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WOODCOCK (Sportsman's fashion)
Truss three woodcocks, and put them down to a clear fire. At the end of a quarter of an hour take them up, and divide them into neat joints. Put the inferior portions into a saucepan, with four minced shallots and a sprig of thyme, and add a wine-glassful of good gravy, another of wine, a table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, and the strained juice of half a lemon. Let the gravy simmer for ten minutes. Remove the gizzards from the trail of the woodcocks, and pound them in a mortar, with half a shallot, a slice of fresh butter, and a little pepper and salt. When smooth, rub the paste through a sieve, and spread it upon some small pieces of fried bread cut into the shape of hearts. Before using these, put them in the oven for two or three minutes. Put the joints of the woodcocks into a separate saucepan, strain the gravy upon them, and let them heat gently without boiling. Place them on a dish, put the fried bread, with the trail, round them, pour the gravy over all, and serve very hot. Time, a quarter of an hour to roast the woodcocks; ten minutes to simmer the gravy.
A Victorian game-cook's dish: the birds are half-roasted, jointed, and finished in their own sauce, with the trail spread on croûtes. Almost everything in it hinges on not overcooking the bird a second time.
- The hinge: never let the second cooking boilThe jointed birds go back into strained gravy only to warm through. Woodcock breast is lean and dark, and a simmer turns it grey and liverish within a minute or two. Keep the pan below a shiver.
- Sourcing the birdsWoodcock is not sold in American supermarkets or by American butchers — the American woodcock is a migratory game bird that may be taken in season but not sold, so in the States this is a hunter's recipe only. In the UK and much of Europe, Eurasian woodcock is legally sold in season by game dealers. Each bird is small; three birds serve three people modestly, four at a push as a first course.
- Lead shotShot birds carry pellets and pellet fragments, which matter more here than usual because the trail is eaten barely cooked and is only passed through a sieve. Feel the flesh over carefully when jointing, and be aware that lead-shot game is not advised for children or pregnant women.
- "Down to a clear fire"A clear fire is one burnt down past flame to steady radiant heat; the birds were spitted in front of it, not over it, with a dripping-pan beneath. The book gives no oven setting, but a hot oven of roughly 425-450F for about 12-15 minutes is a reasonable modern stand-in for a quarter-hour before the fire, leaving the breast pink.
- The trailWoodcock are traditionally roasted undrawn, and the "trail" is the intestines, which are considered the best of the bird. Only the gizzard is removed, as the recipe says, because it holds grit. The trail paste is warmed on its croûtes for two or three minutes and no more; it is effectively a rare offal spread, which is worth knowing before serving it to guests.
- A wine-glassfulIn Victorian cookery books this is a small measure, usually reckoned at about 2 to 2 1/2 fl oz (half a gill), not the volume of a modern wine glass. So roughly 1/4 cup gravy and 1/4 cup wine -- a light sherry, madeira or a dry red all suit.
- Mushroom ketchupA thin, dark, salty mushroom liquor, not a tomato product; still sold in Britain and worth keeping. A teaspoon of soy plus a teaspoon of mushroom soaking liquid stands in for the tablespoon called for.
- CroûtesFry the bread in butter or in the dripping caught under the birds, cut the hearts before frying rather than after, and spread the trail while the bread is still warm so it softens into the crust.
Woodcock has long been prized in British game cookery, and much of its mystique rests on the trail: because the bird feeds by probing for worms and its gut is said to empty quickly, it is traditionally roasted undrawn, the intestines falling onto toast set beneath the spit. Old sporting writers praised that toast as highly as the meat. "Sportsman's fashion" here signals the shooting-field register — a dish built around what a gun brings home rather than what a poulterer sends up, and one that assumes the cook has three birds at once. Cassell's New Dictionary of Cookery, a large household compilation of the late Victorian and Edwardian period, carries a long game section of this kind; game was reaching cities by rail in quantity in these decades. The elaborate second cooking — jointing, saucing with shallot, thyme, wine and mushroom ketchup — is characteristic of the period's taste for turning a plain roast into something dressed for the table.