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Pigeon Stuffed and Roasted (German Method)
Pluck and draw 2 young freshly killed pigeons. Open, scald, and clean the gizzard, and mince it with the liver and heart very finely. Mix with the mince the crumb of a roll which has been soaked in cold milk and pressed dry, and add a little salt and cayenne, a shallot chopped small, and a tablespoonful of shred parsley. If the flavor of the onion and the parsley is objected to, a little bacon and a pinch of powdered mace may be substituted for them. Bind the force-meat together with yolk of egg, and fill the crop with it between the flesh and the neck. The skin must be cut and raised carefully with the fingers, and then sewn or tied securely with thread. Dip the pigeons into butter, dredge well with flour, and season with pepper and salt. Cover them entirely with thin slices of fat bacon, put them into a stew-pan, and turn them frequently until they are brightly browned all over. Pour half a cupful of boiling water upon them, cover the saucepan closely, and let them steam until done enough. Serve on a hot dish, with the sauce round them. Time, about an hour to steam the birds. Sufficient for two persons.
A braise rather than a true roast, despite the title: the birds brown in fat under a bacon jacket, then finish in a covered pan with a splash of water. The one thing to get right is the crop pocket, which is the whole point of the German method.
- The crop pocketThe stuffing goes under the neck skin, not in the body cavity. Slit the skin at the neck, work your fingers between skin and breast to open a pouch, pack it loosely, then sew or tie it shut so it does not burst as the forcemeat swells.
- Sourcing the birdsWild pigeon is not a supermarket item; ask a game dealer for squab, which is the young farmed pigeon this recipe means by "young". They come plucked and drawn, so the first sentence is done for you, but ask for the giblets if you want the stuffing as written.
- GibletsGizzard, liver and heart from two small birds give perhaps two tablespoons of mince. Trim the gall from the liver, split the gizzard and rinse the grit out of the lining before scalding, and add extra chicken liver if the quantity looks thin.
- The crumb of a rollAbout a cup of soft crumb from a plain white roll, crusts off. Soak in cold milk, squeeze hard, and fluff it apart before mixing, or the forcemeat turns pasty.
- Bacon covering"Thin slices of fat bacon" means unsmoked fatback or thinly cut streaky bacon, wrapped over breast and legs. Modern smoked bacon will dominate the delicate flavour the mace variation is aiming for; unsmoked pancetta or barding fat is closer.
- Timing and donenessThe recipe gives about an hour of steaming, though it also calls for young birds. Modern squab is often served pink, around 145-150F in the thickest part of the breast, which takes roughly 20-30 minutes covered after browning; note that this is below the 165F usually recommended for poultry, and a full hour will give you a dry bird.
- The sauceHalf a cup of boiling water plus the butter and bacon fat leaves very little liquid. Loosen the pan with a splash more water or stock, taste for salt, and spoon it over; the flour dredge gives it just enough body.
- YieldTwo birds, two servings, as stated. Boiled potatoes or buttered cabbage carry the sauce well.
Stuffing the crop under the neck skin is found in German and Austrian cookery, though it was not exclusive to it -- English cooks also stuffed the crop of birds -- and the pouch keeps the forcemeat against the breast meat as the fat renders. English-language compilations of the period collected such dishes under headings like "German method" alongside French and English versions of the same bird, and pigeon was a common market item at the time, sold cheaply and eaten young. The alternative given here, bacon and mace in place of shallot and parsley, is a small window into period taste: mace and similar sweet spices were long used with poultry, and cooks who found onion and green herbs too assertive could fall back on it.