strain, and in this stock poach five oz. of olive-shaped truffles (for an ordinary timbale). Line a buttered Charlotte-mould with short paste; cover its bottom and sides with the prepared forcemeat, and against this forcemeat set the woodcock’s _suprêmes_, cut into collops. Garnish the centre with the truffles, and cover these with a few tablespoonfuls of Espagnole, reduced with some of the _fumet_. Close the timbale with a layer of paste, as explained in the various preceding timbale recipes, and bake in a good, moderate oven for about forty-five minutes. When about to serve, turn out the timbale on a dish; pour into the former some half-glaze sauce combined with what remains of the _fumet_, and send a sauceboat of the same sauce separately. N.B.—This “Timbale Nesselrode” may be prepared after the same recipe, from Pheasant, Partridge, Woodcock or Hazel-Hen, but the name of the selected bird should, of course, appear on the menu. 1882—BÉCASSES ET BÉCASSINES FROIDES All the recipes given for cold pheasant and partridge may be applied to woodcocks and snipes. 1883—QUAILS Quails should always be chosen plump, and their fat should be white and very firm. Besides the spit, which should always be used in preference to the oven for roasting, they allow of two other methods of cooking: they may be cooked in butter, in a saucepan; or they may be poached in excellent strong and gelatinous veal stock. This last mode of procedure greatly enhances the quail’s quality and is frequently used. 1884—CAILLES EN CASSEROLE Cook them in butter, in the saucepan in which they will be served. Swill with a few drops of brandy; add a little game _fumet_; cover, and serve very hot. 1885—CAILLES AUX CERISES For four quails:—Truss them as for an entrée and cook them with butter in a saucepan. Swill with a little brandy and a glass of port, in which a piece of orange rind should have soaked. Add three tablespoonfuls of excellent veal stock, three tablespoonfuls of red-currant jelly and about forty cherries, previously poached in a boiling syrup of about 18° (Saccharometer) and cooled in the syrup. Drain them before adding them to the quail, and, if the sauce be too insipid, sharpen it with a few drops of lemon juice. 1886—CAILLES A LA DAUPHINE Wrap each quail in a buttered vine-leaf and a thin, square slice of bacon, and roast them for ten minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a well-seasoned purée of fresh peas with lettuce, and reduce it to a somewhat stiff consistence. Line the bottom and sides of a deep dish with very thin slices of ham; pour the purée into it; smooth the surface, and half-plunge the quails into this purée. Place in the oven for ten minutes, and this done, send the dish to the table immediately. 1887—CAILLES FIGARO Insert a piece of truffle into each quail, and wrap them each in a piece of gut together with a bit of pale veal glaze, the size of a pigeon’s egg. String the pieces of gut at two points one in. from either extremity of the quails, that the envelope may not burst while cooking. Poach the quails in good veal stock, that they may not be washed as they would be if the gut happened to burst in a poaching-liquor consisting of salted water. Serve the quails as they leave their cooking-liquor. 1888—CAILLES A LA GRECQUE Cook the quails in a saucepan, and set them in a timbale, half-garnished with “Riz à la Grecque.” Swill the saucepan with a few tablespoonfuls of game _fumet_, and pour this swilling-liquor over the quails, without clearing it of grease. 1889—CAILLES JULIETTE Divide the quails into two along the back and do not separate the two halves; season them; sprinkle them with melted butter and finely-chopped truffle. Wrap each quail in a piece of pig’s caul; sprinkle again with melted butter and fine raspings, and grill gently. Dish the quails and sprinkle them with a few drops of verjuice. 1890—CAILLES JUDIC _Poële_ the quails. Dish them in the form of a crown, each on a small, braised lettuce, with a cock’s kidney on either side and a truffle on top. Coat with a half-glaze sauce prepared with quail _fumet_. 