CHICKEN CUTLETS (an Entree).
926. INGREDIENTS.--2 chickens; seasoning to taste of salt, white pepper,
and cayenne; 2 blades of pounded mace, egg and bread crumbs, clarified
butter, 1 strip of lemon-rind, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 2 tablespoonfuls of
mushroom ketchup, thickening of butter and flour, 1 egg.
_Mode_.--Remove the breast and leg bones of the chickens; cut the meat
into neat pieces after having skinned it, and season the cutlets with
pepper, salt, pounded mace, and cayenne. Put the bones, trimmings, &c.,
into a stewpan with 1 pint of water, adding carrots, onions, and
lemon-peel in the above proportion; stew gently for 1-1/2 hour, and
strain the gravy. Thicken it with butter and flour, add the ketchup and
1 egg well beaten; stir it over the fire, and bring it to the
simmering-point, but do not allow it to boil. In the mean time, egg and
bread-crumb the cutlets, and give them a few drops of clarified butter;
fry them a delicate brown, occasionally turning them; arrange them
pyramidically on the dish, and pour over them the sauce.
_Time_.--10 minutes to fry the cutlets. _Average cost_, 2s. each.
_Sufficient_ for an entrée.
_Seasonable_ from April to July.
FOWLS AS FOOD.--Brillat Savarin, pre-eminent in gastronomic
taste, says that he believes the whole gallinaceous family was
made to enrich our larders and furnish our tables; for, from the
quail to the turkey, he avers their flesh is a light aliment,
full of flavour, and fitted equally well for the invalid as for
the man of robust health. The fine flavour, however, which
Nature has given to all birds coming under the definition of
poultry, man has not been satisfied with, and has used many
means--such as keeping them in solitude and darkness, and
forcing them to eat--to give them an unnatural state of fatness
or fat. This fat, thus artificially produced, is doubtless
delicious, and the taste and succulence of the boiled and
roasted bird draw forth the praise of the guests around the
table. Well-fattened and tender, a fowl is to the cook what the
canvas is to the painter; for do we not see it served boiled,
roasted, fried, fricasseed, hashed, hot, cold, whole,
dismembered, boned, broiled, stuffed, on dishes, and in
pies,--always handy and ever acceptable?
THE COMMON OR DOMESTIC FOWL.--From time immemorial, the common
or domestic fowl has been domesticated in England, and is
supposed to be originally the offspring of some wild species
which abound in the forests of India. It is divided into a
variety of breeds, but the most esteemed are, the Poland or
Black, the Dorking, the Bantam, the Game Fowl, and the Malay or
Chittagong. The common, or barn-door fowl, is one of the most
delicate of the varieties; and at Dorking, in Surrey, the breed
is brought to great perfection. Till they are four months old,
the term chicken is applied to the young female; after that age
they are called pullets, till they begin to lay, when they are
called hens. The English counties most productive in poultry are
Surrey, Sussex, Norfolk, Herts, Devon, and Somerset.
FRENCH CHICKEN CUTLETS (Cold Meat Cookery).
927. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast or boiled fowl, fried
bread, clarified butter, the yolk of 1 egg, bread crumbs, 1/2
teaspoonful of finely-minced lemon-peel; salt, cayenne, and mace to
taste. For sauce,--1 oz. of butter, 2 minced shalots, a few slices of
carrot, a small bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley, 1 blade of
pounded mace, 6 peppercorns, 1/4 pint of gravy.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowls into as many nice cutlets as possible; take a
corresponding number of sippets about the same size, all cut one shape;
fry them a pale brown, put them before the fire, then dip the cutlets
into clarified butter mixed with the yolk of an egg, cover with bread
crumbs seasoned in the above proportion, with lemon-peel, mace, salt,
and cayenne; fry them for about 5 minutes, put each piece on one of the
sippets, pile them high in the dish, and serve with the following sauce,
which should be made ready for the cutlets. Put the butter into a
stewpan, add the shalots, carrot, herbs, mace, and peppercorns; fry for
10 minutes or rather longer; pour in 1/2 pint of good gravy, made of the
chicken bones, stew gently for 20 minutes, strain it, and serve.
_Time_.--5 minutes to fry the cutlets; 35 minutes to make the gravy.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the chicken, 9d.
_Seasonable_ from April to July.
EGGS FOR HATCHING.--Eggs intended for hatching should be removed
as soon as laid, and placed in bran in a dry, cool place. Choose
those that are near of a size; and, as a rule, avoid those that
are equally thick at both ends,--such, probably, contain a
double yolk, and will come to no good. Eggs intended for
hatching should never be stored longer than a month, as much
less the better. Nine eggs may be placed under a Bantam hen, and
as many as fifteen under a Dorking. The odd number is considered
preferable, as more easily packed. It will be as well to mark
the eggs you give the hen to sit on, so that you may know if she
lays any more: if she does, you must remove them; for, if
hatched at all, they would be too late for the brood. If during
incubation an egg should be broken, remove it, and take out the
remainder, and cleanse them in luke-warm water, or it is
probable the sticky nature of the contents of the broken egg
will make the others cling to the hen's feathers; and they, too,
may be fractured.
HENS SITTING.--Some hens are very capricious as regards sitting;
they will make a great fuss, and keep pining for the nest, and,
when they are permitted to take to it, they will sit just long
enough to addle the eggs, and then they're off again. The safest
way to guard against such annoyance, is to supply the hen with
some hard-boiled eggs; if she sits on them a reasonable time,
and seems steadily inclined, like a good matron, you may then
give her proper eggs, and let her set about the business in
earnest.
CHICKEN OR FOWL PATTIES.
928. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast chicken or fowl; to every
1/4 lb. of meat allow 2 oz. of ham, 3 tablespoonfuls of cream, 2
tablespoonfuls of veal gravy, 1/2 teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel;
cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste; 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1
oz. of butter rolled in flour; puff paste.
_Mode_.--Mince very small the white meat from a cold roast fowl, after
removing all the skin; weigh it, and to every 1/4 lb. of meat allow the
above proportion of minced ham. Put these into a stewpan with the
remaining ingredients, stir over the fire for 10 minutes or 1/4 hour,
taking care that the mixture does not burn. Roll out some puff paste
about 1/4 inch in thickness; line the patty-pans with this, put upon
each a small piece of bread, and cover with another layer of paste;
brush over with the yolk of an egg, and bake in a brisk oven for about
1/4 hour. When done, cut a round piece out of the top, and, with a small
spoon, take out the bread (be particular in not breaking the outside
border of the crust), and fill the patties with the mixture.
_Time_.--1/4 hour to prepare the meat; not quite 1/4 hour to bake the
crust.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
HATCHING.--Sometimes the chick within the shell is unable to
break away from its prison; for the white of the egg will
occasionally harden in the air to the consistence of joiners'
clue, when the poor chick is in a terrible fix. An able writer
says, "Assistance in hatching must not be rendered prematurely,
and thence unnecessarily, but only in the case of the chick
being plainly unable to release itself; then, indeed, an
addition may probably be made to the brood, as great numbers are
always lost in this way. The chick makes a circular fracture at
the big end of the egg, and a section of about one-third of the
length of the shell being separated, delivers the prisoner,
provided there is no obstruction from adhesion of the body to
the membrane which lines the shell. Between the body of the
chick and the membrane of the shell there exists a viscous
fluid, the white of the egg thickened with the intense heat of
incubation, until it becomes a positive glue. When this happens,
the feathers stick fast to the shell, and the chicks remain
confined, and must perish, if not released."
The method of assistance to be rendered to chicks which have a
difficulty in releasing themselves from the shell, is to take
the egg in the hand, and dipping the finger or a piece of linen
rag in warm water, to apply it to the fastened parts until they
are loosened by the gluey substance becoming dissolved and
separated from the feathers. The chick, then, being returned to
the nest, will extricate itself,--a mode generally to be
observed, since, if violence were used, it would prove fatal.
Nevertheless, breaking the shell may sometimes be necessary; and
separating with the fingers, as gently as may be, the membrane
from the feathers, which are still to be moistened as mentioned
above, to facilitate the operation. The points of small scissors
may be useful, and when there is much resistance, as also
apparent pain to the bird, the process must be conducted in the
gentlest manner, and the shell separated into a number of small
pieces. The signs of a need of assistance are the egg being
partly pecked and chipped, and the cluck discontinuing its
efforts for five of six hours. Weakness from cold may disable
the chicken from commencing the operation of pecking the shell,
which must then be artificially performed with a circular
fracture, such as is made by the bird itself.
CHICKEN OR FOWL PIE.
929. INGREDIENTS.--2 small fowls or 1 large one, white pepper and salt
to taste, 1/2 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoonful of pounded
mace, forcemeat No. 417, a few slices of ham, 3 hard-boiled eggs, 1/2
pint of water, puff crust.
_Mode_.--Skin and cut up the fowls into joints, and put the neck, leg,
and backbones in a stewpan, with a little water, an onion, a bunch of
savoury herbs, and a blade of mace; let these stew for about an hour,
and, when done, strain off the liquor: this is for gravy. Put a layer of
fowl at the bottom of a pie-dish, then a layer of ham, then one of
forcemeat and hard-boiled eggs cut in rings; between the layers put a
seasoning of pounded mace, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Proceed in this
manner until the dish is full, and pour in about 1/2 pint of water;
border the edge of the dish with puff crust, put on the cover, ornament
the top, and glaze it by brushing over it the yolk of an egg. Bake from
1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour, should the pie be very large, and, when done, pour
in, at the top, the gravy made from the bones. If to be eaten cold, and
wished particularly nice, the joints of the fowls should be boned, and
placed in the dish with alternate layers of forcemeat; sausage-meat may
also be substituted for the forcemeat, and is now very much used. When
the chickens are boned, and mixed with sausage-meat, the pie will take
about 2 hours to bake. It should be covered with a piece of paper when
about half-done, to prevent the paste from being dried up or scorched.
_Time_.--For a pie with unboned meat, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour; with boned
meat and sausage or forcemeat, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
_Average cost_, with 2 fowls, 6s. 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
THE YOUNG CHICKS.--The chicks that are hatched first should be
taken from underneath the hen, lest she might think her task at
an end, and leave the remaining eggs to spoil. As soon as the
young birds are taken from the mother, they must be placed in a
basket lined with soft wool, flannel, or hay, and stood in the
sunlight if it be summer time, or by the fire if the weather be
cold. It is a common practice to cram young chicks with food as
soon as they are born. This is quite unnecessary. They will, so
long as they are kept warm, come to no harm if they take no food
for twenty-four hours following their birth. Should the whole of
the brood not be hatched by that time, those that are born may
be fed with bread soaked in milk, and the yolk of a hard-boiled
egg.
POTTED CHICKEN OR FOWL (a Luncheon or Breakfast Dish).
930. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast chicken; to every lb. of
meat allow 1/4 lb. of fresh butter, salt and cayenne to taste, 1
teaspoonful of pounded mace, 1/4 small nutmeg.
