No. 2269

Cutlets of Squabs a la Signora

Cotelettes de Pigeonneaux a la Signora

Have some well-cleaned and singed young pigeons; make an incision down the entire length of the backs and bone them by beginning at this incision and following the line of the carcass on both sides, then take out all the bones leaving a drumstick on the same side of each pigeon; season. Mix well together some chicken quenelle forcemeat (No. 89), with as much cooked forcemeat (No. 73); spread out a layer of it on the inside of the squab, and in the center on the back place a fine slice of peeled truffle, having it three-sixteenths of an inch in thickness: cover this over with another layer of the forcemeat, and wrap this in the boned pigeon, shaping it like a cutlet; dip in melted butter, then in bread-crumbs. Butter a baking sheet, and range either buttered molds or rings shaped like cutlets on top, set the pigeons in these, sprinkle butter over, then place them in a moderate oven, and let cook for twenty minutes. Remove the sheet from the fire, drain off the pigeons and decorate the legs with paper frills (No. 10); dress them in a circle, and serve separately a queen sauce (No. 530).

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For the Modern Kitchen

A Delmonico's-era construction dish: each squab is boned, packed with two forcemeats around a truffle slice, and reshaped in a cutlet mold. The work is in the butchery and the mise en place, not the cooking.

The hinge: bone from the back, keep the skin wholeThe skin is the wrapper that holds the cutlet together, so any tear along the backbone will let forcemeat escape during baking. Work with a small boning knife against the carcass, and leave one drumstick bone in place on each bird as the recipe says, since that is what the paper frill later dresses.
"Moderate oven"Read as roughly 350F; the book gives no temperatures. Twenty minutes is what the recipe calls for with a boned squab of about 12-14 oz once the mass is under an inch and a half thick; check that the forcemeat centre reaches 165F, since it contains raw chicken.
Squab, then and nowA squab is a young domestic pigeon, roughly four weeks old, sold at 12-16 oz. Modern squab is farmed and available frozen from game suppliers; ordinary wood pigeon is smaller, tougher and darker, and will not behave the same way in this preparation.
The two forcemeatsNo. 89 is a chicken quenelle forcemeat, of the raw-pounded-breast-with-panade-and-cream type; No. 73 is a cooked forcemeat. Equal parts of a mousseline-style chicken farce and a cooked stuffing will give the same effect: the raw one binds, the cooked one carries flavour.
Cutlet molds and ringsButtered metal rings shaped like a chop; a plain 3-inch ring, or even a folded foil collar, works, and the point is only to keep the crumbed parcel in the cutlet silhouette while the forcemeat sets. Chill the shaped birds for half an hour before crumbing and they hold the form far better.
TruffleThree-sixteenths of an inch is a thick slice by present standards, and at current prices a thinner one, or a chopped tablespoon of black truffle stirred into the forcemeat, gives more perfume for the money. Preserved truffle in its juice may be a nearer substitute than a fresh summer truffle.
Queen sauceSauce reine (No. 530) is generally a chicken veloute finished with cream and a puree of poached white poultry meat, sometimes with almonds. A well-reduced veloute with cream and finely pounded cooked chicken breast will read correctly alongside the squab.
YieldOne cutlet per person as a course within a longer menu; two if it is the main dish. The recipe as written scales to however many squabs you bone.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry shows the house style at its most characteristic: a whole bird dismantled, rebuilt around a forcemeat and a truffle, and then disguised as something else entirely. Making one thing look like another was a mark of skill in the grande cuisine Ranhofer learned in France, and a boned squab pressed into a chop shape, crumbed, and finished with a paper frill on the remaining drumstick is a small joke played straight. The name a la Signora follows the period habit of naming garnishes after patrons, performers and occasions rather than ingredients; Delmonico's fed the opera crowd, and dishes titled for singers were common, though the specific dedication here is not documented. Squab itself was standard restaurant fare in nineteenth-century America, pigeons being cheap, plentiful and raised in domestic lofts, and it appears throughout this section in a dozen guises.