1891—CAILLES LUCULLUS Cook the quails in butter. Dish them in a circle on a round dish, each on an oval or rectangular fried _croûton_, and between each set a fine truffle cooked in Champagne and chicken glaze. 1892—CAILLES A LA NORMANDE Peel, mince and toss some apples in butter, as explained under “Faisan à la Normande.” Allow half an apple per quail. Garnish the bottom of a _cocotte_ with some of these apples; upon them set the quails, browned in butter; add what remains of the apples; sprinkle with a few tablespoonfuls of cream, and complete the cooking in the oven. 1893—CAILLES AUX PETITS POIS A LA ROMAINE Cook the quails in butter. At the same time, fry in butter one small new onion and two-thirds oz. of raw, chopped ham, for each quail. Add some peas, shelled at the last moment, and cook without any moistening whatsoever. The moisture contained in the ham and peas is sufficient for the cooking. The peas should be ready simultaneously with the quails. Serve the quails and the peas separately, in little, closed timbales. The diner mixes them. 1894—CAILLES AUX RAISINS Cook the quails in butter. Swill the utensil with a few drops of dry, white wine and a little verjuice; add half a tablespoonful of strong game _fumet_ for each quail; and dish in a very hot _cocotte_ with about one oz. of fresh peeled grapes for each quail. 1895—CAILLES RICHELIEU Select some fresh and plump quails; remove their gizzards; season them inside with a grain of salt and a few drops of brandy; insert a piece of raw truffle into each bird, and truss them as for an entrée. Set them in a sautépan, snugly pressed one against the other, and season them with salt. Cover them with a coarse _julienne_ of carrots, onions and celery, cooked in butter, and prepared as far as possible from new vegetables. Moisten, just enough to cover, with some succulent amber-coloured veal stock, gelatinous and fine; cover, boil, and then poach gently for twelve minutes. This done, add a _julienne_ of truffles (raw if possible) which should equal only half of the vegetable _julienne_, and poach for a further two minutes, that the truffles may cook and the quails be done. Dish in a timbale, clear of grease, and pour the cooking-liquor and the _julienne_ over the quails. Pilaff rice is often served with quails prepared in this way. 1896—RIZOTTO DE CAILLES Into each quail insert a piece of fresh, pounded pork fat, the size of a hazel nut, combined with an equal quantity of white truffle; and cook them in a saucepan with butter. Add their fat to a previously-prepared Rizotto. Dish this rizotto in a timbale, and hollow it out so as to make a nest for the quails. Sprinkle the latter with the saucepan-swillings, consisting of game _fumet_; and send the dish to the table at once. 1897—CAILLES SOUS LA CENDRE Stuff the quails with a little smooth truffled game forcemeat, and wrap them each in a buttered vine-leaf, followed by a slice of bacon, and finally by two sheets of buttered paper. Place them on the hearth-stone; cover them with very hot cinders, and cook thus for thirty-five minutes, taking care to renew the hot cinders from time to time. When about to serve them, remove the outside covering of paper which is charred, but leave the other coverings. N.B.—A log fire is essential for this recipe. 1898—CAILLES SOUVAROFF Prepare these as described under “Faisan à la Souvaroff” (No. 1845). 1899—CAILLES A LA TURQUE Truss the quails as for an entrée; brown them in butter, and complete their cooking in pilaff rice, combined with a quarter of its weight of cooked and chopped egg-plant pulp. Set the rice in a pyramid on a dish; place the quails all round (upright against the rice), and surround with a thread of quail _fumet_. 1900—TIMBALE DE CAILLES ALEXANDRA Coat a well-buttered timbale mould with patty paste, and line it with slices of bacon so as to completely cover the paste. The slices of bacon in this case are there to prevent the moistening of the timbale from reaching the paste. Insert a piece of foie gras into each quail; stiffen them in butter, and set them against the sides of the timbale in successive tiers. Completely garnish the middle with small, peeled truffles; add one-quarter pint of excellent stock with Madeira (per six quails), and a few bits of bay-leaf. Close the timbale with a layer of paste and cook in a moderately hot oven for one and one-quarter hours. Turn out upon withdrawing from the oven, and serve the dish as it stands. N.B.