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Terrine of Partridge
Empty two partridges, bone them, cut them in two lengthwise, put them in a fryingpan with a little bacon fat, and fry them lightly till the flesh is set, then take them out. Cut the half of a calf's liver in slices, fry it quickly in a little bacon fat, with a little chopped onion, a sprinkling of fine herbs, and two or three pieces of raw ham. When cold put the liver in a mortar, pound it, then pass it through a fine hair-sieve. Put half as much pork and bacon as there is liver in the mortar to pound, then mix it with the liver, and season well with mixed spices, salt and pepper. Line a terrine with thin slices of fat bacon, then fill it with the halves of the partridges and the forcemeat, add some sweet herbs and a little Madeira; put a layer of forcemeat on the top. Cover with a flat of paste, put it in the oven, and bake it for two hours, basting it occasionally. When cooked, take the flat of paste off, put a light weight on the terrine, and let it cool; then take the flat of paste off, put a light weight on the terrine, and let it cool; then take the fat off, and cut the preparation up. Wipe and fix the terrine on a dish, garnish round the base with a folded napkin or an ornamental dish-paper, and serve.
A classic baked game pâté, written for a kitchen that had a larder full of pork fat and a boy to work the mortar. The method is sound; most of the updating is in equipment, temperature and one unavoidable ambiguity about seasoning.
- The hinge: cook to temperature, then press and waitTwo hours is a guide, not the measure. Bake until the center reads 160-165F, then press under a light weight as directed and chill at least overnight — two to three days is better. An unrested terrine tastes flat and crumbles when sliced.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given because none could be. Treat it as a moderate oven, 325-350F, and set the terrine in a pan of hot water to keep the outer forcemeat from tightening before the center is done.
- The "flat of paste"A lid of flour-and-water dough rolled thin, used to seal the terrine during baking and discarded afterward. It is not pastry to eat. A double layer of parchment under a tight lid or foil does the same job.
- A duplicated lineThe instruction to remove the paste, weight the terrine and cool it appears twice in the original, evidently a compositor's error. Do it once.
- Quantities, as far as they can be pinned downTwo partridges run about 1 lb each; a whole calf's liver runs about 2-3 lb, so half is roughly 1 to 1½ lb. "Half as much pork and bacon as there is liver" is a proportion, so weigh the sieved liver and go from there. Salt is left entirely to the cook — 1.5 to 2 percent of the total weight of the forcemeat is the modern standard.
- Fat bacon and raw ham"Thin slices of fat bacon" for lining means unsmoked pork back fat or barding fat, not today's smoked streaky bacon, which will dominate the game. "Raw ham" is a dry-cured ham in the prosciutto family.
- The spice mixtures"Fine herbs" is fines herbes — parsley, chervil, chives, tarragon. "Mixed spices" in a charcuterie context is pâté spice or quatre épices: pepper with nutmeg, clove and ginger or cinnamon.
- Mortar and sieveA food processor replaces both, but keep everything cold and pulse rather than run it, or the fat will smear and the terrine will be greasy. The hair sieve step is worth imitating with a fine mesh strainer if you want the silky texture the original is after.
- Sourcing the birdsFarmed chukar or gray partridge is sold by game suppliers; quail or a small Cornish hen will stand in, adjusting for weight. Serves 8-10 as a first course, sliced thin.
Oscar Tschirky, maître d'hôtel of the Waldorf and then the Waldorf-Astoria, published his Cook Book in 1896, and its game chapters record a moment when wild birds were still routine luxury restaurant fare in New York rather than a specialty order. The terrine itself is French to the core: the word names the earthenware vessel, not the dish, and a forcemeat bound with liver, pork and back fat, lined with barding fat and sealed under a flour-and-water lid, is the standard charcutier's method that Carême and Gouffé had already codified. What is distinctly American is the confusion behind the name — "partridge" on a nineteenth-century U.S. menu might mean the imported gray partridge, the ruffed grouse of New England, or the bobwhite quail of the South, depending on who was writing the bill of fare. The finish, with the terrine wiped and set on a folded napkin, belongs to the era's cold buffet service, where the vessel came to the table as part of the presentation.