276 COOKERY OF THE GROUSE 



the other three, with the usual accompaniment of 

 mushrooms, anchovies, &c. You then, having stuffed 

 the others, lard them not merely with bacon but 

 with anchovies and truffles, and roast them before a 

 not too fierce fire, basting them till they are two-thirds 

 done with good consomme. ' II unit 1'agrement et la 

 salubrite,' says of this dish M. Jourdain le Comte or 

 the Montpellier doctor, evidently leaning back in his 

 chair with a sense of satisfaction after writing the 

 words. It would be interesting to try this receipt 

 with grouse, and I think it would answer, though I 

 should be disposed to omit the anchovies. The other 

 manner, a lacendre, contains a slight puzzle to me. It 

 is directed that the birds, jacketed in bacon and stuffed 

 with the usu&lfarce made of one of their number, shall 

 each be wrapped with extreme care, so that no part is 

 uncovered, in a large sheet of white paper strewed with 

 sliced truffles. Each packet being carefully tied up 

 with packthread is buried in hot ashes, turning it if 

 necessary till cooked. Our authority says that this 

 way of cooking is very popular in Italy, but to his think- 

 ing dries the birds too much and deprives them of their 

 qualite restaurante. That, I should say, would depend 

 on the stuffing and jacketting. But what sort of paper is 

 it that will stand the heat of ashes hot enough to cook a 

 partridge through ? Burnt-paper ash is not the nicest 



