No. 2107

Pheasants Adorned with Their Own Plumage—Roasted

Faisans Rotis Garnis de Leur Plumage

The pheasant's head can be preserved in advance and also keep carefully the wings and tail intact. Pick the pheasants, singe, draw and truss for roasting (No. 179); bard them over and roast either on the spit or in the oven, basting frequently while cooking; when done, take off, untruss and dress on top of trimmed croutons hollowed out in such a way that the pheasants can stand well on them; glaze over and decorate with their own plumage, keeping it in place with metal skewers and letting them appear natural and lifelike; surround with clusters of water-cress. Strain and skim the fat from the dripping-pan stock and dilute it with some clear gravy (No. 404); pour a third of it over the pheasants and the other two-thirds serve in a sauce-boat.

← No. 2106 Salmis of Pheasant a la Lorenzo Partridge, Pheasant & Grouse No. 2108 Pheasants a la Montebello →

For the Modern Kitchen

A late-nineteenth-century banquet piece: the bird is roasted plainly, then reassembled with its own head, wings and tail as a showpiece. The cooking is simple; the difficulties are the leanness of the meat and the decoration.

The hinge: do not overcook the breastPheasant has almost no intramuscular fat and turns dry and cottony within a few minutes of doneness. Roast to about 155-160F in the thickest part of the breast and rest 10-15 minutes; the thigh will read higher and that is fine.
Oven temperatureThe recipe specifies no temperature; it calls only for roasting on the spit or in the oven with frequent basting. As a modern equivalent, 425F for a 2 to 2 1/2 lb hen pheasant, roughly 35-45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes. Spit-roasting was the original method and self-bastes; in an oven you must do the work.
Barding"Bard them over" means tying sheets of pork back fat or fatty caul over the breast and legs. Thin-sliced fatback is the traditional choice; blanched streaky bacon works and is easier to find, though it seasons the meat more assertively. Remove it for the last 10 minutes if you want colour on the skin.
TrussingThe cross-reference (No. 179) is to the book's general trussing-for-roasting instructions, so that the bird holds a compact shape on the spit. A simple butcher's truss with kitchen twine achieves the same result.
The plumage, and why to think twiceRaw feathers, skin and the severed head carry the bird's own surface bacteria and are being placed on food that will be eaten. If you want the effect, dry and mount the plumage separately on the platter rather than pinning it into the cooked bird, keep it well away from the carving, and discard it afterwards. In many modern kitchens this garnish is simply omitted.
CroutonsNot small cubes but thick slices of crustless bread, hollowed into a shallow cradle and fried in clarified butter until firm, so the bird sits level and the bread absorbs the juices.
Glazing"Glaze over" means brushing with reduced meat glaze (glace de viande) for gloss. Reduced brown stock, or a spoonful of commercial demi-glace loosened with a little of the pan juices, does the same job.
The gravyDeglaze the roasting pan, strain, skim, and extend with strong brown veal or game stock (No. 404 is the book's clear gravy). No thickening is called for: it should be a light jus, a third spooned over and the rest passed at the table.
YieldOne hen pheasant serves two, a cock bird two to three. For a table of six, roast three birds; the recipe is written in the plural, with the birds dressed on croutons and surrounded by clusters of water-cress.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of what he cooked for thirty-odd years at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry belongs to the branch of nineteenth-century service where the dining room was expected to see the animal as well as eat it. Dressing game back into its plumage is generally traced to the medieval and Renaissance banquet, where peacocks and swans were served re-feathered and sometimes gilded. The pheasant itself is not native to Europe or America but an Asian bird, spread west over centuries and introduced to the United States through a scattered series of private and state attempts over a long period. That such a dish sits among salmis and a la Montebello preparations in the same chapter shows the range a hotel kitchen was asked to cover: the same bird broken down into a sauced entree on Tuesday and reassembled as a table ornament for a banquet on Saturday.