_Mode_.--Strip the meat from the bones of cold roast fowl; when it is
freed from gristle and skin, weigh it, and, to every lb. of meat, allow
the above proportion of butter, seasoning, and spices. Cut the meat
into small pieces, pound it well with the fresh butter, sprinkle in the
spices gradually, and keep pounding until reduced to a perfectly smooth
paste. Put it into potting-pots for use, and cover it with clarified
butter, about 1/4 inch in thickness, and, if to be kept for some time,
tie over a bladder: 2 or 3 slices of ham, minced and pounded with the
above ingredients, will be found an improvement. It should be kept in a
dry place.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
FEEDING AND COOPING THE CHICKS.--When all the chicks are
hatched, they should be placed along with the mother under a
coop in a warm dry spot. If two hens happen to have their broods
at the same time, their respective chicks should be carefully
kept separate; as, if they get mixed, and so go under the wrong
coop, the hens will probably maim and destroy those who have
mistaken their dwelling. After being kept snug beneath the coop
for a week (the coop should be placed under cover at nightfall),
the chicks may be turned loose for an hour or so in the warmest
part of the day. They should be gradually weaned from the soaked
bread and chopped egg, instead of which grits or boiled barley
should be given; in 8 or 10 days their stomachs will be strong
enough to receive bruised barley, and at the end of 3 weeks, if
your chicks be healthy, they will be able to take care of
themselves. It will be well, however, to keep your eye on them a
week or so longer, as the elder chickens may drive them from
their food. Great care should be taken that the very young
chicks do not run about the wet ground or on damp grass, as this
is the most prominent and fatal cause of disease. While under
the coop with their mother, a shallow pan or plate of water
should be supplied to the chicks, as in a deeper vessel they are
liable to drench themselves and take cold, or possibly to get
drowned.
CHICKEN OR FOWL SALAD.
931. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast or boiled chicken, 2
lettuces, a little endive, 1 cucumber, a few slices of boiled beetroot,
salad-dressing No. 506.
_Mode_.--Trim neatly the remains of the chicken; wash, dry, and slice
the lettuces, and place in the middle of a dish; put the pieces of fowl
on the top, and pour the salad-dressing over them. Garnish the edge of
the salad with hard-boiled eggs cut in rings, sliced cucumber, and
boiled beetroot cut in slices. Instead of cutting the eggs in rings, the
yolks may be rubbed through a hair sieve, and the whites chopped very
finely, and arranged on the salad in small bunches, yellow and white
alternately. This should not be made long before it is wanted for table.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold chicken, 8d.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
AGE AND FLAVOUR OF CHICKENS.--It has been the opinion of the
medical faculty of all ages and all countries, that the flesh of
the young chicken is the must delicate and easy to digest of all
animal food. It is less alkalescent than the flesh of any other
animal, and its entire freedom from any irritating quality
renders it a fit dish for the ailing, or those whose stomachs
are naturally weak. In no animal, however, does age work such a
change, in regard to the quality of its flesh, as it does in
domestic fowls. In their infancy, cocks and hens are equally
tender and toothsome; but as time overtakes them it is the cock
whose flesh toughens first. A year-old cock, indeed, is fit for
little else than to be converted into soup, while a hen at the
same age, although sufficiently substantial, is not callous to
the insinuations of a carving-knife. As regards capons, however,
the rule respecting age does not hold good. There is scarcely to
be found a more delicious animal than a well-fed, well-dressed
capon. Age does not dry up his juices; indeed, like wine, he
seems but to mellow. At three years old, even, he is as tender
as a chick, with the additional advantage of his proper chicken
flavour being fully developed. The above remarks, however,
concerning the capon, only apply to such as are _naturally_ fed,
and not crammed. The latter process may produce a
handsome-looking bird, and it may weigh enough to satisfy the
whim or avarice of its stuffer; but, when before the fire, it
will reveal the cruel treatment to which it has been subjected,
and will weep a drippingpan-ful of fat tears. You will never
find heart enough to place such a grief-worn guest at the head
of your table. It should be borne in mind as a rule, that
small-boned and short-legged poultry are likely to excel the
contrary sort in delicacy of colour, flavour, and fineness of
flesh.
HASHED DUCK (Cold Meat Cookery).
932. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast duck, rather more than 1
pint of weak stock or water, 1 onion, 1 oz. of butter, thickening of
butter and flour, salt and cayenne to taste, 1/2 teaspoonful of minced
lemon-peel, 1 dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, 1/2 glass of port wine.
_Mode_.--Cut the duck into nice joints, and put the trimmings into a
stewpan; slice and fry the onion in a little butter; add these to the
trimmings, pour in the above proportion of weak stock or water, and stew
gently for 1 hour. Strain the liquor, thicken it with butter and flour,
season with salt and cayenne, and add the remaining ingredients; boil it
up and skim well; lay in the pieces of duck, and let them get thoroughly
hot through by the side of the fire, but do not allow them to boil: they
should soak in the gravy for about 1/2 hour. Garnish with sippets of
toasted bread. The hash may be made richer by using a stronger and more
highly-flavoured gravy; a little spice or pounded mace may also be
added, when their flavour is liked.
_Time_.--1-1/2 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold duck, 4d.
_Seasonable_ from November to February; ducklings from May to August.
THE DUCK.--This bird belongs to the order of _Natatores_, or
Swimmers; the most familiar tribes of which are ducks, swans,
geese, auks, penguins, petrels, pelicans, guillemots, gulls, and
terns. They mostly live in the water, feeding on fish, worms,
and aquatic plants. They are generally polygamous, and make
their nests among reeds, or in moist places. The flesh of many
of the species is eatable, but that of some is extremely rank
and oily. The duck is a native of Britain, but is found on the
margins of most of the European lakes. It is excessively greedy,
and by no means a nice feeder. It requires a mixture of
vegetable and animal food; but aquatic insects, corn, and
vegetables, are its proper food. Its flesh, however, is savoury,
being not so gross as that of the goose, and of easier
digestion. In the green-pea season it is usually found on an
English table; but, according to Ude, "November is its proper
season, when it is plump and fat."
TO RAGOUT A DUCK WHOLE.
933. INGREDIENTS.--1 large duck, pepper and salt to taste, good beef
gravy, 2 onions sliced, 4 sage-leaves, a few leaves of lemon thyme,
thickening of butter and flour.
_Mode_.--After having emptied and singed the duck, season it inside with
pepper and salt, and truss it. Roast it before a clear fire for about 20
minutes, and let it acquire a nice brown colour. Put it into a stewpan
with sufficient well-seasoned beef gravy to cover it; slice and fry the
onions, and add these, with the sage-leaves and lemon thyme, both of
which should be finely minced, to the stock. Simmer gently until the
duck is tender; strain, skim, and thicken the gravy with a little butter
and flour; boil it up, pour over the duck, and serve. When in season,
about, 1-1/2 pint of young green peas, boiled separately, and put in the
ragoût, very much improve this dish.
_Time_.--20 minutes to roast the duck; 20 minutes to stew it.
_Average cost_, from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. each.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ from November to February; ducklings from April to August.
[Illustration: BUENOS AYRES DUCKS.]
THE BUENOS AYRES DUCK.--The Buenos Ayres duck is of East-Indian
birth, and is chiefly valuable as an ornament; for we suppose
one would as soon think of picking a Chinese teal for luncheon,
or a gold fish for breakfast, as to consign the handsome Buenos
Ayres to the spit. The prevailing colour of this bird is black,
with a metallic lustre, and a gleaming of blue steel about its
breast and wings.
VARIETIES OF DUCKS.--Naturalists count nearly a hundred
different species of ducks; and there is no doubt that the
intending keeper of these harmless and profitable birds may
easily take his choice from amongst twenty different sorts.
There is, however, so little difference in the various members
of the family, either as regards hardiness, laying, or hatching,
that the most incompetent fancier or breeder may indulge his
taste without danger of making a bad bargain. In connection with
their value for table, light-coloured ducks are always of milder
flavour than those that are dark-coloured, the white Aylesbury's
being general favourites. Ducks reared exclusively on vegetable
diet will have a whiter and more delicate flesh than those
allowed to feed on animal offal; while the flesh of birds
fattened on the latter food, will be firmer than that of those
which have only partaken of food of a vegetable nature.
ROAST DUCKS.
934. INGREDIENTS.--A couple of ducks; sage-and-onion stuffing No. 504; a
little flour.
_Choosing and Trussing_.--Choose ducks with plump bellies, and with
thick and yellowish feet. They should be trussed with the feet on, which
should be scalded, and the skin peeled off, and then turned up close to
the legs. Run a skewer through the middle of each leg, after having
drawn them as close as possible to the body, to plump up the breast,
passing the same quite through the body. Cut off the heads and necks,
and the pinions at the first joint; bring these close to the sides,
twist the feet round, and truss them at the back of the bird. After the
duck is stuffed, both ends should be secured with string, so as to keep
in the seasoning.
[Illustration: ROAST DUCK.]
_Mode_.--To insure ducks being tender, never dress them the same day
they are killed; and if the weather permits, they should hang a day or
two. Make a stuffing of sage and onion sufficient for one duck, and
leave the other unseasoned, as the flavour is not liked by everybody.
Put them down to a brisk clear fire, and keep them well basted the whole
of the time they are cooking. A few minutes before serving, dredge them
lightly with flour, to make them froth and look plump; and when the
steam draws towards the fire, send them to table hot and quickly, with a
good brown gravy poured _round_, but not _over_ the ducks, and a little
of the same in a tureen. When in season, green peas should invariably
accompany this dish.
_Time_.--Full-grown ducks from 3/4 to 1 hour; ducklings from 25 to 35
minutes.
_Average cost_, from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. each.
_Sufficient_.--A. couple of ducks for 6 or 7 persons.
_Seasonable_.--Ducklings from April to August; ducks from November to
February.
_Note_.--Ducklings are trussed and roasted in the same manner, and
served with the same sauces and accompaniments. When in season, serve
apple sauce.
[Illustration: ROUEN DUCKS.]
THE ROUEN DUCK.--The Rouen, or Rhone duck, is a large and
handsome variety, of French extraction. The plumage of the Rouen
duck is somewhat sombre; its flesh is also much darker, and,
though of higher flavour, not near so delicate as that of our
own Aylesbury. It is with this latter breed that the Rouen duck
is generally mated; and the result is said to be increase of
size and strength. In Normandy and Brittany these ducks, as well
as other sorts, greatly abound; and the "duck-liver _pâtés_" are
there almost as popular as the _pâté de foie gras_ of Strasburg.
In order to bring the livers of the wretched duck to the
fashionable and unnatural size, the same diabolical cruelty is
resorted to as in the case of the Strasburg goose. The poor
birds are _nailed_ by the feet to a board placed close to a
fire, and, in that position, plentifully supplied with food and
water. In a few days, the carcase is reduced to a mere shadow,
while the liver has grown monstrously. We would rather abstain
from the acquaintance of a man who ate _pâté de foie gras_,
knowing its component parts.
