No. 2128

Quails Broiled

Cailles Grillees

Have the birds very clean and truss with the legs thrust inside; split them through the back without separating, open, trim, beat and season, then coat them over with butter or oil and broil. Dress on well pared toasted slices of bread and cover with maitre-d'hotel butter (No.581).

← No. 2127 Quails a la Talleyrand—Breasts Quail, Snipe, Woodcock & Small Birds No. 2129 Quail Cutlets, Girondins →

For the Modern Kitchen Do not make this as written.

A four-line recipe that assumes you already know how to butterfly a bird and that your broiling is done over live coals. The only components are the quail, fat, salt and pepper, and the compound butter cross-referenced as No. 581.

The hinge: keep the fire fierce and shortQuail are lean and tiny, and Ranhofer's method depends on high, dry heat that colors the skin before the breast dries out. Over hot coals or under a preheated broiler element set close, a butterflied quail takes roughly 4-5 minutes a side; anything longer produces the dry, livery bird that gives game a bad name.
"Split through the back without separating"This is spatchcocking. Cut down either side of the backbone or straight through it with shears, open the bird out flat, and press. Removing the backbone entirely also works and makes the bird lie flatter.
"Beat" means flattenA firm press with the heel of the hand or a light tap with a flat mallet through plastic wrap cracks the breastbone and evens the thickness. Do not pound; quail bones are fine and will splinter into the meat.
Broil, in 1894, meant over coalsAn open charcoal or wood fire is what gives this dish its point. A modern gas grill is the nearest equivalent; a domestic oven broiler works if the birds sit within a few inches of the element on a preheated rack, and a ridged cast-iron pan on high heat is a reasonable third choice.
Maître d'hôtel butterThe cross-referenced No. 581 is simply softened butter worked with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then chilled. A slice laid on the hot bird melts into the toast underneath. Make it ahead and keep it firm.
DonenessMany cooks take farmed quail to about 155-160F in the thickest part of the breast and rest it briefly, though USDA guidance for poultry is 165F; older sporting practice served the birds distinctly pink, which carries the usual risk of undercooked poultry. They will carry over several degrees off the fire, so pull them early.
The toast is structural"Well pared" means crusts cut off and the slice trimmed to the size of the bird. It exists to catch the melted butter and juices, so use a close-crumbed white bread and toast it dry rather than buttering it first.
YieldThe recipe gives none. Figure two quail per person as a course, one if it follows a substantial soup or precedes a roast. Allow a slice of toast per bird.
SourcingWild-taken quail is generally not sold commercially in the United States; what you will find fresh or frozen is farm-raised, usually Coturnix or bobwhite, and often around 4-6 oz dressed, sometimes already semi-boned. Semi-boneless birds cook faster still and need no splitting.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) was Charles Ranhofer's summary of some three decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its game chapters reflect a period when small birds arrived at the kitchen door in quantity from market hunters supplying the city. Ranhofer gives dozens of quail preparations, from the elaborate à la Talleyrand immediately preceding this one to this bare-bones grill: split, season, fat, fire, toast, butter. The toast beneath is often said to descend from the medieval sop, the bread trencher that caught the drippings of roasted birds. Maître d'hôtel butter -- the term refers to the steward who headed a household's service -- was a common finish for plainly grilled dishes by Ranhofer's day, and is given here as No. 581. Within a generation the supply side of this recipe had changed: market hunting of wild game birds in the United States was curtailed by the Lacey Act of 1900 and, for migratory species, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, and quail on a restaurant menu has generally meant a farmed bird since.