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Pigeons, Roasted

Roasted pigeons seasoned with coarse sea salt, optionally wrapped in bacon, served on toast or croutons with brown gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Pigeons, Roasted

Oven, in the book's wordsA good oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pluck, singe, and draw the pigeons. Wash them well and dry thoroughly.

  2. Optionally stuff the pigeons and allow extra cooking time.

  3. Lard the pigeons or tie a slice of fat bacon over the breasts.

Roast

  1. Roast in a clear, sharp fire for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on size.

  2. Ensure they are well cooked but yield gravy when cut.

Serve

  1. Serve on toast or croutons. If not brown enough, brush with glaze.

  2. Serve with brown gravy or any sauce suitable for fowl.

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

What each ingredient does

Pigeons
Provide the main meat, whose lean breast dries out quickly if overcooked.
Fat bacon
Covers the breasts to add moisture and richness as the birds roast.

The step that matters

Judging doneness. Pigeon breast is lean and dries out quickly, so the birds must be cooked through without overcooking. The record's test is that the meat is well cooked yet still releases juices, which become the gravy, when cut.

“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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