DUCK'S EGGS.--The ancient notion that ducks whose beaks have a
tendency to curve upwards, are better layers than those whose
beaks do not thus point, is, we need hardly say, simply absurd:
all ducks are good layers, if they are carefully fed and tended.
Ducks generally lay at night, or early in the morning. While
they are in perfect health, they will do this; and one of the
surest signs of indisposition, among birds of this class, is
irregularity in laying. The eggs laid will approach nearly the
colour of the layer,--light-coloured ducks laying white eggs,
and brown ducks greenish-blue eggs; dark-coloured birds laying
the largest eggs. One time of day the notion was prevalent that
a duck would hatch no other eggs than her own; and although this
is not true, it will be, nevertheless, as well to match the
duck's own eggs as closely as possible; for we have known
instances wherein the duck has turned out of the nest and
destroyed eggs differing from her own in size and colour.
DUCKS.--The Mallard, or Wild Duck, from which is derived the
domestic species, is prevalent throughout Europe, Asia, and
America. The mallard's most remarkable characteristic is one
which sets at defiance the speculations of the most profound
ornithologist. The female bird is extremely plain, but the
male's plumage is a splendour of greens and browns, and browns
and blues. In the spring, however, the plumage of the male
begins to fade, and in two months, every vestige of his finery
has departed, and he is not to be distinguished from his
soberly-garbed wife. Then the greens, and the blues, and the
browns begin to bud out again, and by October he is once more a
gorgeous drake. It is to be regretted that domestication has
seriously deteriorated the moral character of the duck. In a
wild state, he is a faithful husband, desiring but one wife, and
devoting himself to her; but no sooner is he domesticated than
he becomes polygamous, and makes nothing of owning ten or a
dozen wives at a time. As regards the females, they are much
more solicitous for the welfare of their progeny in a wild state
than a tame. Should a tame duck's duckling get into mortal
trouble, its mother will just signify her sorrow by an extra
"quack," or so, and a flapping of her wings; but touch a wild
duck's little one if you dare! she will buffet you with her
broad wings, and dash boldly at your face with her stout beak.
If you search for her nest amongst the long grass, she will try
no end of manoeuvres to lure you from it, her favourite _ruse_
being to pretend lameness, to delude you into the notion that
you have only to pursue _her_ vigorously, and her capture is
certain; so you persevere for half a mile or so, and then she is
up and away, leaving you to find your way back to the nest if
you can. Among the ancients, opinion was at variance respecting
the wholesomeness and digestibility of goose flesh, but
concerning the excellence of the duck all parties were agreed;
indeed, they not only assigned to duck-meat the palm for
exquisite flavour and delicacy, they even attributed to it
medicinal powers of the highest order. Not only the Roman
medical writers of the time make mention of it, but likewise the
philosophers of the period. Plutarch assures us that Cato
preserved his whole household in health, in a season when plague
and disease were rife, through dieting them on roast duck.
STEWED DUCK AND PEAS (Cold Meat Cookery).
935. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast duck, 2 oz. of butter, 3 or
4 slices of lean ham or bacon, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 2 pints of thin
gravy, 1, or a small bunch of green onions, 3 sprigs of parsley, 3
cloves, 1 pint of young green peas, cayenne and salt to taste, 1
teaspoonful of pounded sugar.
_Mode_.--Put the butter into a stewpan; cut up the duck into joints, lay
them in with the slices of lean ham or bacon; make it brown, then dredge
in a tablespoonful of flour, and stir this well in before adding the
gravy. Put in the onion, parsley, cloves, and gravy, and when it has
simmered for 1/4 hour, add a pint of young green peas, and stew gently
for about 1/2 hour. Season with cayenne, salt, and sugar; take out the
duck, place it round the dish, and the peas in the middle.
_Time_.--3/4 hour.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold duck, 1s.
_Seasonable_ from June to August.
DUCKS HATCHING.--Concerning incubation by ducks, a practised
writer says, "The duck requires a secret and safe place, rather
than any attendance, and will, at nature's call, cover her eggs
and seek her food. On hatching, there is not often a necessity
for taking away any of the brood; and, having hatched, let the
mother retain her young ones upon the nest her own time. On her
moving with her brood, let a coop be prepared upon the short
grass, if the weather be fine, and under shelter, if otherwise."
COOPING AND FEEDING DUCKLINGS.--Brood ducks should be cooped at
some distance from any other. A wide and flat dish of water, to
be often renewed, should stand just outside the coop, and
barley, or any other meal, be the first food of the ducklings.
It will be needful, if it be wet weather, to clip their tails,
lest these draggle, and so weaken the bird. The period of the
duck's confinement to the coop will depend on the weather, and
on the strength of the ducklings. A fortnight is usually the
extent of time necessary, and they may even be sometimes
permitted to enjoy the luxury of a swim at the end of a week.
They should not, however, be allowed to stay too long in the
water at first; for they will then become ill, their feathers
get rough, and looseness of the bowels ensue. In the latter
case, let them be closely cooped for a few days, and bean-meal
or oatmeal be mixed with their ordinary food.
[Illustration: AYLESBURY DUCKS.]
THE AYLESBURY DUCK.--The white Aylesbury duck is, and
deservedly, a universal favourite. Its snowy plumage and
comfortable comportment make it a credit to the poultry-yard,
while its broad and deep breast, and its ample back, convey the
assurance that your satisfaction will not cease at its death. In
parts of Buckinghamshire, this member of the duck family is bred
on an extensive scale; not on plains and commons, however, as
might be naturally imagined, but in the abodes of the cottagers.
Round the walls of the living-rooms, and of the bedroom even,
are fixed rows of wooden boxes, lined with hay; and it is the
business of the wife and children to nurse and comfort the
feathered lodgers, to feed the little ducklings, and to take the
old ones out for an airing. Sometimes the "stock" ducks are the
cottager's own property, but it more frequently happens that
they are intrusted to his care by a wholesale breeder, who pays
him so much _per_ score for all ducklings properly raised. To be
perfect, the Aylesbury duck should be plump, pure white, with
yellow feet, and a flesh-coloured beak.
STEWED DUCK AND PEAS (Cold Meat Cookery).
936. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast duck, 1/2 pint of good
gravy, cayenne and salt to taste, 1/2 teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel,
1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 2 oz, of butter rolled in flour, 1-1/2
pint of green peas.
_Mode_.--Cut up the duck into joints, lay it in the gravy, and add a
seasoning of cayenne, salt, and minced lemon-peel; let tins gradually
warm through, but not boil. Throw the peas into boiling water slightly
salted, and boil them rapidly until tender. Drain them, stir in the
pounded sugar, and the butter rolled in flour; shake them over the fire
for two or three minutes, and serve in the centre of the dish, with the
duck laid round.
_Time_.--15 minutes to boil the peas, when they are full grown.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold duck, 10d.
_Seasonable_ from June to August.
FATTENING DUCKS.--Many duck-keepers give their birds nothing in
the shape of food, letting them wander about and pick up a
living for themselves; and they will seem to get fat even upon
this precarious feeding. Unless, however, ducks are supplied
with, besides chance food, a liberal feed of solid corn, or
grain, morning and evening, their flesh will become flabby and
insipid. The simple way to fatten ducks is to let them have as
much, substantial food as they will eat, bruised oats and
pea-meal being the standard fattening food for them. No cramming
is required, as with the turkey and some other poultry: they
will cram themselves to the very verge of suffocation. At the
same time, plenty of exercise and clean water should be at their
service.
AMERICAN MODE OF CAPTURING DUCKS.--On the American rivers, the
modes of capture are various. Sometimes half a dozen artificial
birds are fastened to a little raft, and which is so weighted
that the sham birds squat naturally on the water. This is quite
sufficient to attract the notice of a passing flock, who descend
to cultivate the acquaintance of the isolated few when the
concealed hunter, with his fowling-piece, scatters a deadly
leaden shower amongst them. In the winter, when the water is
covered with rubble ice, the fowler of the Delaware paints his
canoe entirely white, lies flat in the bottom of it, and floats
with the broken ice; from which the aquatic inhabitants fail to
distinguish it. So floats the canoe till he within it
understands, by the quacking, and fluttering, and whirring of
wings, that he is in the midst of a flock, when he is up in a
moment with the murderous piece, and dying quacks and
lamentations rend the still air.
[Illustration: BOW-BILL DUCKS.]
Bow-BILL DUCKS, &c.--Every one knows how awkward are the
_Anatidae_, waddling along on their unelastic webbed toes, and
their short legs, which, being placed considerably backward,
make the fore part of the body preponderate. Some, however, are
formed more adapted to terrestrial habits than others, and
notably amongst these may be named _Dendronessa sponsa_, the
summer duck of America. This beautiful bird rears her young in
the holes of trees, generally overhanging the water. When strong
enough, the young scramble to the mouth of the hole, launch into
the air with their little wings and feet spread out, and drop
into their favourite element. Whenever their birthplace is at
some distance from the water, the mother carries them to it, one
by one, in her bill, holding them so as not to injure their yet
tender frame. On several occasions, however, when the hole was
30, 40, or more yards from a piece of water, Audubon observed
that the mother suffered the young to fall on the grass and
dried leaves beneath the tree, and afterwards led them directly
to the nearest edge of the next pool or creek. There are some
curious varieties of the domestic duck, which only appear
interesting from their singularity, for there does not seem to
be anything of use or value in the unusual characteristics which
distinguish them; thus, the bow-bill duck, as shown in the
engraving, called by some writers the hook-bill, is remarkable
for the peculiarly strange distortion of its beak, and the tuft
on the top of its head. The penguin duck, again, waddles in an
upright position, like the penguin, on account of the unnatural
situation of its legs. These odd peculiarities add nothing of
value to the various breeds, and may be set down as only the
result of accidental malformation, transmitted from generation
to generation.
STEWED DUCK AND TURNIPS (Cold Meat Cookery).
937. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast duck, 1/2 pint of good
gravy, 4 shalots, a few slices of carrot, a small bunch of savoury
herbs, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 lb. of turnips, weighed after being
peeled, 2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Cut up the duck into joints, fry the shalots, carrots, and
herbs, and put them, with the duck, into the gravy; add the pounded
mace, and stew gently for 20 minutes or 1/2 hour. Cut about 1 lb. of
turnips, weighed after being peeled, into 1/2-inch squares, put the
butter into a stewpan, and stew them till quite tender, which will be in
about 1/2 hour, or rather more; season with pepper and salt, and serve
in the centre of the dish, with the duck, &c. laid round.
_Time_.--Rather more than 1/2 hour to stew the turnips.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold duck, 1s.
_Seasonable_ from November to February.
THE WILD DUCK.--In many parts of England the wild duck is to be
found, especially in those desolate fenny parts where water
abounds. In Lincolnshire they are plentiful, and are annually
taken in the decoys, which consist of ponds situate in the
marshes, and surrounded with wood or reeds to prevent the birds
which frequent them from, being disturbed. In these the birds
sleep during the day; and as soon as evening sets in, the _decoy
rises_, and the wild fowl feed during the night. Now is the time
for the decoy ducks to entrap the others. From the ponds
diverge, in different directions, certain canals, at the end of
which funnel nets are placed; along these the _decoy ducks_,
trained for the purpose, lead the others in search of food.
