502 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



the pot will also assist in preserving the flesh white. The more 

 slowly birds are boiled, the better; in fact, the whole process 

 should be confined within a simmer : the more gradual the simmer, 

 the more tender will be the flesh. It requires a longer time to 

 cook game in this way than to roast or broil it. 



OTHER WAYS OF COOKING GROUSE OR PHEASANTS. 



Some persons have a fancy for cooking grouse, or rather basting 

 them, with a rich gravy made of butter, spice, and Port wine. We 

 have eaten them stewed in this kind of dressing, as well as stuffed 

 with a variety of herbs or forced-meat balls. 



These made dishes are all very nice in themselves, and calculated 

 to please the fancy of many ; but a pheasant stewed in Port wine 

 and spices is no longer a pheasant, and therefore does not suit our 

 palate ; for, when we eat game, we like both to know it and taste it. 



Pheasants are very passable when split in the back and broiled, 

 as recommended for partridges. There are other modes for cook- 

 ing grouse, which, however, are not worth referring to. 



TO COOK A 



As before said, the more plainly game-birds are cooked, the 

 better. This observation applies particularly to the two former 

 birds, as they each possess a rich gamy flavor which should be pre- 

 served unadulterated by any of the complicated arts of cookery. 



A snipe may be larded and roasted ; but a woodcock jamah 

 jamais ! We regard a larded woodcock entirely outre, a positive 

 abomination. Yet there are some excellent cooks who will persist 



