No. 2368

Wild Pigeon Surtout, Baked

Surtout de Pigeons Ramiers, au Gratin

After the pigeons have been picked, singed and nicely cleaned, cut them lengthwise in two, then trim, removing the legs and a part of the backbone; season and fry in butter till three-quarters done, drain off the butter, cover with veloute sauce (No. 415) thickening with raw egg-yolks and a little fresh butter; leave the sautoir on the fire and roll the pigeons in until well mingled with the sauce. Spread in the middle of an oval baking dish a half-inch thick layer of godiveau (No. 84); place the pigeons on top and pour the sauce over; besprinkle with bread-crumbs and grated cheese, baste with butter and brown in a hot oven or with a salamander (Fig. 123).

← No. 2367 Chicken Livers Surtout with Mushrooms or in Miscellaneous Entrées No. 2369 Beef Tart or Pie a la Perez →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade with stock, velouté and forcemeat already made, so most of the work here happens in other numbered recipes. Read it as an assembly: sauced half-birds set on a bed of veal forcemeat, gratinéed.

The bird"Pigeon ramier" is the wood pigeon, a wild game bird. In the United States all native pigeons and doves are protected migratory birds and cannot be bought; farmed squab, about 1 lb dressed, is the standard substitute and is more tender than any wild bird. Two halves make one portion, so four birds serve four as an entrée.
Godiveau (No. 84)A veal forcemeat pounded with beef kidney suet and bound with egg, then lightened with ice water or cream. A fine-textured veal or chicken mousseline forcemeat does the same job: it must be firm enough to spread half an inch thick and hold the birds without slumping.
Velouté (No. 415)A white roux sauce made with veal or chicken stock rather than milk. A well-reduced chicken velouté, or a béchamel-thin sauce built on strong chicken stock, is the practical equivalent.
The egg-yolk liaison is the hingeOnce raw yolks and butter go into the velouté the sauce must not simmer or it will curdle and break. Take the pan off direct heat, whisk the yolks in, and return it only to the gentlest warmth while you roll the pigeons in it.
"Three-quarters done"Fry the halves skin-side down until browned and just short of cooked through; the gratin finishes them. Squab breast is best at medium, around 135F, so err on the early side or the browning stage will dry it out.
SautoirA straight-sided shallow pan, wider than deep. Any wide sauté pan works; you want enough surface that the four birds sit in one layer in the sauce.
Oven and salamanderRanhofer gives no temperatures; a "hot oven" is generally read as somewhere in the region of 425-450F, and the dish only wants long enough to set the forcemeat and colour the crumbs. The salamander was a heated iron plate held over the surface; an overhead broiler for the last minute or two gives the same finish.
Crumbs and cheeseDry, fine crumbs and grated Parmesan or Gruyère, then butter dotted or brushed over. Butter is what makes the gratin brown rather than merely dry out, so do not skip the basting.

A Little History

A surtout in nineteenth-century kitchen French was something set over or on top — the word also named the ornamental centrepiece that stood on a formal table — and in Ranhofer's usage it appears to mark a dish built up in layers on a platter and sent out whole rather than plated as cutlets. The Epicurean (1894) records the repertoire Charles Ranhofer cooked at Delmonico's in New York: the passenger pigeon had been sold by the barrel in American cities within living memory of the book's writing, and was effectively gone by the time it was printed. Recipes like this one, which surround a small strong-flavoured bird with velouté, forcemeat and a cheese crust, belong to the older French practice of treating game as the core of a composed entrée rather than as a roast in its own right, and they explain why so many of Ranhofer's numbers cross-reference each other — the kitchen kept sauces and forcemeats standing all service, and a dish was largely a matter of choosing among them.