After they have got a certain length, a decoy-man appears, and
drives them further on, until they are finally taken in the
nets. It is from these decoys, in Lincolnshire, that the London
market is mostly supplied. The Chinese have a singular mode of
catching these ducks. A person wades in the water up to the
chin, and, having his head covered with an empty calabash,
approaches the place where the ducks are. As the birds have no
suspicion of the nature of the object which is concealed under
the calabash, they suffer its approach, and allow it to move at
will among their flock. The man, accordingly, walks about in the
midst of his game, and, whenever he pleases, pulls them by the
legs under the water, and fixes them to his belt, until he has
secured as many as he requires, and then moves off as he went
amongst them, without exciting the slightest suspicion of the
trick he has been playing them. This singular mode of
duck-hunting is also practised on the Ganges, the earthen
vessels of the Hindoos being used instead of calabashes. These
vessels, being those in which the inhabitants boil their rice,
are considered, after once being used, as defiled, and are
accordingly thrown into the river. The duck-takers, finding them
suitable for their purpose, put them on their heads; and as the
ducks, from seeing them constantly floating down the stream, are
familiar with their appearance, they regard them as objects from
which no danger is to be expected.
[Illustration: CALL-DUCKS.]
DUCK-SNARES IN THE LINCOLNSHIRE FENS.--The following interesting
account of how duck-snaring used to be managed in the
Lincolnshire fens, was published some years ago, in a work
entitled the "Feathered Tribes."--"In the lakes to which they
resorted, their favourite haunts were observed, and in the most
sequestered part of a haunt, a pipe or ditch was cut across the
entrance, decreasing gradually in width from the entrance to the
further end, which was not more than two feet wide. The ditch
was of a circular form, but did not bend much for the first ten
yards. The banks of the lake on each side of the ditch were kept
clear of weeds and close herbage, in order that the ducks might
get on them to sit and dress themselves. Along the ditch, poles
were driven into the ground close to the edge on each side, and
the tops were bent over across the ditch and tied together. The
poles then bent forward at the entrance to the ditch, and formed
an arch, the top of which was tea feet distant from the surface
of the water; the arch was made to decrease in height as the
ditch decreased in width, so that the remote end was not more
than eighteen inches in height. The poles were placed about six
feet from each other, and connected by poles laid lengthwise
across the arch, and tied together. Over the whole was thrown a
net, which was made fast to a reed fence at the entrance and
nine or ten yards up the ditch, and afterwards strongly pegged
to the ground. At the end of the ditch furthest from the
entrance, was fixed what was called a tunnel-net, of about four
yards in length, of a round form, and kept open by a number of
hoops about eighteen inches in diameter, placed at a small
distance from each other to keep it distended. Supposing the
circular bend of the ditch to be to the right, when one stands
with his back to the lake, then on the left-hand side, a number
of reed fences were constructed, called shootings, for the
purpose of screening the decoy-man from observation, and, in
such a manner, that the fowl in the decoy would not be alarmed
while he was driving those that were in the pipe. These
shootings, which were ten in number, were about four yards in
length and about six feet high. From the end of the last
shooting a person could not see the lake, owing to the bend of
the ditch; and there was then no further occasion for shelter.
Were it not for these shootings, the fowl that remained about
the mouth of the ditch would have been alarmed, if the person
driving the fowl already under the net should have been exposed,
and would have become so shy as entirely to forsake the place."
THE DECOY MAN, DOG, AND DUCKS.--"The first thing the decoy-man
did, on approaching the ditch, was to take a piece of lighted
peat or turf, and to hold it near his mouth, to prevent the
birds from smelling him. He was attended by a dog trained to
render him assistance. He walked very silently about halfway up
the shootings, where a small piece of wood was thrust through
the reed fence, which made an aperture just large enough to
enable him to see if there were any fowl within; if not, he
walked to see if any were about the entrance to the ditch. If
there were, he stopped, made a motion to his dog, and gave him a
piece of cheese to eat, when the dog went directly to a hole
through the reed fence, and the birds immediately flew off the
back into the water. The dog returned along the bank between the
reed fences, and came out to his master at another hole. The man
then gave the dog something more to encourage him, and the dog
repeated his rounds, till the birds were attracted by his
motions, and followed him into the mouth of the ditch--an
operation which was called 'working them.' The man now retreated
further back, working the dog at different holes, until the
ducks were sufficiently under the net. He then commanded his dog
to lie down under the fence, and going himself forward to the
end of the ditch next the lake, he took off his hat, and gave it
a wave between the shootings. All the birds that were under the
net could then see him, but none that were in the lake could.
The former flew forward, and the man then ran to the next
shooting, and waved his hat, and so on, driving them along until
they came into the tunnel-net, into which they crept. When they
were all in, the man gave the net a twist, so as to prevent them
getting back. He then took the net off from the end of the
ditch, and taking out, one by one, the ducks that were in it,
dislocated their necks."
BOILED FOWLS OR CHICKENS.
[Illustration: BOILED FOWL.]
938. INGREDIENTS.--A pair of fowls; water.
_Choosing and Trussing_.--In choosing fowls for boiling, it should be
borne in mind that those that are not black-legged are generally much
whiter when dressed. Pick, draw, singe, wash, and truss them in the
following manner, without the livers in the wings; and, in drawing, be
careful not to break the gall-bladder:--Cut off the neck, leaving
sufficient skin to skewer back. Cut the feet off to the first joint,
tuck the stumps into a slit made on each side of the belly, twist the
wings over the back of the fowl, and secure the top of the leg and the
bottom of the wing together by running a skewer through them and the
body. The other side must be done in the same manner. Should the fowl be
very large and old, draw the sinews of the legs before tucking them in.
Make a slit in the apron of the fowl, large enough to admit the parson's
nose, and tie a string on the tops of the legs to keep them in their
proper place.
_Mode_.--When, they are firmly trussed, put them into a stewpan with
plenty of hot water; bring it to boil, and carefully remove all the scum
as it rises. _Simmer very gently_ until the fowl is tender, and bear in
mind that the slower it boils, the plumper and whiter will the fowl be.
Many cooks wrap them in a floured cloth to preserve the colour, and to
prevent the scum from clinging to them; in this case, a few slices of
lemon should be placed on the breasts; over these a sheet of buttered
paper, and then the cloth; cooking them in this manner renders the flesh
very white. Boiled ham, bacon, boiled tongue, or pickled pork, are the
usual accompaniments to boiled fowls, and they may be served with
Béchamel, white sauce, parsley and butter, oyster, lemon, liver, celery,
or mushroom sauce. A little should be poured over the fowls, after the
skewers are removed, and the remainder sent in a tureen to table.
_Time_.--Large fowl, 1 hour; moderate-sized one, 3/4 hour; chicken, from
20 minutes to 1/2 hour.
_Average cost_, in full season, 5s. the pair.
_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons.
_Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.
[Illustration: GAME-FOWLS.]
THE GAME FOWL.--Respecting the period at which this well-known
member of the _Gallus_ family became domesticated, history is
silent. There is little doubt, however, that, like the dog, it
has been attached to mankind ever since mankind were attached to
civilization. Although the social position of this bird is, at
the present time, highly respectable, it is nothing to what it
was when Rome was mistress of the world. Writing at that period,
Pliny says, respecting the domestic cock, "The gait of the cock
is proud and commanding; he walks with head erect and elevated
crest; alone, of all birds, he habitually looks up to the sky,
raising, at the same time, his curved and scythe-formed tail,
and inspiring terror in the lion himself, that most intrepid of
animals.----They regulate the conduct of our magistrates, and
open or close to them their own houses. They prescribe rest or
movement to the Roman fasces: they command or prohibit battles.
In a word, they lord it over the masters of the world." As well
among the ancient Greeks as the Romans, was the cock regarded
with respect, and even awe. The former people practised
divinations by means of this bird. Supposing there to be a doubt
in the camp as to the fittest day to fight a battle, the letter
of every day in the week would be placed face downwards, and a
grain of corn placed on each; then the sacred cock would be let
loose, and, according to the letters he pecked his corn from, so
would the battle-time be regulated. On one momentous occasion,
however, a person inimical to priestly interest officiously
examined the grain, and found that those lying on the letters
not wanted were made of wax, and the birds, preferring the true
grain, left these untouched. It is needless to add that, after
this, divination through the medium of cocks and grain fell out
of fashion. Whether or no the learned fowl above alluded to were
of the "game" breed, is unknown; but that the birds were bred
for the inhuman sport of fighting many hundred years before the
Christian era, there can be no doubt. Themistocles, the Athenian
king, who flourished more than two thousand years ago, took
advantage of the sight of a pitched battle between two cocks to
harangue his soldiers on courage. "Observe," said he, "with what
intrepid valour they fight, inspired by no other motive than
lore of victory; whereas you have to contend for your religion
and your liberty, for your wives and children, and for the tombs
of your ancestors." And to this day his courage has not
degenerated. He still preserves his bold and elegant gait, his
sparkling eye, while his wedge-shaped beak and cruel spurs are
ever ready to support his defiant crow. It is no wonder that the
breed is not plentiful--first, on account of the few eggs laid
by the hen; and, secondly, from the incurable pugnacity of the
chicks. Half fledged broods may be found blind as bats from
fighting, and only waiting for the least glimmer of sight to be
at it again. Without doubt, the flesh of game fowls is every way
superior to that of every chicken of the family.
BROILED FOWL AND MUSHROOM SAUCE.
939. INGREDIENTS.--A large fowl, seasoning, to taste, of pepper and
salt, 2 handfuls of button mushrooms, 1 slice of lean ham, 3/4 pint of
thickened gravy, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, 1/2 teaspoonful of
pounded sugar.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowl into quarters, roast it until three-parts done,
and keep it well basted whilst at the fire. Take the fowl up, broil it
for a few minutes over a clear fire, and season it with pepper and salt.
Have ready some mushroom sauce made in the following manner. Put the
mushrooms into a stewpan with a small piece of butter, the ham, a
seasoning of pepper and salt, and the gravy; simmer these gently for 1/2
hour, add the lemon-juice and sugar, dish the fowl, and pour the sauce
round them.
_Time_.--To roast the fowl, 35 minutes; to broil it, 10 to 15 minutes.
_Average cost_, in full season, 2s. 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_.--In full season from May to January.
[Illustration: BLACK BANTAMS.]
THE BANTAM.--No one will dispute that for beauty, animation,
plumage, and courage the Bantam is entitled to rank next to the
game fowl. As its name undoubtedly implies, the bird is of
Asiatic origin. The choicest sorts are the buff-coloured, and
those that are entirely black. A year-old Bantam cock of pure
breed will not weigh more than sixteen ounces. Despite its small
size, however, it is marvellously bold, especially in defence of
its progeny. A friend of the writer's, residing at Kensington,
possessed a pair of thorough-bred Bantams, that were allowed the
range of a yard where a fierce bull-terrier was kennelled. The
hen had chicks; and, when about three weeks old, one of them
strayed into the dog-kennel. The grim beast within took no
notice of the tiny fledgling; but, when the anxious mother
ventured in to fetch out the truant, with a growl the dog woke,
and nearly snapped her asunder in his great jaws. The cock bird
saw the tragic fate of its partner; but, nothing daunted, flew
at the dog with a fierce cry, and pecked savagely at its face.
