Home › The Principles of Cookery › Pheasant

Pheasant

The pheasant, almost more than any other bird, requires to be hung as long as it possibly can be with safety. When this is done, the flesh acquires a delicious flavour, peculiar to itself; when it is not done, the flesh is tough and flavourless. The length of time that the bird should be kept depends, of course, upon the state of the weather. In cold, frosty weather three weeks may be safely permitted; in warm, damp weather four or five days will probably be found sufficient. As a general rule, the bird is ready for the spit when it begins to smell slightly, and to change colour; certainly it should never be cooked until the blood begins to drop from the bill. The hen pheasant is more delicate in flavour than the cock. The old birds may be known by the length and sharpness of the spurs, which in the young ones are short and round. Young pheasants are, of course, to be preferred. These birds are in season from October to February.