Broiled Snipe

Ranhofer assumes a cook who handles wild game daily and a coal-fired broiler that runs far hotter than a home appliance. The technique translates cleanly once a few assumptions are made explicit.

• Sourcing comes firstSnipe cannot legally be bought in the United States: the Migratory Bird Treaty Act bars commercial sale of wild migratory game birds, so a bird must come from a licensed hunter or from a farmed substitute. Quail, farmed squab or a small poussin take the same treatment.
• "Split lengthwise through the back"This is spatchcocking. Cut down either side of the backbone or straight through it, open the bird flat, and press to flatten so it cooks evenly. Note that Ranhofer also directs cutting off the legs and paring them neatly.
• The beak as skewerThe head is left on and the long bill pushed through the breast to hold the flattened bird in shape, working as a trussing pin as much as a flourish. A short metal skewer does the same job if the head has already been removed.
• What is not said: the trailSnipe and woodcock were commonly cooked undrawn in this period, the intestines left in and eaten spread on the toast beneath. Ranhofer does not say either way here. A cook who prefers to draw the bird should do so; the toast then simply catches the juices.
• "A good fire"The hottest setting available — a charcoal grill at searing heat or a broiler element preheated ten minutes with the rack close beneath it. A flattened snipe is a few minutes' work per side; anything slower dries the breast before the skin colours.
• DonenessGame birds of this size were served frankly rare, the breast still red at the bone. Current food-safety guidance for poultry is 165F throughout, which will render a snipe breast grey and dry. The choice is the cook's, and worth making deliberately rather than by accident.
• Maitre-d'hotel butterRanhofer's No. 581 is butter creamed with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Make it in advance, chill it, and lay a coin of it on the hot bird so it melts into the toast.
• YieldA snipe weighs only a few ounces dressed. Allow two birds per person as a course, three if it is the centre of the meal.