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PARTRIDGES, BAKED (a I'Italienne)
Pluck and truss a brace of partridges as if for roasting, and put into each bird a forcemeat made as follows. Grate half an ounce of stale bread into very fine crumbs. Season these with as much salt and white pepper as will stand on a threepenny-piece, and half a dozen grates of nutmeg; work in with the fingers an ounce of butter, and add a tea-spoonful of finely-minced parsley, and a tea-spoonful of lemon-juice. Dip two sheets of note-paper into some pure salad-oil' peel, mince finely, and mix thoroughly three good-sized mushrooms, a moderate-sized carrot, a small onion, two table-spoonfuls of parsley-leaves, and half a dozen leaves of thyme, with two or three truffles, if these are obtainable. Divide the minced vegetables into two equal portions, and spread them upon the paper, lay the partridges upon them, and cover the breasts with fat bacon, tied securely round with twine, and fasten the paper. Lay the birds side by side, breasts uppermost, in a deep pan, cover the partridges closely, bake in a good oven, and baste once or twice during the process. When they are done enough, take off the paper and the bacon, put the birds on a hot dish, and pour over them a sauce made as follows. Put half a pint of good stock into a saucepan with an onion, the trimmings of the mushrooms and truffles, a slice of carrot, and a little salt and pepper, if required. Boil quickly for half an hour, then strain the sauce, thicken it with a dessert-spoonful of flour, add a dessert-spoonful of browning, two table-spoonfuls of claret, and the minced vegetables which covered the partridges; boil up once, and serve. Time, from thirty to forty minutes to bake the birds, if of moderate size. Probable cost, 5s. Sufficient for four or five persons.
A Victorian version of birds baked en papillote, with the paper parcel doing the work a modern cook would give to foil or parchment. The vegetable mince serves twice: once as a bed under the birds, once stirred into the finished sauce.
- Note-paper means parchmentOiled writing paper was the standard wrapper for baking in a parcel. Use baking parchment brushed with oil; ordinary paper today is often coated or bleached and is not intended for food.
- A braceTwo birds. Grey or red-legged partridge run roughly 10-14 oz each dressed, depending on species, which is why two feed four to five people only when there is a substantial sauce and garnish. Two quail per person, or one small poussin each, are a reasonable substitute in the parcel.
- A good ovenNo temperature is given; a brisk oven, in the region of 400F, fits the stated timing. The parcel and the bacon barding protect the breast, so the heat can be brisk. Thirty to forty minutes is realistic for birds of that size, and partridge dries out quickly if taken much beyond done.
- As much as will stand on a threepenny-pieceA very small coin, about the diameter of a modern dime. Treat it as a generous pinch of salt and a scant pinch of white pepper for the whole forcemeat.
- Half an ounce of breadcrumbsOnly about two tablespoons of fine dry crumbs (a little more if the grated bread is still soft). With an ounce of butter (2 tablespoons) worked in, the stuffing is closer to a seasoned butter than a bread stuffing, and it bastes the cavity from inside.
- BrowningBurnt-sugar caramel colouring for darkening gravies, made at home or bought ready-bottled; still sold as gravy browning or as Kitchen Bouquet. A teaspoon of dark soy or a spoonful of homemade caramel does the same job; without it the sauce is pale rather than wrong.
- Thickening the sauceA dessert-spoonful is about two teaspoons. Slake the flour in a little cold stock or work it into softened butter before adding, or it will lump in the hot strained liquid.
- TrufflesThe recipe itself marks them optional, 'if these are obtainable'. Fresh truffle is a luxury purchase; the mushroom trimmings and a small amount of dried porcini soaked and minced give the sauce comparable depth.
- CostFive shillings for a dish serving four or five is a high figure for the book, consistent with partridge being a game-dealer purchase rather than everyday marketing.
Partridge was wild-shot rather than farmed through the nineteenth century, and English cookery books treat it as a bird to be handled carefully: lean, close-grained, and ruined by a long roast. Wrapping in oiled paper over a bed of chopped aromatics, then barding the breast with bacon, is the classic answer, and the phrase à l'italienne in Victorian menu French generally signals a brown sauce built on a mince of mushroom, onion and herbs, sometimes with wine, rather than anything specifically from Italy. Cassell's, published for a broad middle-class readership from the 1870s onward, prices its dishes in shillings and pence and states how many they serve, which is why an entry like this reads as much like a household budget as a set of instructions.