246 FRANK FOUESTER S FIELD SPORTS. 



land, it would very soon become abundant. Indeed, the hedge- 

 rows would be sufficient to hold it, everywhere ; and from what 

 I have seen, and stated above, of its habits in the low grounds 

 Tiere, I do not doubt that it would there afford sport equal to any 

 ' / Oj^ Eno'lish bird, except the Red Grouse. Its flesh is delicious, if 

 ' !, . /dressed properly. It will bear to be kept hanging, in the 

 (k. '^^V*'*' 'Autumn, two or three weeks with manifest advantage ; it should 

 r Av/ /y/lae roasted quickly, befox'e an extremely hot fire ; and it should 

 ''//,; ^^^/tte exposed at once to the full heat, at a short distance, so as to 

 ' / ,^ ^ sear the pores of the skin, and prevent the exudation of the 

 , 1 ,^"' juices ; after a few minutes it may be withdrawn from the focus 

 * ^ of heat, until it shall be cooked throuo^h. It should be eaten, 



!i. «•<" r g^g g}iQu](j xhe Grouse and Quail, with bread sauce and fried 

 s i- /^-^ cruvibs, — any sort of jelly, or sweet condiment, with any galli- 

 L-n*. s»' ;'': ( naceous fowl, or any meat that is not immoderately fat and lus- 

 cious, is an abomination. As a variety, either this bird, or the 

 Quail, is delicious larded, boiled, and smothered in celery 

 sauce ; and the Quail, en passant be it said, is undeniable in a 

 pie, with a fat rump steak at the bottom of the dish, a dozen 

 hard-boiled eggs, and the slightest possible soupgoN of garlic, 

 and one cayenne pepper-pod. 



If intended to be eaten cold, both birds are better boiled than 

 roasted ; as they will be found on trial much juicier, and less 

 dry, than in the usual mode. 



The plan resorted to by French cooks, who never know how 

 to cook any sort of game, except in salmis, or the like, of blan- 

 keting these birds in pork fat, cut thin, before roasting them, is, 

 of course, entirely wrong. It prevents the grand desideratum, 

 namely, the searing of the skin, so as to make it contain the na- 

 tural juices ; and, instead of its own game gravy, saturates it 

 with the essential oil of j^ig- 



The epicure will prefer the back-bone and thighs of this deli- 

 cious bird ; and, by saving them for himself, he will also gain 

 the credit of great disinterestedness from the ladies, and the 

 snohs, — Heaven forbid that I should intend a comparison, in 

 thus uniting them ! but it is a fact that they both invariably 