—(1) The shell of paste merely serves to hold in the quails and their garnish, and ought not to be eaten. (2) The same timbale may be prepared with ortolans, except that these need only forty-five minutes’ cooking. =Cold Quails= 1901—CHAUD-FROID DE CAILLES EN BELLE-VUE The quails should be boned for a chaud-froid, and stuffed with _gratin_ forcemeat of game with a rod of foie gras and another of truffle set in the middle. This done, reshape them; wrap them each in a square of muslin; poach them for twenty minutes in an excellent veal stock, and let them cool therein. When they are quite cold, dry them; and dip them, so as to veneer them all over, in a good brown chaud-froid sauce (No. 34), prepared with quail _fumet_. Decorate the breast of each quail elegantly with bits of truffle and poached white of egg; sprinkle with cold melted savoury jelly, so as to fix the decoration; and leave to set. Remove the excess of sauce from around the quails; set them in a square, deep dish; cover them with very good limpid savoury jelly, and place them in a refrigerator until they are required. 1902—CAILLES EN CAISSES Prepare the quails as for a chaud-froid, as above; but set each in an oval, pleated case of delicate porcelain or paper. Border with a thin thread of chopped jelly, and on each quail set a head, the eyes of which may be imitated by means of a ring of white of egg and a central spot of truffle. 1903—CAILLES GLACÉES AU GRANITÉ I shall only give a few recipes of this class; for the series is a long one, and I recommend them more particularly on account of their quaintness. These dishes, wherein a sugary and glazed preparation is introduced, are highly esteemed in summer; but they really belong to the culinary repertory of hot countries. 1904—CAILLES GLACÉES CERISETTE. Prepare the quails as for an entrée and poach them for 12 minutes in a strong veal stock, with Champagne. This done, put them each into a small, oval mould; fill up these moulds with cooking-liquor, cleared of all grease and strained, and leave them to set on ice. This preliminary procedure applies to all quail dishes in this series. Now prepare a Granité with cherry juice (see No. 2930). Set this Granité in a pyramid on a dish incrusted in ice. Turn out the quails and place them round the Granité; fill up the gaps between them with small heaps of stoned cherries, poached in syrup for a few minutes and quite cold. 1905—CAILLES GLACÉES CARMEN. Prepare the quails as above, and place them round a rock of Granité made from pomegranates. 1906—CAILLES GLACÉES MARYLAND. Set them round a rock of Granité made with pineapple. 1907—CAILLES GLACÉES REINE AMELIE. Prepare the quails in the usual way, and lay them round a rock of Granité prepared with tomatoes. 1908—CAILLES GLACÉES AU ROMANÉE. Poach the quails in stock combined with Romanée wine, and set them round a rock of Granité made with verjuice. 1909—FILETS DE CAILLES AUX POMMES D’OR. Raise the quails’ _suprêmes_, after having poached and cooled them. Set these _suprêmes_ in the rinds of small oranges or tangerines, and fill up the rinds with jelly prepared with Port. When about to serve, deck each orange or tangerine, by means of the piping-bag, with a small ornament of Granité, prepared with the juice of the fruit used. 1910—CAILLES CECILIA Roast the quails, keeping them juicy, and leave them to cool. This done, raise their fillets and skin these; then, with the remains of the meat and an equal quantity of foie gras, prepare a purée. Set each fillet of quail on a similarly-shaped slice of liver, causing it to adhere by means of the prepared purée, and coat with brown chaud-froid sauce. When the sauce has quite set, place these fillets in an even border-mould, _clothed_ with very limpid aspic, and decorated with truffles. Fill up the mould with the same aspic jelly, and let the latter set. When about to serve, turn out on a napkin, after the manner of an aspic. 