The odds, however, were too great; and, when the terrier had
sufficiently recovered from the astonishment caused by the
sudden and unexpected attack, he seized the audacious Bantam,
and shook him to death; and, in five minutes, the devoted couple
were entombed in _Pincher's_ capacious maw.
BOILED FOWL AND RICE.
940. INGREDIENTS.--1 fowl, mutton broth, 2 onions, 2 small blades of
pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 1/4 pint of rice, parsley and
butter.
_Mode_.--Truss the fowl as for boiling, and put it into a stewpan with
sufficient clear well-skimmed mutton broth to cover it; add the onion,
mace, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; stew very gently for about 1
hour, should the fowl be large, and about 1/2 hour before it is ready
put in the rice, which should be well washed and soaked. When the latter
is tender, strain it from the liquor, and put it on a sieve reversed to
dry before the fire, and, in the mean time, keep the fowl hot. Dish it,
put the rice round as a border, pour a little parsley and butter over
the fowl, and the remainder send to table in a tureen.
_Time_.--A large fowl, 1 hour.
_Average cost_, in full season, 2s. 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.
_Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.
[Illustration: DORKINGS.]
THE DORKING.--This bird takes its name from that of a town in
Surrey, where the breed is to be found in greater numbers, and
certainly in greater perfection, than elsewhere. It is generally
believed that this particular branch of poultry was found in the
town above mentioned as long ago as the Roman era. The Dorking's
chief characteristic is that he has five claws on each foot; the
extra claw, however, is never of sufficient length to encumber
the foot, or to cause it to "drag" its nest, or scratch out the
eggs. The colour of the true Dorking is pure white; long in the
body, short in the legs, and a prolific layer. Thirty years ago,
there was much controversy respecting the origin of the Dorking.
The men of Sussex declared that the bird belonged to them, and
brought birds indigenous to their weald, and possessing all the
Dorking fine points and peculiarities, in proof of the
declaration. Others inclined to the belief that the Poland bird
was the father of the Dorking, and not without at least a show
of reason, as the former bird much resembles the latter in
shape; and, despite its sombre hue, it is well known that the
Poland cock will occasionally beget thorough white stock from
white English hens. The commotion has, however, long ago
subsided, and Dorking still retains its fair reputation for
fowl.
CURRIED FOWL.
941. INGREDIENTS.--1 fowl, 2 oz. of butter, 3 onions sliced, 1 pint of
white veal gravy, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 1 tablespoonful of
flour, 1 apple, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 tablespoonful of
lemon-juice.
_Mode_.--Put the butter into a stewpan, with the onions sliced, the fowl
cut into small joints, and the apple peeled, cored, and minced. Fry of a
pale brown, add the stock, and stew gently for 20 minutes; rub down the
curry-powder and flour with a little of the gravy, quite smoothly, and
stir this to the other ingredients; simmer for rather more than 1/2
hour, and just before serving, add the above proportion of hot cream and
lemon-juice. Serve with boiled rice, which may either be heaped lightly
on a dish by itself, or put round the curry as a border.
_Time_.--50 minutes.
_Average cost_, 3s. 3d.
_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.
_Seasonable_ in the winter.
_Note_.--This curry may be made of cold chicken, but undressed meat will
be found far superior.
THE POLAND.--This bird, a native of Holland, is a great
favourite with fowl-keepers, especially those who have on eye to
profit rather than to amusement. Those varieties known as the
"silver spangled" and the "gold spangled" are handsome enough to
please the most fastidious; but the common black breed, with the
bushy crown of white feathers, is but a plain bird. The chief
value of the common Poland lies in the great number of eggs they
produce; indeed, in many parts, they are as well known as
"everlasting layers" as by their proper name. However, the
experienced breeder would take good care to send the eggs of his
everlasting layers to market, and not use them for home
consumption, as, although they may be as large as those laid by
other hens, the amount of nutriment contained in them is not
nearly so great. Mr. Mowbray once kept an account of the number
of eggs produced by this prolific bird, with the following
result:--From the 25th of October to the 25th of the following
September five hens laid 503 eggs; the average weight of each
egg was one ounce five drachms, and the total weight of the
whole, exclusive of the shells, 50-1/4 pounds. Taking the weight
of the birds at the fair average of five pounds each, we thus
see them producing within a year double their weight of egg
alone; and, supposing every egg to contain a chick, and allowing
the chick to, grow, in less than eighteen months from the laying
of the first egg, _two thousand five hundred pounds_ of
chicken-meat would be the result. The Poland is easily fattened,
and its flesh is generally considered juicier and of richer
flavour than most others.
[Illustration: SPANGLED POLANDS.]
CURRIED FOWL OR CHICKEN (Cold Meat Cookery).
942. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowls, 2 large onions, 1
apple, 2 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of curry-powder, 1 teaspoonful
of flour, 1/2 pint of gravy, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.
_Mode_.--Slice the onions, peel, core, and chop the apple, and cut the
fowl into neat joints; fry these in the butter of a nice brown; then add
the curry-powder, flour, and gravy, and stew for about 20 minutes. Put
in the lemon-juice, and serve with boiled rice, either placed in a ridge
round the dish or separately. Two or three shallots or a little garlic
may be added, if approved.
_Time_.--Altogether 1/2 hour. _Av. cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl,
6d.
_Seasonable_ in the winter.
[Illustration: COCHIN-CHINAS.]
THE COCHIN-CHINA.--About fifteen years ago, the arrival of this
distinguished Asiatic created in England as great a sensation as
might be expected from the landing of an invading host. The
first pair that ever made their appearance here were natives of
Shanghai, and were presented to the queen, who exhibited them at
the Dublin poultry-show of 1818. Then began the "Cochin"
_furor_. As soon as it was discovered, despite the most
strenuous endeavours to keep the tremendous secret, that a
certain dealer was possessed of a pair of these birds,
straightway the avenues to that dealer's shop were blocked by
broughams, and chariots, and hack cabs, until the shy poulterer
had been tempted by a sufficiently high sum to part with his
treasure. Bank-notes were exchanged for Cochin chicks, and
Cochin eggs were in as great demand as though they had been laid
by the fabled golden goose. The reign of the Cochin China was,
however, of inconsiderable duration. The bird that, in 1847,
would fetch thirty guineas, is now counted but ordinary
chicken-meat, and its price is regulated according to its weight
when ready for the spit. As for the precious buff eggs, against
which, one time of day, guineas were weighed,--send for
sixpenn'orth at the cheesemonger's, and you will get at least
five; which is just as it should be. For elegance of shape or
quality of flesh, the Cochin cannot for a moment stand
comparison with our handsome dunghill; neither can the
indescribable mixture of growling and braying, peculiar to the
former, vie with the musical trumpeting of our own morning
herald: yet our poultry-breeders have been immense gainers by
the introduction of the ungainly celestial, inasmuch as _new
blood_ has been infused into the English chicken family. Of this
incalculable advantage we may be sure; while, as to the Cochin's
defects, they are certain to be lost in the process of "cross
and cross" breeding.
BOILED FOWLS A LA BECHAMEL.
943. INGREDIENTS.--A pair of fowls, 1 pint of Béchamel, No, 367, a few
bunches of boiled brocoli or cauliflower.
_Mode_.--Truss and boil the fowls by recipe No. 938; make a pint of
Béchamel sauce by recipe No. 367; pour some of this over the fowls, and
the remainder send to table in a tureen. Garnish the dish with bunches
of boiled cauliflowers or brocoli, and serve very hot. The sauce should
be made sufficiently thick to adhere to the fowls; that for the tureen
should be thinned by adding a spoonful or two of stock.
_Time_.--From 1/2 to 1 hour, according to size.
_Average cost_, in full season, 5s. a pair.
_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.
_Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.
SPACE FOR FOWLS.--We are no advocates for converting the
domestic fowl into a cage-bird. We have known amateur
fowl-keepers--worthy souls, who would butter the very barley
they gave their pets, if they thought they would the more enjoy
it--coop up a male bird and three or four hens in an ordinary
egg-chest placed on its side, and with the front closely barred
with iron hooping! This system will not do. Every animal, from
man himself to the guinea-pig, must have what is vulgarly, but
truly, known as "elbow-room;" and it must be self-evident how
emphatically this rule applies to winged animals. It may be
urged, in the case of domestic fowls, that from constant disuse,
and from clipping and plucking, and other sorts of maltreatment,
their wings can hardly be regarded as instruments of flight; we
maintain, however, that you may pluck a fowl's wing-joints as
bare as a pumpkin, but you will not erase from his memory that
he is a fowl, and that his proper sphere is the open air. If he
likewise reflects that he is an ill-used fowl--a prison-bird--he
will then come to the conclusion, that there is not the least
use, under such circumstances, for his existence; and you must
admit that the decision is only logical and natural.
BOILED FOWL, with Oysters.
(_Excellent_.)
944. INGREDIENTS.--1 young fowl, 3 dozen oysters, the yolks of 2 eggs,
1/4 pint of cream.
_Mode_.--Truss a young fowl as for boiling; fill the inside with oysters
which have been bearded and washed in their own liquor; secure the ends
of the fowl, put it into a jar, and plunge the jar into a saucepan of
boiling water. Keep it boiling for 1-1/2 hour, or rather longer; then
take the gravy that has flowed from the oysters and fowl, of which there
will be a good quantity; stir in the cream and yolks of eggs, add a few
oysters scalded in their liquor; let the sauce get quite _hot_, but do
not allow it to _boil;_ pour some of it over the fowl, and the remainder
send to table in a tureen. A blade of pounded mace added to the sauce,
with the cream and eggs, will be found an improvement.
_Time_.--1-1/2 hour. Average cost, 4s. 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.
_Seasonable_ from September to April.
THE FOWL-HOUSE.--In building a fowl-house, take care that it be,
if possible, built against a wall or fence that faces the
_south_, and thus insure its inmates against many cold winds,
driving rains, and sleets they will otherwise suffer. Let the
floor of the house slope half an inch to the foot from back to
front, so as to insure drainage; let it also be close, hard, and
perfectly smooth; so that it may be cleanly swept out. A capital
plan is to mix a few bushels of chalk and dry earth, spread it
over the floor, and pay a paviour's labourer a trifle to hammer
it level with his rammer. The fowl-house should be seven feet
high, and furnished with perches at least two feet apart. The
perches must be level, and not one above the other, or
unpleasant consequences may ensue to the undermost row. The
perches should be ledged (not fixed--just dropped into sockets,
that they may be easily taken out and cleaned) not lower than
five feet from the ground, convenient slips of wood being driven
into the wall, to render the ascent as easy as possible. The
front of the fowl-house should be latticed, taking care that the
interstices be not wide enough even to tempt a chick to crawl
through. Nesting-boxes, containing soft hay, and fitted against
the walls, so as to be easily reached by the perch-ladder,
should be supplied. It will be as well to keep by you a few
portable doors, so that you may hang one before the entrance to
a nesting-box, when the hen goes in to sit. This will prevent
other hens from intruding, a habit to which some are much
addicted.
