No. 2014

Squabs, English Style

Pigeonneaux a l'Anglaise

Truss eight squabs as for an entree (No. 178), wrap them up in bards of fat pork. Lay them in a saucepan lined with thin slices of ham and moisten to their height with white wine mirepoix stock (No. 419); cover with a round sheet of buttered paper and place the lid on tight. Boil and simmer until the squabs are thoroughly done; which will take about twenty-five minutes. Prepare eight oval-shaped bread croutons, three inches long by two wide, make an incision all around a quarter of an inch from the edge and to half their depth, then fry in clarified butter, and empty out the center. Dress the squabs on these croutons, range on a dish and place between each a vegetable garnishing composed of carrots trimmed to imitate new ones, then blanched and cooked in broth; turnips shaped like corks with the edges rounded, then blanched and cooked in white stock (No. 194a), small green peas boiled in salted water with fresh mint, tossing with butter after draining, and string beans boiled in salted water and finished with butter, fill in the center with a fine cauliflower boiled in salted water and having butter poured over. Serve a York sauce (No. 563) separately.

← No. 2013 Squabs, Colbert Sauce—Broiled Pigeons & Squabs No. 2015 Squabs, New York Style →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade with stockpots already on the range; the dish is a straightforward braise once the cross-references are resolved. The hinge is the fat pork: without it the squabs dry out in the twenty-five minutes of simmering.

Bards of fat porkThin sheets of fresh pork back fat (fatback), tied over the breasts. Sliced pancetta or salt pork blanched to remove excess salt does the same job; ordinary streaky bacon adds smoke the dish does not want.
White wine mirepoix stockNo. 419 is a stock in the mirepoix family: diced carrot, onion, celery and herbs cooked down with pork or ham fat, moistened with white wine and broth. A well-made light chicken stock with a glass of dry white wine and a handful of aromatic vegetables stands in cleanly.
Buttered paperThe round sheet is a cartouche cut to the width of the pan. It keeps the exposed backs of the birds from drying and holds condensation over them; parchment cut to fit works exactly as described.
Twenty-five minutes is for a braiseModern squab is usually roasted rare to pink at the breast, but braised birds in liquid are meant to be cooked through and tender. Squabs weighing under a pound will be done nearer twenty minutes; press the thigh joint for give rather than watching the clock.
Sourcing the birdsSquab means a young domestic pigeon, four to five weeks old, roughly 12 to 16 oz whole. Order from a butcher or game supplier; if none is available, poussin of similar weight braises well by the same method, though the flesh is far milder.
The croutons are croustadesCut oval slices about 3 by 2 inches from a close-crumbed loaf, score a border a quarter inch in and halfway down, fry in clarified butter until golden, then lift out the inner lid and scoop the soft crumb to make a shallow case for the bird.
Turned vegetablesCarrots "trimmed to imitate new ones" and turnips "shaped like corks" are lathe-turned by hand with a paring knife. Each vegetable is cooked separately so the colours stay distinct; all of it can be done ahead and reheated in butter while the squabs finish.
York sauceNo. 563 in the same book, served apart in a boat as the recipe directs. It appears to belong to the sweet-sharp port and currant-jelly family, in which case a classic Cumberland sauce is the nearest thing on most modern shelves.
YieldEight squabs, one per person, with the vegetable garnish and cauliflower filling the centre of the platter. Scale the braise to the pan: the birds should sit in one layer with the liquid coming up to their height.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchens at Delmonico's in New York for most of the late nineteenth century, and The Epicurean (1894) is essentially that restaurant's working repertoire written down, numbered and cross-referenced like a code. The "English style" label here signals the garnish rather than any English origin: a plainly braised bird set on a fried bread case and ringed with buttered garden vegetables, turned carrots, cork-cut turnips, peas with mint, beans, a cauliflower in the middle. Squab was standard restaurant fare in the period; pigeon lofts supplied city markets in quantity, and a book of this size gives dozens of preparations for them, from broiled with Colbert sauce to compotes and pies. The dish comes to the table as a single garnished platter, with the sauce following in a boat so nothing on the plate was masked.