No. 2008

Squabs a la Crispi

Pigeonneaux a la Crispi

Bone the backs of some small squabs, fill the insides with quenelle forcemeat (No. 89), containing mushrooms, ham and truffles cut in three-sixteenths of an inch squares, enclosing it well in the birds. Lay some rings in a sautoir already garnished with slices of fat pork, and place the squabs inside these rings, cover with more slices of the pork and moisten with a very little mirepoix stock (No. 419) with Madeira wine, and when cooked place a round tin plate on the squabs with a weight on top to flatten the birds slightly. Dress them crown-shaped and cover over with green ravigote sauce (No. 531); lay a cooked trussed crawfish and serve more of the sauce separately.

← No. 2007 Squabs Crapaudine—Broiled Pigeons & Squabs No. 2009 Squabs a la Flourens →

For the Modern Kitchen

A Delmonico's construction that depends on three cross-referenced preparations, so read it as an assembly job rather than a single recipe. The hinge is the boning: the back is removed so the bird can be filled and then pressed flat, and if the skin is torn the forcemeat escapes during the braise.

SquabFarmed squab, commonly around 12-16 oz each, and often sold frozen. Ranhofer's "small squabs" are young pigeons that have never flown; an older bird will be tough under this gentle braise. Allow one per person.
Boning the backSlit along the backbone and work the carcass out from the inside, leaving the breast skin, wings and legs intact. Keep the bones for the mirepoix stock. The cavity is then filled and the skin drawn together underneath so the bird sits breast-up.
Quenelle forcemeat (No. 89)In this book that is a pounded veal or poultry farce bound with panada and egg; consult No. 89 for the exact composition. A modern food-processor mousseline of chicken or veal with cream and egg white does the same work. The garnish dice are 3/16 inch, a shade under 5 mm, and should be small enough to slice cleanly.
Sautoir and ringsA sautoir is a straight-sided shallow pan, not a wok-shaped sauteuse. The "rings" are plain metal timbale or flan rings set on the pan bottom to hold each stuffed bird in shape while it cooks; egg rings work.
Fat porkUnsmoked fatback or barding fat, not bacon. Smoked bacon will dominate the Madeira and the herb sauce. Sheets of pork fat are sold as barde by butchers; caul fat is an acceptable substitute.
Cooking and temperatureThe recipe gives no oven, temperature or timing: cook covered and gently, on a low burner or in a low oven, with only enough mirepoix stock and Madeira to keep the pan from drying. Because the birds are stuffed with a raw farce, take them to 160F at the centre of the forcemeat rather than treating them as pink-breast squab.
PressingThe weighted plate goes on while the birds are still hot from the pan; a plate and a couple of tins is enough. Ranhofer asks only that the birds be flattened slightly, and gives no pressing time.
Green ravigote (No. 531)A green herb sauce, coloured with a puree of blanched herbs such as tarragon, chervil, chives and parsley. Ravigote appears in both warm velvete-based and cold mayonnaise forms, so check No. 531 for which Ranhofer means here before deciding whether to serve the squabs warm or cool.
Crawfish garnish"Trussed" means the tail bent under and skewered so the crawfish sits upright, cooked in court bouillon. The recipe calls for a single crawfish, set inside the crown. Purely decorative, and easily omitted.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this is a characteristic entry: a small bird boned, stuffed, braised under fat, pressed, and then named after somebody. Dishes "a la Crispi" in this period are generally taken to honour Francesco Crispi, the Italian prime minister who was much in the newspapers during the 1880s and 1890s, though Ranhofer does not explain his dedications. The squab itself was ordinary restaurant stock, and cookbooks of the 1890s treat pigeons and squabs as an unremarkable staple in a way no modern menu does. The technique of pressing a braised bird under a weighted plate belongs to the same family as galantines and pigeon en crapaudine (the recipe immediately preceding this one), where the object is a flat, even slice that shows off the forcemeat and its dice of ham and truffle in cross-section.