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Grilled Widgeons
Remove the heads, neck and wings from a brace of widgeons, split them down the back and truss as for spatchcock. Remove the breast-bones and rub the interior of the birds with mushroom powder. Put the trimmings and bones into a stewpan with the gizzards and livers, one teaspoonful of made mustard, one wineglassful of port wine, salt, pepper and cayenne to taste, a small quantity of brown stock, and boil gently for half an hour. Lay the birds on a gridiron and broil them over a clear fire, turning them when done on one side. When cooked, lay the birds on a hot dish, squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the gravy and strain it over them. Serve while very hot. Mallard or pintail can be used in place of widgeons if preferred.
A wild-duck grill from the Waldorf's game repertoire, written when wildfowl was bought by the dozen at market. The method is sound; the sourcing and the timing are what need translating.
- Sourcing the birdsWidgeon, mallard and pintail are migratory game and cannot legally be sold in the United States, so the birds must come from a licensed hunter or from a farmed substitute. Check any wild bird carefully for shot before cooking.
- A braceTwo birds. Widgeon are small ducks, roughly 1½ to 2 lb whole, so a brace serves two generously or four as a course within a larger meal.
- Truss as for spatchcockSplit down the backbone, flatten, then skewer through the legs and wing stubs to hold the bird flat. Removing the breastbone as directed lets the whole carcass sit in even contact with the bars.
- Mushroom powder and made mustardMushroom powder is simply dried mushrooms ground fine — dried porcini or ordinary dried button mushrooms in a spice grinder. "Made mustard" means prepared mustard from the jar, not dry mustard powder.
- A wineglassfulIn this period roughly 2 fl oz, a quarter cup. The port is there for depth rather than sweetness; a tawny or ruby both work.
- A clear fireA bright, smokeless fire burned down to even embers with no flame; charcoal embers are the nearest modern equivalent. Duck skin drips fat and will flare, so bank the fire and be ready to move the birds.
- How long to grillWild duck is lean and dark and goes dry and liverish if cooked through. Reckon on 5 to 7 minutes a side over good heat and pull the birds at 130–135°F in the thickest part of the breast, then rest five minutes.
- The gravyHalf an hour of gentle simmering with the trimmings, gizzards and livers gives a thin, strongly flavoured jus rather than a sauce. Strain it firmly, add the lemon off the heat, and taste before adding more cayenne — the port reduces and concentrates.
Oscar Tschirky's book dates from the era when wild waterfowl was a market commodity: canvasback, redhead, teal and widgeon arrived in New York by the barrel from Chesapeake Bay and the Midwest, and grand hotel menus listed them by species the way they listed oysters by bed. Market hunting on that scale was curtailed by the Lacey Act of 1900 and effectively ended for migratory birds by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which is why a recipe casually offering "a brace of widgeons" now reads as a document from another food system. Widgeon (usually spelled wigeon today) is a dabbling duck rated below canvasback by nineteenth-century gourmets but well above the fish-eating diving ducks, and the treatment here — mushroom powder, mustard, port, cayenne, a squeeze of lemon — is the standard English game-bird seasoning of the period, meant to meet the strong flavour of the meat head-on rather than soften it.