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Partridges, Braised, with Truffles
Truss three young well-hung partridges, and braise them according to the directions given in the last recipe. Wash, wipe, and pare two or three fine truffles. Cut them into thin slices, put them into a stewpan, with a little salt and cayenne, a finely-minced shallot, and two table-spoonfuls of chopped parsley. Fry them gently for about a quarter of an hour, and be careful not to break them; then drain them, and put with them half an ounce of butter, the strained juice of a lemon, and a quarter of a pint of the brown gravy in which the partridges have been cooked. Let the sauce boil. Drain the partridges. Place them on a hot dish, in the form of a triangle, pour part of the sauce into the centre, and send the rest to table in a tureen. Time, one hour and a half to cook the birds; a quarter of an hour to fry the truffles. Probable cost of partridges, 1s. 6d. each; truffles, variable. Sufficient for six or seven persons.
A late-Victorian game dish that assumes you have a braising pan going and fresh truffles to hand. Two things in it need rethinking: the length of the braise and the length of time the truffles spend in the pan.
- "Well-hung"Victorian game was hung for several days to a week or more to develop flavour and tenderise. Modern birds, wild or farmed, arrive already hung or barely at all, and are correspondingly milder and firmer. Ask the butcher how long the birds have hung; anything more than a few days is unusual now.
- Braising timeAn hour and a half will overcook a young partridge. Young birds want 30-40 minutes covered in liquid at a bare simmer, or until the leg joint gives; the leg meat should read about 165F. The long time given here suits an older, tougher bird.
- The trufflesA quarter of an hour of frying destroys fresh truffle aroma, which is volatile and largely gone with sustained heat. Warm the slices through in the butter for a minute or two at most, off a fierce flame, and add them to the sauce at the end rather than cooking them into it.
- Truffle quantity and substitution"Two or three fine truffles" would most likely have meant imported French black winter truffles, sold by weight. Two or three of any size is now an extravagant amount; 1-2 oz total, shaved, is plenty for three birds. Preserved truffle or a little truffle juice in the sauce is the honest substitute; truffle oil is a different flavour entirely.
- A quarter of a pintAn imperial quarter-pint is 5 fl oz, a little over half a US cup. This is the braising liquid, strained and skimmed, not stock from a carton.
- TrussingTie the legs and wings close to the body with kitchen string so the birds hold their shape through the braise and sit properly in the triangle described. Remove the string before serving.
- YieldThree partridges for six or seven people assumes a long dinner of many courses. As a main course, count one bird per person.
- ServingThe dish is meant to go out hot with the sauce split between plate and tureen. Heat the serving dish; small game birds shed their heat very fast.
Partridge was a mainstay of the British game season, opening on 1 September and running through the winter, and Cassell's gives it many entries because a middle-class household with a shooting connection or a good poulterer could reasonably expect birds on the table for months. The eighteen-pence-a-bird price quoted here puts partridge well within reach of the readership; the truffles, priced only as "variable", do not, and their presence marks this as a company dish drawing on French practice, where braised game finished with truffle belonged to grande cuisine. The distinction between roasting a young bird and braising an older one runs through much Victorian game cookery, and the hour and a half specified here looks like a survival of that logic even though the recipe calls for young birds. "Well-hung" reflects a period taste for high game that has largely receded in Britain.