1911—CAILLES AU CHÂTEAU-YQUEM Prepare the quails like those “à la Richelieu” (No. 1895). After having added the _julienne_, sprinkle them with Château-Yquem; cover; reduce, and complete their cooking as directed. When they are poached, transfer them to another saucepan; add ten slices of truffle per quail; strain their cooking-liquor, through muslin, over them, and poach them for a further two minutes. This done, place the quails in a timbale; cover them with the cooking-liquor cleared of all grease; leave it to set, and serve on a block of ice. 1912—MANDARINES DE CAILLES Slice the tangerine rinds at their stem-ends with an even round cutter; remove the sections; put them to dry, and skin them raw. Three-parts garnish the tangerine rinds with a quail _Mousse_, combined with foie gras, cut into dice; set a roasted quail’s fillet on the _Mousse_; coat with brown chaud-froid sauce, and cover with the sections of tangerine, glazed with aspic jelly. Keep in the cool for some time and dish on a napkin. 1913—CAILLES NILLSON Proceed as for “Cailles au Château-Yquem,” and set each quail in a small, silver _cassolette_. Cover with the cooking-liquor, cleared of grease and strained, and surround each quail with four small very white cocks’ kidneys. 1914—CAILLES RICHELIEU FROIDES Prepare these like the “Hot Cailles Richelieu”; place them in a square, deep dish; cover with the cooking-liquor and the garnish and let them cool until the cooking-liquor sets. Then clear the dish of all grease and serve on a block of ice. 1915—TIMBALE DE CAILLES TZARINE Line a round pie-dish with ordinary paste, and coat it inside with slices of bacon. In the middle, place a fresh foie gras seasoned with salt, pepper and allspice, and surround it with quails, stuffed with quarters of truffles, set upright with their breasts against the bacon. Fill up the timbale with whole raw and peeled truffles; cover with a round slice of bacon; close the timbale with a layer of paste sealed down round the edges; make a slit in the top, and bake in a hot oven for one and one-quarter hours. When withdrawing the timbale from the oven, pour into it some veal stock flavoured with Madeira, and let it be sufficiently gelatinous to set like a jelly. Keep the timbale in the cool for one or two days before serving it. 1916—CAILLES A LA VENDANGEUSE Roast the quails; let them cool, and set them, each in a little dosser of dry paste, resting against a cushion lying on a round dish. On top of the cushion plant a leafy vine-shoot bearing grapes. Surround the quails with white and black grapes (peeled and pipped) and cover with a slightly gelatinous aspic jelly, prepared with liqueur brandy. 1917—MOUSSES DE CAILLES See the various remarks made concerning this subject, under Pheasant, Partridge and Woodcock. 1918—LAND RAIL, ROI DE CAILLES OU RÂLE DE GENÊTS The Land Rail, which must not be confused with the Water Rail, is most often served roasted, but all the quail recipes, hot or cold (except those in which Granité forms an accompaniment) may be applied to it. 1919—HAZEL-HENS 1920—BLACK GAME 1921—PRAIRIE-HENS 1922—PTARMIGAN 1923—GROUSE 1924—GANGAS These birds, one or two of which, such as grouse and the hazel-hen, are of incomparable delicacy and high culinary value, are mostly served roasted. _Mousses_, _Mousselines_ and Salmis are also prepared from them, after the directions already given. But I must remind the reader that when they serve in the preparation of a salmis, their skins and legs, which are bitter, must be discarded. All these birds must be treated while still very fresh. 1925—GRIVES ET MERLES DE CORSE (Thrushes and Corsican Blackbirds) The greater part of the quail recipes, more particularly the “en casserole” and “sous la cendre” ones, may be applied to these excellent birds. The two following recipes are proper to them. 1926—GRIVES OU MERLES A LA BONNE-FEMME Cook the birds in butter, with one oz. of very small dice of salted breast of bacon to each bird. Put them into a hot _cocotte_ with two-thirds oz. of butter per bird; heat; add some square _croûtons_ fried in butter; sprinkle with the saucepan-swillings, which should be a few drops of brandy; cover, and serve very hot immediately. 