Roast Pigeons
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Tie the pigeons in shape, drawing the skin over the back.
Place thin slices of bacon over the breasts.
Put a small piece of butter inside each pigeon.
Roast
Skewer the pigeons and roast them before a brisk fire.
Baste the pigeons with butter until thoroughly done.
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
What each ingredient does
- Young and tender pigeons
- Provide the main meat, which cooks quickly when young and tender.
- Thin slices of bacon
- Lay over the breasts to add fat that bastes the lean meat as it roasts.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and basting with it promotes browning and moisture on the surface.
The step that matters
Baste the pigeons with butter until thoroughly done. Lean birds dry out easily. Regular basting with melted fat keeps the surface moist and encourages even browning, but the birds must still reach full doneness before serving.
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.