No. 2013

Squabs, Colbert Sauce—Broiled

Pigeonneaux Grilles Sauce Colbert

Select small squabs and after they have been plucked, drawn and singed, clean them nicely and cut the necks from the bodies; truss with the legs thrust inside and split them down through the back the whole length as far as the rump; beat the breasts to have them quite flat, pare, then season with salt and mignonette; immerse them in melted butter and roll in bread-crumbs; then broil over a slow fire for about ten minutes, laying them with the breast side downward and turning them over as fast as they attain a good color, finish cooking and dress with some gravy (No. 404) poured over or else serve them on a Colbert sauce (No. 451); garnish around with slices of lemon cut in halves.

← No. 2012 Squabs, American Style—Stuffed Pigeons & Squabs No. 2014 Squabs, English Style →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes a live coal fire, a butcher who sells birds whole and undrawn, and a kitchen with a numbered sauce list on the wall. The technique itself is simply spatchcocked squab, buttered and crumbed, and it transfers cleanly to a modern grill.

The hinge: crumbs over a slow fireButtered breadcrumbs scorch long before a bird is cooked, which is why he specifies a slow fire and breast-side down first. On a charcoal grill, bank the coals and work over indirect medium heat; on gas, one burner lit and the bird over the dark side, lid down.
MignonetteCoarsely cracked white peppercorns, cracked rather than ground. Black pepper coarsely cracked is an acceptable substitute; fine-ground pepper is not the same seasoning and burns more readily on a crumbed surface.
"Broil"In 1894 this means cooking on a gridiron over fire, not under an overhead element. An oven broiler will work if the rack sits well down, but the crumbs need watching every minute or two.
Buying the birdsSquab are young pigeons, sold today oven-ready at roughly 12-16 oz each, usually from a game butcher or by mail order; Ranhofer asks for small ones. He expects you to pluck, draw and singe; that stage is done for you, but check the cavity and pull any remaining pinfeathers with tweezers.
Splitting and flatteningCut down either side of the backbone or straight through it as written, open the bird out, and press the breast flat with the heel of your hand or a few taps of a heavy pan. Flattening is what makes ten minutes plausible; an unpounded bird will not cook evenly.
Ten minutes, and donenessThat figure is roughly right for a flattened squab over moderate coals, five minutes a side. Squab is dark-meated and is traditionally served pink at the breast; if you want to follow current food-safety guidance rather than restaurant practice, cook to 165F at the thigh, accepting that the breast will be well done.
The cross-referencesNo. 404 is Ranhofer's gravy, offered here as the plain alternative. No. 451 is his Colbert sauce; in the classical repertoire Colbert is a reduced meat glaze finished with butter, lemon juice and tarragon, so a modern equivalent is a small quantity of strong reduced brown stock whisked with cold butter off the heat, seasoned with lemon and tarragon. Serve it under the bird as he directs, or the crumbs soften.
YieldOne squab per person as a main course, half a bird as a first course. Half-slices of lemon around the platter are the whole garnish; nothing else is wanted.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a working record of the restaurant's kitchen, and its pigeon chapter reflects a period when squab was a standard market bird in American cities rather than a specialty item. The sauce is named for Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's finance minister, one of a cluster of nineteenth-century French sauces and garnishes given the names of seventeenth-century statesmen; the attribution is honorific rather than historical, and no connection to the man himself is documented. In the classical repertoire Colbert is bound to exactly this kind of dish - something flattened, crumbed and grilled - because the buttery, tarragon-sharpened glaze cuts the crust without soaking it.