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Squabs or Pigeons Broiled

Broiled squabs or pigeons served on buttered toast with cresses garnish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Squabs or Pigeons Broiled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the birds

  1. Pluck, draw, clean, and wipe the squabs inside and out with a wet cloth; do not wash them.

  2. Split and spread open like broiled chicken.

Broil

  1. Heat the grill very hot and grease it.

  2. Place the squabs on the grill with the inner side toward the coals.

  3. Broil under the grate if possible, ensuring a clear fire.

  4. Rub the birds with melted butter and place a pan below to catch the juices.

  5. After broiling for 10 minutes on the inner side and 5 on the outer, moisten the toast with the butter from the pan and add a little broth.

Serve

  1. Trim the crusts from the bread and prepare a piece of toast for each bird.

  2. Place the squabs on the toast, sprinkle with salt and pepper, garnish with cresses, and serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Squab + buttertop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together48 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Squab + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together35 recipes

    Shared aroma: sabinene (woody, terpenic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Squabs or pigeons
Provide the meat that is cooked whole and split open for broiling.
Melted butter
Adds richness and helps the skin brown while moistening the birds and toast.
Bread
Serves as a base that soaks up the butter and pan juices under the birds.

The step that matters

Keep the fire clear and hot. A very hot, clear fire sears the outside quickly so the birds brown without drying out. Smoky or uneven heat can scorch the skin before the inside cooks through.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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