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Squabs or Any Small Birds
Clean and singe the squabs the same as chicken. Split them down the back; flatten with a rolling-pin and broil over hot coals. Put them on a hot plate; butter slightly and season with pepper and salt. Serve on buttered toast.
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A straightforward grill recipe: the bird is spatchcocked, flattened and cooked fast over direct heat. Everything depends on the fire being hot and the bird being thin and even.
- What a squab isA squab is a young domestic pigeon, four weeks old or less, weighing about 12-16 oz dressed. Butchers and game dealers still carry them frozen; a small poussin of similar weight behaves the same way under the broiler, and quail will work but are much smaller and cook far faster.
- SingeingSingeing burned off the hair-fine down left after plucking. Birds sold today are machine-cleaned, so this step is usually unnecessary. If you see stray filaments, pass the bird briefly over a gas flame.
- Spatchcock and flattenCut down either side of the backbone with shears and remove it, then press hard with the heel of the hand or a rolling-pin to crack the breastbone. An even thickness is the whole point; an unflattened bird chars outside before the thighs are done.
- "Hot coals"This means a charcoal fire burned down to grey ash, radiating steadily rather than flaming. Under a broiler, use the highest setting with the rack about 4 inches from the element.
- Timing and donenessA flattened squab takes roughly 12-15 minutes total, skin side toward the heat first, turned once. Squab is dark-fleshed and is traditionally taken off while the breast is still rosy, around 145F, though this is below the 165F recommended for poultry and carries the usual risk; the thighs should read higher. Cooked through to well done it turns dry and livery.
- Rest before servingGive the birds five minutes on the hot plate before they reach the table. The butter melts into them and the juices settle, which is also what the toast underneath is for.
- YieldOne squab per person as a main course, half a bird as a first course. Season after cooking as written, or salt 30 minutes ahead for better-crisped skin.
Squab was ordinary American market poultry into the early twentieth century, not the luxury it became later: pigeon lofts were kept on farms and city rooftops, and the birds were sold young because a squab that has begun to fly is tough. Splitting a small bird down the back, flattening it and grilling it is one of the oldest ways to cook poultry over fire, and the same method carries the English name spatchcock and the Italian alla diavola. The instruction to serve on buttered toast reflects the period's habit of catching the juices of any broiled bird or chop on a slab of bread, a practice that runs through nineteenth-century cookbooks from game birds to kidneys.