FRICASSEED FOWL OR CHICKEN (an Entree).
945. INGREDIENTS.--2 small fowls or 1 large one, 3 oz. of butter, a
bunch of parsley and green onions, 1 clove, 2 blades of mace, 1 shalot,
1 bay-leaf, salt and white pepper to taste, 1/4 pint of cream, the yolks
of 3 eggs.
_Mode_.--Choose a couple of fat plump chickens, and, after drawing,
singeing, and washing them, skin, and carve them into joints; blanch
these in boiling water for 2 or 3 minutes; take them out, and immerse
them in cold water to render them white. Put the trimmings, with the
necks and legs, into a stewpan; add the parsley, onions, clove, mace,
shalot, bay-leaf, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; pour to these the
water that the chickens were blanched in, and simmer gently for rather
more than 1 hour. Have ready another stewpan; put in the joints of fowl,
with the above proportion of butter; dredge them with flour, let them
get hot, but do not brown them much; then moisten the fricassee with the
gravy made from the trimmings, &c., and stew very gently for 1/2 hour.
Lift the fowl into another stewpan, skim the sauce, reduce it quickly
over the fire, by letting it boil fast, and strain it over them. Add the
cream, and a seasoning of pounded mace and cayenne; let it boil up, and
when ready to serve, stir to it the well-beaten yolks of 3 eggs: these
should not be put in till the last moment, and the sauce should be made
_hot_, but must _not boil_, or it will instantly curdle. A few
button-mushrooms stewed with the fowl are by many persons considered an
improvement.
_Time_.--1 hour to make the gravy, 1/2 hour to simmer the fowl.
_Average cost_, 5s. the pair.
_Sufficient_.--1 large fowl for one entrée.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
STOCKING THE FOWL-HOUSE.--Take care that the birds with which
you stock your house are _young_. The surest indications of old
age are fading of the comb and gills from brilliant red to a
dingy brick-colour, general paleness of plumage, brittleness of
the feathers, length and size of the claws, and the scales of
the legs and feet assuming a ragged and _corny_ appearance. Your
cock and hens should be as near two years old as possible. Hens
will lay at a year old, but the eggs are always insignificant in
size, and the layers giddy and unsteady sitters. The hen-bird is
in her prime for breeding at three years old, and will continue
so, under favourable circumstances, for two years longer; after
which she will decline. Crowing hens, and those that have large
combs, are generally looked on with mistrust; but this is mere
silliness and superstition--though it is possible that a spruce
young cock would as much object to a spouse with such peculiar
addictions, as a young fellow of our own species would to a
damsel who whistled and who wore whiskers. Fowls with yellow
legs should be avoided; they are generally of a tender
constitution, loose-fleshed, and of indifferent flavour.
FRICASSEED FOWL (Cold Meat Cookery).
946. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 1 strip of
lemon-peel, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, 1 onion,
popper and salt to taste, 1 pint of water, 1 teaspoonful of flour, 1/4
pint of cream, the yolks of 2 eggs.
_Mode_.--Carve the fowls into nice joints; make gravy of the trimmings
and legs, by stewing them with the lemon-peel, mace, herbs, onion,
seasoning, and water, until reduced to 1/2 pint; then strain, and put in
the fowl. Warm it through, and thicken with a teaspoonful of flour; stir
the yolks of the eggs into the cream; add these to the sauce, let it get
thoroughly hot, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle.
_Time_.--1 hour to make the gravy, 1/4 hour to warm the fowl.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold chicken, 8d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
CHARACTERISTICS OF HEALTH AND POWER.--The chief characteristics
of health in a fowl are brightness and dryness of eye and
nostrils, the comb and wattles firm and ruddy, the feathers
elastic and glossy. The most useful cock is generally the
greatest tyrant, who struts among his hens despotically, with
his head erect and his eyes ever watchful. There is likely to be
handsomer and stronger chicks in a house where a bold,
active--even savage--bird reigns, than where the lord of the
hen-house is a weak, meek creature, who bears the abuse and
peckings of his wives without a remonstrance. I much prefer
dark-coloured cock-birds to those of light plumage. A cock, to
be handsome, should be of middling size; his bill should be
short, comb bright-red, wattles large, breast broad, and wings
strong. His head should be rather small than otherwise, his legs
short and sturdy, and his spurs well-formed; his feathers should
be short and close, and the more frequently and heartily he
crows, the better father he is likely to become. The common
error of choosing hens _above_ the ordinary stature of their
respective varieties should be avoided, as the best
breeding-hens are those of medium size.
FRIED FOWLS (Cold Meat Cookery).
I.
947. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowls, vinegar, salt and
cayenne to taste, 3 or 4 minced shalots. For the batter,--1/2 lb. of
flour, 1/2 pint of hot water, 2 oz. of butter, the whites of 2 eggs.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowl into nice joints; steep them for an hour in a
little vinegar, with salt, cayenne, and minced shalots. Make the batter
by mixing the flour and water smoothly together; melt in it the butter,
and add the whites of egg beaten to a froth; take out the pieces of
fowl, dip them in the batter, and fry, in boiling lard, a nice brown.
Pile them high in the dish, and garnish with fried parsley or rolled
bacon. When approved, a sauce or gravy may be served with them.
_Time_.--10 minutes to fry the fowl.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 8d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
CHANTICLEER AND HIS COMPANIONS.--On bringing the male and female
birds together for the first time, it will be necessary to watch
the former closely, as it is a very common occurrence with him
to conceive a sudden and violent dislike for one or more of his
wives, and not allow the obnoxious ones to approach within some
distance of the others; indeed, I know many cases where the
capricious tyrant has set upon the innocent cause of his
resentment and killed her outright. In all such cases, the hen
objected to should be removed and replaced by another. If the
cock should, by any accident, get killed, considerable delicacy
is required in introducing a new one. The hens may mope, and
refuse to associate with their new husband, clustering in
corners, and making odious comparisons between him and the
departed; or the cock may have his own peculiar notions as to
what a wife should be, and be by no means satisfied with those
you have provided him. The plan is, to keep him by himself
nearly the whole day, supplying him plentifully with
exhilarating food, then to turn him loose among the hens, and to
continue this practice, allowing him more of the society of his
wives each day, until you suffer him to abide with them
altogether.
II.
948. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, vinegar, salt and
cayenne to taste, 4 minced shalots, yolk of egg; to every teacupful of
bread crumbs allow 1 blade of pounded mace, 5 teaspoonful of minced
lemon-peel, 1 saltspoonful of salt, a few grains of cayenne.
_Mode_.--Steep the pieces of fowl as in the preceding recipe, then dip
them into the yolk of an egg or clarified butter; sprinkle over bread
crumbs with which have been mixed salt, mace, cayenne, and lemon-peel in
the above proportion. Fry a light brown, and serve with or without
gravy, as may be preferred.
_Time_.--10 minutes to fry the fowl.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 6d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
VARIOUS MODES OF FATTENING FOWLS.--It would, I think, be a
difficult matter to find, among the entire fraternity of
fowl-keepers, a dozen whose mode of fattening "stock" is the
same. Some say that the grand f secret is to give them abundance
of saccharine food; others say nothing beats heavy corn steeped
in milk; while another breeder, celebrated in his day, and the
recipient of a gold medal from a learned society, says, "The
best method is as follows:-The chickens are to be taken from the
hen the night after they are hatched, and fed with eggs
hard-boiled, chopped, and mixed with crumbs of bread, as larks
and other small birds are fed, for the first fortnight; after
which give them oatmeal and treacle mixed so as to crumble, of
which the chickens are very fond, and thrive so fast that, at
the end of two months, they will be as large as full-grown
fowls." Others there are who insist that nothing beats
oleaginous diet, and cram their birds with ground oats and suet.
But, whatever the course of diet favoured, on one point they
seem agreed; and that is, that, while fattening, the fowls
_should be kept in the dark_. Supposing the reader to be a
dealer--a breeder of gross chicken meat for the market (against
which supposition the chances are 10,000 to 1), and beset with
as few scruples as generally trouble the huckster, the advice is
valuable. "Laugh and grow fat" is a good maxim enough; but
"Sleep and grow fat" is, as is well known to folks of porcine
attributes, a better. The poor birds, immured in their dark
dungeons, ignorant that there is life and sunshine abroad, tuck
their heads under their wings and make a long night of it; while
their digestive organs, having no harder work than to pile up
fat, have an easy time enough. But, unless we are mistaken, he
who breeds poultry for his own eating, bargains for a more
substantial reward than the questionable pleasure of burying his
carving-knife in chicken grease. Tender, delicate, and
nutritious flesh is the great aim; and these qualities, I can
affirm without fear of contradiction, were never attained by a
dungeon-fatted chicken: perpetual gloom and darkness is as
incompatible with chicken life as it is with human. If you wish
to be convinced of the absurdity of endeavouring to thwart
nature's laws, plant a tuft of grass, or a cabbage-plant, in the
darkest corner of your coal-cellar. The plant or the tuft may
increase in length and breadth, but its colour will be as wan
and pale, almost, as would be your own face under the
circumstances.
POULET A LA MARENGO.
949. INGREDIENTS.--1 large fowl, 4 tablespoonfuls of salad oil, 1
tablespoonful of flour, 1 pint of stock No. 105, or water, about 20
mushroom-buttons, salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoonful of powdered
sugar, a very small piece of garlic.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowl into 8 or 10 pieces; put them with the oil into a
stewpan, and brown them over a moderate fire; dredge in the above
proportion of flour; when that is browned, pour in the stock or water;
let it simmer very slowly for rather more than 1/2 hour, and skim off
the fat as it rises to the top; add the mushrooms; season with salt,
pepper, garlic, and sugar; take out the fowl, which arrange
pyramidically on the dish, with the inferior joints at the bottom.
Reduce the sauce by boiling it quickly over the fire, keeping it stirred
until sufficiently thick to adhere to the back of a spoon; pour over the
fowl, and serve.
_Time_.--Altogether 50 minutes. _Average cost_, 3s. 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
A FOWL À LA MARENGO.--The following is the origin of the
well-known dish Poulet à la Marengo:--On the evening of the
battle the first consul was very hungry after the agitation of
the day, and a fowl was ordered with all expedition. The fowl
was procured, but there was no butter at hand, and unluckily
none could be found in the neighbourhood. There was oil in
abundance, however; and the cook having poured a certain
quantity into his skillet, put in the fowl, with a clove of
garlic and other seasoning, with a little white wine, the best
the country afforded; he then garnished it with mushrooms, and
served it up hot. This dish proved the second conquest of the
day, as the first consul found it most agreeable to his palate,
and expressed his satisfaction. Ever since, a fowl à la Marengo
is a favourite dish with all lovers of good cheer.
