292 COOKERY OF THE GROUSE 



boned, fried, and then simmered in espagnole or some 

 similar sauce are well enough, and can be sophisti- 

 cated before being served up by having truffles and 

 other associations stuck on them. It is also some- 

 times recommended that they should be prepared in 

 this way before being made into a pie. 



Most of the books contain a receipt usually stated 

 (conscientiously) to be German, for marinading grouse, 

 which might be useful either in the case of birds 

 accidentally kept too long or in that of very aged ones, 

 or, as observed above, to tame the wildness of the 

 rougher members of the tribe. Otherwise I cannot 

 conceive it to be necessary to treat good red grouse 

 in this way, however useful something of the same 

 kind may be to make pork taste like wild boar, rabbit 

 like hare, and very dry roe-venison like the flesh of a 

 hart of grease. You take (the particulars never vary) 

 a quarter of a pint of vinegar, a score of juniper berries, 

 some peppercorns, and two or three bay leaves. You 

 steep the birds in this for three days, frequently 

 turning them and spooning the marinade over them. 

 You then stuff them with turkey stuffing, lard the 

 breasts, roast and serve. 



But after this and the other things the mind returns 

 from these excesses to the elegance of a good roast 

 grouse simple of himself, with some such a feeling as 