1927—GRIVES OU MERLES A LA LIÉGEOISE Cook the birds in butter on the stove, in an uncovered earthenware saucepan. When they are nearly done, sprinkle them with two finely-chopped juniper berries per bird; add some round _croûtons_ of bread-crumb fried in butter; cover, and serve very hot. This procedure particularly suits thrushes, more especially when these come from the Ardennes. 1928—GRIVES ET MERLES FROIDS The various, cold preparations of quails, except those comprising a Granité, may be applied to thrushes. =Alouettes ou Mauviettes (Larks)= These birds are generally served to the number of two or three for each person. 1929—MAUVIETTES A LA BONNE-FEMME Proceed exactly as directed for the thrushes. 1930—MAUVIETTES A LA MÈRE MARIANNE Slice some peeled and cored russet apples, and three-parts cook them in butter. Spread this stew in thick layers on a buttered dish. Simply stiffen the seasoned larks in nut-brown butter, and place them upon the stewed apples, pressing them slightly into the latter. Sprinkle with very fine bread-crumbs and melted butter, and set to glaze in the oven or at the Salamander, just long enough to complete the cooking of the larks. 1931—ALOUETTES DU PÈRE PHILIPPE Clean some fine, medium-sized potatoes, allowing one to each lark; and cut a cover from each, which thin down until it is only one-sixth inch thick. With a root-spoon, hollow out the potatoes in such wise as to allow of their each enclosing a lark. Stiffen the larks in butter, and add thereto some salted breast of bacon, cut into small dice and _blanched_, and in the proportion of one-third oz. per lark. Place a lark in each potato, together with a few bacon dice and some of the cooking-fat; return cover of each potato to its place; fix it there by means of cotton, and wrap each potato in oiled paper. Lay them on the hearth, cover them with hot cinders, and cook for about forty minutes, taking care to renew the cinders from time to time. 1932—MAUVIETTES FROIDES When cold, larks may be prepared in plain chaud-froid fashion, in cases, in Belle-vue, in Aspic, as _Mousses_, &c., in pursuance of the directions given under these various recipes. 1933—ORTOLANS Serve ortolans as plainly as possible; but the best method of preparing them is roasting. However, for the sake of variety, they may be prepared as follows:— 1934—SYLPHIDES D’ORTOLANS Butter some very small porcelain or silver _cassolettes_, and garnish them half-full with _mousseline_ forcemeat of ortolans prepared with truffle essence. Set these _cassolettes_ in the front of the oven, that the forcemeat may poach. Cook in butter, for three minutes only, as many ortolans as there are garnished _cassolettes_, and proceed so as to have them just ready when the forcemeat is poached. Place an ortolan in each _cassolette_, and sprinkle them with nut-brown butter, combined with a little pale melted glaze and pineapple juice. 1935—BECS-FIGUES ET BEGUINETTES (Fig Peckers) These birds are not met with in English markets; it is therefore useless to give the recipes concerning them. I will only say that they may be prepared like the larks. 1936—CANARDS SAUVAGES (Wild Duck) 1937—SARCELLES (Teal) 1938—PILETS (Pintails and Widgeons) Birds of this class are mostly served roasted. They may, however, be used in preparing excellent Salmis, which may be made after “Salmis de Faisan” (No. 1847) or after “Salmis à la Rouennaise” (No. 1763). They may also be prepared after all the recipes of “Caneton à la Rouennaise.” 1939—PLUVIERS DORÉS (Golden Plover) 1940—VANNEAUX (Lapwings) 1941—CHEVALIERS DIVERS (Various Sandpipers) These various birds are generally served roasted. They may also be served “en Salmis,” but in that case the skin must be discarded in the preparation of the cullis. They only appear on very ordinary menus, and could not be served at an important dinner.