MINCED FOWL A LA BECHAMEL.
950. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 6 tablespoonfuls of
Béchamel sauce No. 367, 6 tablespoonfuls of white stock No. 107, the
white of 1 egg, bread crumbs, clarified butter.
_Mode_.--Take the remains of roast fowls, mince the white meat very
small, and put it into a stewpan with the Béchamel and stock; stir it
well over the fire, and just let it boil up. Pour the mince into a dish,
beat up the white of egg, spread it over, and strew on it a few grated
bread crumbs; pour a very little clarified butter on the whole, and
brown either before the fire or with a salamander. This should be served
in a silver dish, if at hand.
_Time_.--2 or 3 minutes to simmer in the sauce.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
THE BEST WAY TO FATTEN FOWLS.--The barn-door fowl is in itself a
complete refutation of the cramming and dungeon policy of
feeding practised by some. This fowl, which has the common run
of the farm-yard, living on dairy-scraps and offal from the
stable, begins to grow fat at threshing-time. He has his fill of
the finest corn; he has his fill of fresh air and natural
exercise, and at last he comes smoking to the table,--a dish
for the gods. In the matter of unnaturally stuffing and
confining fowls, Mowbray is exactly of our opinion. He says:
"The London chicken-butchers, as they are termed, are said to
be, of all others, the most expeditious and dexterous feeders,
putting up a coop of fowls, and making them thoroughly fat
within the space of a fortnight, using much grease, and that
perhaps not of the most delicate kind, in the food. In this way
I have no boasts to make, having always found it necessary to
allow a considerable number of weeks for the purpose of making
fowls fat in coops. In the common way this business is often
badly managed, fowls being huddled together in a small coop,
tearing each other to pieces, instead of enjoying that repose
which alone can insure, the wished-for object--irregularly fed
and cleaned, until they become so stenched and poisoned in their
own excrement, that their flesh actually smells and tastes when
smoking upon the table." Sussex produces the fattest and largest
poultry of any county in England, and the fatting process there
most common is to give them a gruel made of pot-liquor and
bruised oats, with which are mixed hog's grease, sugar, and
milk. The fowls are kept very warm, and crammed morning and
night. They are put into the coop, and kept there two or three
days before the cramming begins, and then it is continued for a
fortnight, and the birds are sent to market.
RAGOUT OF FOWL.
951. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowls, 3 shalots, 2 blades
of mace, a faggot of savoury herbs, 2 or three slices of lean ham, 1
pint of stock or water, pepper and salt to taste, 1 onion, 1
dessertspoonful of flour, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1/2
teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 oz. of butter.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowls up into neat pieces, the same as for a fricassee;
put the trimmings into a stewpan with the shalots, mace, herbs, ham,
onion, and stock (water may be substituted for this). Boil it slowly for
1 hour, strain the liquor, and put a small piece of butter into a
stewpan; when melted, dredge in sufficient flour to dry up the butter,
and stir it over the fire. Put in the strained liquor, boil for a few
minutes, and strain it again over the pieces of fowl. Squeeze in the
lemon-juice, add the sugar and a seasoning of pepper and salt, make it
hot, but do not allow it to boil; lay the fowl neatly on the dish, and
garnish with croûtons.
_Time_.--Altogether 1-1/2 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold
fowl, 9d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
THE BEST FOWLS TO FATTEN, &c.--The chicks most likely to fatten
well are those first hatched in the brood, and those with the
shortest legs. Long-legged fowls, as a rule, are by far the most
difficult to fatten. The most delicate sort are those which are
put up to fatten as soon as the hen forsakes them; for, as says
an old writer, "then they will be in fine condition, and full of
flesh, which flesh is afterwards expended in the exercise of
foraging for food, and in the increase of stature; and it may be
a work of some weeks to recover it,--especially with young
cocks." But whether you take them in hand as chicks, or not till
they are older, the three prime rules to be observed are, sound
and various food, warmth, and cleanliness. There is nothing that
a fatting fowl grows so fastidious about as his water. If water
any way foul be offered him, he will not drink it, but sulk with
his food, and pine, and you all the while wondering the reason
why. Keep them separate, allowing to each bird as much space as
you can spare. Spread the ground with sharp sandy gravel; take
care that they are not disturbed. In addition to their regular
diet of good corn, make them a cake of ground oats or beans,
brown sugar, milk, and mutton suet. Let the cake lie till it is
stale, then crumble it, and give each bird a gill-measureful
morning and evening. No entire grain should be given to fowls
during the time they are fattening; indeed, the secret of
success lies in supplying them with the most nutritious food
without stint, and in such a form that their digestive mills
shall find no difficulty in grinding it.
[Illustration: ROAST FOWL.]
ROAST FOWLS.
952. INGREDIENTS.--A pair of fowls; a little flour.
_Mode_.--Fowls to be tender should be killed a couple of days before
they are dressed; when the feathers come out easily, then let them be
picked and cooked. In drawing them, be careful not to break the
gall-bag, as, wherever it touches, it would impart a very bitter taste;
the liver and gizzard should also be preserved. Truss them in the
following manner:--After having carefully picked them, cut off the head,
and skewer the skin of the neck down over the back. Cut off the claws;
dip the legs in boiling water, and scrape them; turn the pinions under,
run a skewer through them and the middle of the legs, which should be
passed through the body to the pinion and leg on the other side, one
skewer securing the limbs on both sides. The liver and gizzard should be
placed in the wings, the liver on one side and the gizzard on the other.
Tie the legs together by passing a trussing-needle, threaded with twine,
through the backbone, and secure it on the other side. If trussed like a
capon, the legs are placed more apart. When firmly trussed, singe them
all over; put them down to a bright clear fire, paper the breasts with a
sheet of buttered paper, and keep the fowls well basted. Roast them for
3/4 hour, more or less, according to the size, and 10 minutes before
serving, remove the paper, dredge the fowls with a little fine flour,
put a piece of butter into the basting-ladle, and as it melts, baste the
fowls with it; when nicely frothed and of a rich colour, serve with good
brown gravy, a little of which should be poured over the fowls, and a
tureen of well-made bread sauce, No. 371. Mushroom, oyster, or egg sauce
are very suitable accompaniments to roast fowl.--Chicken is roasted in
the same manner.
_Time_.--A very large fowl, quite 1 hour, medium-sized one 3/4 hour,
chicken 1/2 hour, or rather longer.
_Average cost_, in full season, 5s. a pair; when scarce, 7s. 6d. the
pair.
_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.
_Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.
THE DISEASES OF FOWLS, AND HOW TO CURE THEM.--The diseases to
which _Gallus domesticus_ is chiefly liable, are roup, pip,
scouring, and chip. The first-mentioned is the most common of
all, and results from cold. The ordinary symptoms,--swollen
eyes, running at the nostrils, and the purple colour of the
wattles. Part birds so affected from the healthy ones, as, when
the disease is at its height it is as contagious as glanders
among horses. Wash out the nostrils with warm water, give daily
a peppercorn inclosed in dough; bathe the eyes and nostrils with
warm milk and water. If the head is much swollen, bathe with
warm brandy and water. When the bird is getting well, put half a
spoonful of sulphur in his drinking-water. Some fanciers
prescribe for this disease half a spoonful of table salt,
dissolved in half a gill of water, in which rue has been
steeped; others, pills composed of ground rice and fresh butter:
but the remedy first mentioned will be found far the best. As
there is a doubt respecting the wholesomeness of the eggs laid
by roupy hens, it will be as well to throw them away. The pip is
a white horny skin growing on the tip of the bird's tongue. It
should be removed with the point of a penknife, and the place
rubbed with salt.
FOWL AND RICE CROQUETTES (an Entree).
953. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of rice, 1 quart of stock or broth, 3 oz. of
butter, minced fowl, egg, and bread crumbs.
_Mode_.--Put the rice into the above proportion of cold stock or broth,
and let it boil very gently for 1/2 hour; then add the butter, and
simmer it till quite dry and soft When cold, make it into balls, hollow
out the inside, and fill with minced fowl made by recipe No. 956. The
mince should be rather thick. Cover over with rice, dip the balls into
egg, sprinkle them with bread crumbs, and fry a nice brown. Dish them,
and garnish with fried parsley. Oysters, white sauce, or a little cream,
may be stirred into the rice before it cools.
_Time_.--1/2 hour to boil the rice, 10 minutes to fry the croquettes.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
CHIP.--If the birds are allowed to puddle about on wet soil, or
to be much out in the rain, they will get "chip." Young chicks
are especially liable to this complaint. They will sit shivering
in out-of-the-way corners, perpetually uttering a dolorous
"chip, chip;" seemingly frozen with cold, though, on handling
them, they are found to be in high fever. A wholesale breeder
would take no pains to attempt the cure of fowls so afflicted;
but they who keep chickens for the pleasure, and not for the
profit they yield, will be inclined to recover them if possible.
Give them none but warm food, half a peppercorn rolled in a
morsel of dough every night, and a little nitre in their water.
Above all, keep them warm; a corner in the kitchen fender, for a
day or two, will do more to effect a cure than the run of a
druggist's warehouse.
CROQUETTES OF FOWL (an Entree).
954. INGREDIENTS.--3 or 4 shalots, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of
flour, white sauce; pepper, salt, and pounded mace to taste; 1/2
teaspoonful of pounded sugar, the remains of cold roast fowls, the yolks
of 2 eggs, egg, and bread crumbs.
_Mode_.--Mince the fowl, carefully removing all skin and bone, and fry
the shalots in the butter; add the minced fowl, dredge in the flour, put
in the pepper, salt, mace, pounded sugar, and sufficient white sauce to
moisten it; stir to it the yolks of 2 well-beaten eggs, and set it by to
cool. Then make the mixture up into balls, egg and bread-crumb them, and
fry a nice brown. They may be served on a border of mashed potatoes,
with gravy or sauce in the centre.
_Time_.--10 minutes to fry the balls.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
THE TURN.--What is termed "turrling" with song-birds, is known,
as regard fowls, as the "turn." Its origin is the same in both
cases,--over-feeing and want of exercise. Without a moment's
warning, a fowl so afflicted will totter and fall from its
perch, and unless assistance be at hand, speedily give up the
ghost. The veins of the palate should be opened, and a few drops
of mixture composed of six parts of sweet nitre and one of
ammonia, poured down its throat. I have seen ignorant keepers
plunge a bird, stricken with the "turn," into cold water; but I
never saw it taken out again alive; and for a good reason: the
sudden chill has the effect of driving the blood to the
head,--of aggravating the disease indeed, instead of relieving
it.
HASHED FOWL--an Entree (Cold Meat Cookery).
955. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 1 pint of water, 1
onion, 2 or three small carrots, 1 blade of pounded mace, pepper and
salt to taste, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, thickening of butter and
flour, 1-1/2 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup.
_Mode_.--Cut off the best joints from the fowl, and the remainder make
into gravy, by adding to the bones and trimmings a pint of water, an
onion sliced and fried of a nice brown, the carrots, mace, seasoning,
and herbs. Let these stew gently for 1-1/2 hour, strain the liquor, and
thicken with a little flour and butter. Lay in the fowl, thoroughly warm
it through, add the ketchup, and garnish with sippets of toasted bread.
_Time_.--Altogether 1-3/4 hour.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 4d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
SKIN-DISEASE IN FOWLS.--Skin-disease is, nine times out of ten,
caused by the feathers being swarmed by parasites. Poor feeding
will induce this, even if cleanliness be observed;
uncleanliness, however liberal the bill of fare, will be taken
as an invitation by the little biting pests, and heartily
responded to. Mix half a teaspoonful of hydro-oxalic acid with
twelve teaspoonfuls of water,--apply to the itching parts with
an old shaving-brush.
OBSTRUCTION OF THE CROP.--Obstruction of the crop is occasioned
by weakness or greediness. You may know when a bird is so
afflicted by his crop being distended almost to bursting.
Mowbray tells of a hen of his in this predicament; when the crop
was opened, a quantity of new beans were discovered in a state
of vegetation. The crop should be slit from the _bottom_ to the
_top_ with a sharp pair of scissors, the contents taken out, and
the slit sewed up again with line white thread.
MINCED FOWL--an Entree (Cold Meat Cookery).
956. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 2 hard-boiled eggs,
salt, cayenne, and pounded mace, 1 onion, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, 6
tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 oz. of butter, two teaspoonfuls of flour, 1/2
teaspoonful of finely-minced lemon-peel, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.
_Mode_.--Cut out from the fowl all the white meat, and mince it finely
without any skin or bone; put the bones, skin, and trimmings into a
stewpan with an onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, a blade of mace, and
nearly a pint of water; let this stew for an hour, then strain the
liquor. Chop the eggs small; mix them with the fowl; add salt, cayenne,
and pounded mace, put in the gravy and remaining ingredients; let the
whole just boil, and serve with sippets of toasted bread.
_Time_.--Rather more than 1 hour.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
_Note_.--Another way to make this is to mince the fowl, and warm it in
white sauce or Béchamel. When dressed like this, 3 or 4 poached eggs may
be placed on the top: oysters, or chopped mushrooms, or balls of oyster
forcemeat, may be laid round the dish.
THE MOULTING SEASON.--During the moulting season beginning
properly at the end of September, the fowls will require a
little extra attention. Keep them dry and warm, and feed them
liberally on warm and satisfying food. If in any fowl the moult
should seem protracted, examine it for broken feather-stumps
still beaded in the skin: if you find any, extract them
carefully with a pair of tweezers. If a fowl is hearty and
strong, six weeks will see him out of his trouble; if he is
weakly, or should take cold during the time, he will not
thoroughly recover in less than three months. It is seldom or
ever that hens will lay during the moult; while the cock, during
the same period, will give so little of his consideration to the
frivolities of love, that you may as well, nay, much better,
keep him by himself till he perfectly recovers. A moulting
chicken makes but a sorry dish.
HASHED FOWL, Indian Fashion (an Entree).
957.--INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 3 or 4 sliced
onions, 1 apple, 2 oz. of butter, pounded mace, pepper and salt to
taste, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 1
tablespoonful of flour, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 pint of gravy.
_Mode_.--Cut the onions into slices, mince the apple, and fry these in
the butter; add pounded mace, pepper, salt, curry-powder, vinegar,
flour, and sugar in the above proportions; when the onion is brown, put
it the gravy, which should be previously made from the bones and
trimmings of the fowls, and stew for 3/4 hour; add the fowl cut into
nice-sized joints, let it warm through, and when quite tender, serve.
The dish should be garnished with au edging of boiled rice.
_Time_.--1 hour. Average cost, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
THE SCOUR OR DYSENTERY.--The scour, or dysentery, or diarrhoea,
is induced variously. A sudden alteration in diet will cause it,
as will a superabundance of green food. The best remedy is a
piece of toasted biscuit sopped in ale. If the disease has too
tight a hold on the bird to be quelled by this, give six drops
of syrup of white poppies and six drops of castor-oil, mixed
with a little oatmeal or ground rice. Restrict the bird's diet,
for a few days, to dry food,--crushed beans or oats, stale
bread-crumbs, &c.
FOWL SCOLLOPS (Cold Meat Cookery).
958. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast or boiled fowl, 1/2
pint of Béchamel, No. 367, or white sauce, No. 537 or 539.
_Mode_.--Strip off the skin from the fowl; cut the meat into
thin slices, and warm them in about 1/2 pint, or rather more, of
Béchamel, or white sauce. When quite hot, serve, and garnish the
dish with rolled ham or bacon toasted.
_Time_.--1 minute to simmer the slices of fowl.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
[Illustration: THE FEATHER LEGGED BANTAM.]
THE FEATHER LEGGED BANTAM.--Since the introduction of the Bantam
into Europe, it has ramified into many varieties, none of which
are destitute of elegance, and some, indeed, remarkable for
their beauty. All are, or ought to be, of small size, but lively
and vigorous, exhibiting in their movements both grace and
stateliness. The variety shown in the engraving is remarkable
for the _tarsi_, or beams of the legs, being plumed to the toes,
with stiff, long feathers, which brush the ground. Owing,
possibly, to the little care taken to preserve this variety from
admixture, it is now not frequently seen. Another variety is
often red, with a black breast and single dentated comb. The
_tarsi_ are smooth, and of a dusky blue. When this sort of
Bantam is pure, it yields in courage and spirit to none, and is,
in fact, a game-fowl in miniature, being as beautiful and
graceful as it is spirited. A pure white Bantam, possessing all
the qualifications just named, is also bred in the royal aviary
at Windsor.
AN INDIAN DISH OF FOWL (an Entree).
959. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 3 or 4 sliced onions,
1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Divide the fowl into joints; slice and fry the onions in a
little butter, taking care not to burn them; sprinkle over the fowl a
little curry-powder and salt; fry these nicely, pile them high in the
centre of the dish, cover with the onion, and serve with a cut lemon on
a plate. Care must be taken that the onions are not greasy: they should
be quite dry, but not burnt.
_Time_.--5 minutes to fry the onions, 10 minutes to fry the fowl.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 4d.
_Seasonable_ during the winter month.
[Illustration: SPECKLED HAMBURGS.]
THE SPECKLED HAMBURG.--Of the speckled, or spangled Hamburg
which is a favourite breed with many persons, there are two
varieties,--the golden-speckled and the silver-speckled. The
general colour of the former is golden, or orange-yellow, each
feather having a glossy dark brown or black tip, particularly
remarkable on the hackles of the cock and the wing-coverts, and
also on the darker feathers of the breast. The female is yellow,
or orange-brown, the feathers in like manner being margined with
black. The silver-speckled variety is distinguished by the
ground-colour of the plumage being of a silver-white, with
perhaps a tinge of straw-yellow, every leather being margined
with a semi-lunar mark of glossy black. Both of these varieties
are extremely beautiful, the hens laying freely. First-rate
birds command a high price.
FOWL SAUTE WITH PEAS (an Entree).
960. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 2 oz. of butter,
pepper, salt, and pounded mace to taste, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1/2
pint of weak stock, 1 pint of green peas, 1 teaspoonful of pounded
sugar.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowl into nice pieces; put the butter into a stew-pan;
sautez or fry the fowl a nice brown colour, previously sprinkling it
with pepper, salt, and pounded mace. Dredge in the flour, shake the
ingredients well round, then add the stock and peas, and stew till the
latter are tender, which will be in about 20 minutes; put in the pounded
sugar, and serve, placing the chicken round, and the peas in the middle
of the dish. When liked, mushrooms may be substituted for the peas.
_Time_.--Altogether 40 minutes.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 7d.
_Seasonable_ from June to August.
BOUDIN A LA REINE (an Entree).
(M. Ude's Recipe.)
961. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowls, 1 pint of Béchamel
No. 367, salt and cayenne to taste, egg and bread crumbs.
_Mode_.--Take the breasts and nice white meat from the fowls; cut it
into small dice of an equal size, and throw them into some good
Béchamel, made by recipe No. 367; season with salt and cayenne, and put
the mixture into a dish to cool. When this preparation is quite cold,
cut it into 2 equal parts, which should be made into _boudins_ of a long
shape, the size of the dish they are intended to be served on; roll them
in flour, egg and bread-crumb them, and be careful that the ends are
well covered with the crumbs, otherwise they would break in the
frying-pan; fry them a nice colour, put them before the fire to drain
the greasy moisture from them, and serve with the remainder of the
Béchamel poured round: this should be thinned with a little stock.
_Time_.--10 minutes to fry the boudins.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 1s. 3d.
_Sufficient_ for 1 entrée.
[Illustration: SEBRIGHT BANTAMS.]
SIR JOHN SEBRIGHT'S BANTAMS.--Above all Bantams is placed, the
celebrated and beautiful breed called Sir John Sebright's Silver
Bantams. This breed, which Sir John brought to perfection after
years of careful trials, is very small, with un-feathered legs,
and a rose comb and short hackles. The plumage is gold or
silver, spangled, every feather being of a golden orange, or of
a silver white, with a glossy jet-black margin; the cocks have
the tail folded like that of a hen, with the sickle feathers
shortened straight, or nearly so, and broader than usual. The
term _hen-cocks_ is, in consequence, often applied to them; but
although the sickle feathers are thus modified, no bird
possesses higher courage, or a more gallant carriage. The
attitude of the cock is, indeed, singularly proud; and he is
often seen to bear himself so haughtily, that his head, thrown
back as if in disdain, nearly touches the two upper
feathers--sickles they can scarcely be called--of his tail.
Half-bred birds of this kind are not uncommon, but birds of the
pure breed are not to be obtained without trouble and expense;
indeed, some time ago, it was almost impossible to procure
either a fowl or an egg. "The finest," says the writer whom we
have consulted as to this breed, "we have ever seen, were in Sir
John's poultry-yard, adjacent to Turnham-Green Common, in the
byroad leading to Acton."
FOWL A LA MAYONNAISE.
962. INGREDIENTS.--A cold roast fowl, Mayonnaise sauce No. 468, 4 or 5
young lettuces, 4 hard-boiled eggs, a few water-cresses, endive.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowl into neat joints, lay them in a deep dish, piling
them high in the centre, sauce the fowl with Mayonnaise made by recipe
No. 468, and garnish the dish with young lettuces cut in halves,
water-cresses, endive, and hard-boiled eggs: these may be sliced in
rings, or laid on the dish whole, cutting off at the bottom a piece of
the white, to make the egg stand. All kinds of cold meat and solid fish
may be dressed à la Mayonnaise, and make excellent luncheon or supper
dishes. The sauce should not be poured over the fowls until the moment
of serving. Should a very large Mayonnaise be required, use 2 fowls
instead of 1, with an equal proportion of the remaining ingredients.
_Average cost_, with one fowl, 3s. 6d.
_Sufficient_ for a moderate-sized dish.
_Seasonable_ from April to September.